Newfoundland by Covered Wagon
One Man. One Mule. Newfoundland Tourism Takes Notice.
Tourism Newfoundland paid mule Polly and me a surprise visit as we drove our covered wagon across Newfoundland hunting for photos on a record about Newfoundland music I found in a Goodwill. Here’s the beautiful — and amusing — video they produced. Big thanks to Matt Tucker and Target Marketing & Communications for making it happen. Makes me want to visit Newfoundland with mule Polly. Hey, wait. We’re already here. Click the video and enjoy.
Read more posts from this… Continue reading
Polly at the Window: Mule, Molasses Bread and Newfoundland Hospitality
Mule Polly has it sussed. While I’m inside sampling some of Newfoundland’s finest home cooked meals, say a skillet of caplin fried in fatback on an oil range, someone will say, “Look! There’s a horse looking in the window.” At which point I look up from my plate of fried fish and say, “yeah, that’s just mule Polly. I think she’d like some molasses bread.”
Chalk it up as a peril of Newfie hospitality.
Adrift Between Missions
Mule Polly Visits the Caldwell County Library: A Newfoundland Journey
Hey Bucky, ever wondered what it’s like to travel across Newfoundland by mule. No? Do you even know where Newfoundland is? Well, how about kicking off the year with an adventurous travel program. Learn a thing or two about caplin, screech and jiggers. No idea what I’m talking about? Yeah, you need to come.
Last year mule Polly and I traveled… Continue reading
The Covered Wagon Didn’t Survive. Mule Polly Did. Newfoundland Crash.
This wasn’t the way I planned to end my voyage across Newfoundland by mule and wagon. Saturday afternoon, October 6 2012, a four-door vehicle drove head-on into the back of my wagon. There were no skid marks or signs of collision avoidance at the scene. The impact was strong enough to separate the wagon in two. Mule Polly, the driver of the vehicle and I are okay.
Mule Polly’s Secret Mission: Hunting a Vinyl Record Across Newfoundland
Gentle readers. I have deceived you. Okay, “deceive” is a mite hard. Let’s say I haven’t been completely forthright about mule Polly and my mission here in Newfoundland. While it may seem we’ve been stumbling aimlessly around The Rock, we’ve actually been on a record quest. Record as in vinyl, not world.
How a Mule Sleeps at Night in Newfoundland
Polly and I have been traveling across Newfoundland for a month now. Plenty of time to get a feeling for the land. The beach launched fishing boats. The bottled seal meat. The lobster traps that Polly likes to chew on. She does it for the fiber, not the salt.
Top Three Questions I Get
I get lots of questions about my trip. The top three are where I live, how did… Continue reading
Walter King Ponders the Covered Wagon
“What the hell is that thing?” You get that a lot traveling with a mule and wagon. Leave the rig for an errand, and often as not you’ve drawn a crowd of guys, hands jammed in their pockets, speculating with each other on what it is they’ve found.
Which is what happened recently in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Polly and her wagon were loaded on my trailer. We were waiting to get… Continue reading
Newfoundland by Covered Wagon: Polly Boards the Ferry
Greetings from Sydney, Nova Scotia. This post will be brief as Polly and I have a ferry to catch – to… Continue reading
Covered Wagon Pace: Why Bernie Can’t Promise a Time and Place
When voyaging by wagon, I have the following… Continue reading
Covered Wagon Trip North: The Ugly First 800 Miles
Wow. The start of my latest mule journey was uglier than the paint job on my ’92 Dodge. Eighteen hours cooped up in the crusty cab. With no radio. Or cruise control. Not even… Continue reading
Building the Covered Wagon Trailer: 2,200 Miles to Nova Scotia
I love to haul stuff. Preferably on a rig of my own clobbering together. Take this week’s challenge. Haul mule Polly and her wagon 2200 miles from North Carolina to Nova Scotia and beyond.
Enter the sawed off, we-ain’t-got-the-new-toys-but-we-do-have-a-1961-horse trailer ethic.
The tricky thing about hauling Polly and my wagon is that my mule wagon’s too tall to fit into a standard horse trailer. Sure, for money, lots of it, I could buy… Continue reading
Peanut Butter Hitch Fix: Mule Polly’s Great Escape
So last week mule Polly and I are traveling across eastern North Carolina in my just-built mule wagon. Getting ready for our Canadian Maritime Adventure.
If you recall, the wagon is actually two parts. Part One: the forecart, on which I sit, is a two wheeled cart outfitted with a trailer hitch. Part Two: the wagon, is a two-wheeled trailer that serves as living… Continue reading
Covered Wagon Done — Now Let’s Tow a Sailboat with a Mule
The concept was simple. Build a two-wheeled cart. Build a two-wheeled covered wagon. Hitch the wagon to the cart and pull the rig through the Canadian Maritimes. I built the cart. I built the wagon.
So far, so good for 5 weeks of work.
Building the Covered Wagon: Polly Meets Her New Rig
Last week I showed you a few photos of how my new wagon is progressing. The pressure’s on now to get this sucker finished. My goal is to haul it up to the Canadian Maritimes while spring’s still in the air. There, hauled by mule Polly, I want to interview folks about things seafaring and cod.
Here are a few photos Week 3 of wagon construction. Yep, this was the week I hitched mule Polly to the wagon. I’ve been… Continue reading
