Onward to Ontario

Yesterday we hit the road in earnest and made it from just outside Quebec City to Perth, Ontario. This involved whizzing down Quebec’s Route 20. I had tried to find a route that would bypass Montreal. I had no desire to take Helmut onto and and then off the isle of Montreal. I selected a town southwest corner of Quebec that appeared to have a bridge across the St. Lawrence. I typed this name into my GPS and we were off.

It seemed to work just fine. As the skyline of downtown Montreal began to appear over the steering wheel we were taken to Route 30 and began heading southwest ... just as I had planned.

However, I began to notice more and more construction. Perhaps a lot of other people had had my idea of bypassing Montreal. It appeared that the Quebec government was busy building, revising and extending roads to enable this. However, at one point the roads ahead did not correspond at all with what the GPS map was showing. So on the GPS screen, the car sailed off into space where no roads were shown. I started watching signs very carefully and eventually all was well and we ended up where I had hoped.

We eventually arrived at Smith’s Falls, Ontario where I had a look at the some of the locks on the Rideau Canal (and thought how pleasant the canal looked for paddling). There then ensued a hunt for a place to camp overnight. The roads were maddeningly numbered and it took forever to find a provincial campground that looked promising. I had been warned about the high fees at Ontario’s provincial campgrounds but I was not quite ready to pay almost $40 for an unserviced campsite. To make matters more annoying there wasn’t even an attendant at the campground so it was up to you to find a campsite (no maps were provided on paper or signage), then return and fill out an envelope and deposit cash (if you were lucky enough to have the exact change as there was no option to leave a credit card number). We left!

Other roads led us to Perth, Ontario. It, like Smith’s Falls, is a lovely old Ontario town with lots of lovingly restored buildings and heaps of history. As we passed through Perth, we came across a municipal campground run by the town. There was no attendant but no matter, the sign said that the attendant would come around later. By 10:30am today the attendant still hadn’t showed up so we got free camping for a night. It was quiet except for some distant railway noises and had great showers. No free or pay wi-fi though.

 

Mural of quilters in Perth

Today was a lazy day with only a short drive down to Frontenac Outfitters to see their H2O canoes. I resisted the urge to pull out the Mastercard and secure one to Helmut’s roof.

Then up so Riverside Campground never Tweed, Ontario where it is very quiet and peaceful and they have a lovely swimming pool which was refreshing on another warm and humid day.