La Belle Province

Wednesday, June 27

South of Quebec City to Rivière du Loup
It rained quite heavily all last night although I’m happy to report that the skylight in the van did not leak. As we drove the main highway towards Quebec City there were glimpses of blue sky so I decided to do a little sight-seeing in Quebec City. Of course, parking in the old part of Quebec City is a nightmare. I did park for a time near the Plains of Abraham.

The plains are now part of a large urban park with running and rollerblading trails lining the circumference. There is also a lovely spot to park and enjoy the views of the St. Lawrence River and the city of Levis on the south side of the river. But the traffic crush plus difficulty getting oriented despite GPS, guide books and maps made me decide to move on. I think Quebec City deserves a visit without a car.
The destination goal for the day was Riviere-du-Loup. We sped along on the four lane divided Trans-Canada Highway for awhile but the ‘old’ road was closer to the river so we detoured from the speedway to St.-Jean-Port-Joli. For the rest of the drive north, it was one small charming Quebecois village after another. Each with its church steeple towering above everything else in town.
And there were many more views of the St. Lawrence River which I discovered is tidal quite far inland.


The view across the St. Lawrence River around Riviere-Ouelle.
I stopped for refreshments near here. The two young women who ran the shop which sold ice cream and baked goods appeared to speak less English than I spoke French. They were both totally charming and I managed to order a delicious sundae with Quebec maple syrup as topping.
The trip up the river continued through towns such as St. Denis, Kamouraska, St.-Germain and Notre-Dame du-Portage. One town had a sign indicating it was founded in 1656.
But the further north we went the more ominous the clouds became. By the time we reached Rivière-du-Loup, things had turned decidedly grey and cool. The only nearby campground was on a point that jutted into the St. Lawrence and when we investigated the fog was already beginning to swirl.
So back to Rivière-du-Loup and a room at the Motel au Vieux Fanal. I felt as if I had finally been defeated by the ghastly wet weather that had plagued us across the country. But it was nice to crawl into bed without worrying about the rain coming through the skylight.

Thursday, June 28

Rivière-du-Loup to Fredericton
Due to family issues in Nova Scotia (not to mention the damp weather), I decided to give the Gaspé Peninsula a pass and head towards N.S.
After crossing the Quebec – New Brunswick border we stopped briefly in Edmundston, N.B. where our first surprise was the price of gasoline which at about $1.18 … the cheapest gas since we’d left Alberta. Edmundston seems like a nice town … as much as one can gather during a half hour visit. There’s a lovely park on the river with a pedestrian bridges down to and crossing it.

From the Quebec – N.B. border, the Trans-Canada is twinned pretty much to Nova Scotia. It follows the path of the St. John River much of the way but on the Trans-Canada we were getting infrequent glimpses. I’d never travelled through this part of New Brunswick so again left the highway for the original roads along the river. We exited at Florenceville which is turns out bills itself as the French Fry Capital of the World (I kid you not). The reason soon became clear as we came across fields and fields of potatos and the headquarters for McCain Foods.
I stopped at the Co-op for a bite to eat. I was sitting outside at the picnic table when an old fellow wandered by and asked about Eliot. I then got the story of his border collie plus the story of his recent heart attack in quite a bit of detail. He’s 70 and retired from Canada Post but has recently taken up cattle farming. More power to him.
It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in the Maritimes. I’d forgotten that one of New Brunswick’s charms is its covered bridges. And Florenceville has one. Only part of the bridge is covered and it looks as if most of the wood is new.

A little further down the Saint John River is the town of Hartland which boast the longest covered bridge in the world. It’s a single lane bridge and drivers have to look waaaay down the bridge to see if there is any traffic approaching before venturing onto the bridge.


We stayed the night at Mactaquac Provincial Park near Fredericton. It’s a lovely park with friendly staff. There was lots of room on Thursday night but the staff were clearly getting ready for a busy Canada Day weekend.  The Mactaquac Dam is nearby and there is plenty of water in the river.

Friday, June 29

Fredericton, N.B. to Hopewell, Nova Scotia
The final day on the road was a sunny one with warm temperatures. It was mostly uneventful. I did come across more canoe art at an Irving gas station.

It’s called “Blue Canoe” and was carved by a fellow from Oromocto, New Brunswick.
Many, many moons ago I studied music at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. I decided to make a little side trip into Sackville to have a look around. The conservatory of music has changed very little in 40 years. Walking in the front door was like stepping back in time and walking into a wall of memories. Although school is ‘out’ these days, there was a lone student (faculty member??) practicing trumpet which made the experience even more evocative.



Then I heard a familiar voice. It was Nancy Vogan who had recently retired as Professor of Music at Mount Allison. I’d met Nancy many years ago when I was a student there at the same time as her brother, Wayne (who was a couple of years ahead). I said: “Is that Dr. Vogan?” Poor Nancy didn’t recognize this fellow with the beard and the little dog in tow. At least not right away. We ended up having a long chat on the lawn behind the conservatory where we had to watch carefully that the swans didn’t decide to attack Eliot. The Mt. A. swans have always been nasty. During my time there one of the gardeners had his lawn mower attacked by a swan.
It was great having a catch up talk with Nancy … and to be in touch again.




And so on to Nova Scotia. Sackville is quite close to the Nova Scotia border. Once again I decided to avoid the Trans-Canada Highway (especially tedious after it passes Amherst, N.S.). Instead we followed Route 6 to Pictou County. Route 6 follows the north shore of Nova Scotia along the Northumberland Strait through little towns such as Pugwash, River John and Wallace which is where I took this final picture of the day.

And so this cross country journey came to a safe end. We are staying with my sister in the country in Hopewell, N.S. Eliot is not sure about staying in a house with another dog. But so far he and Abby (my sister’s dog) are getting along. (Well, mostly Eliot is ignoring or showing his teeth to Abby who seems to be getting the message.) It was desperately hot today (Saturday) with temperatures around 28C. It hardly ever gets that warm in Victoria. I guess I’ll adjust.

More Ontario

Sunday, June 24

Sturgeon Falls (near North Bay) to Beachburg, ON (near Pembroke)
After a sunny drive from the Sault Ste. Marie area to near Sturgeon Falls, we awoke to a grey, overcast and rainy sky. Soon the heavens really opened and the downpour started. I waited awhile to see if it would let up and when it did (let up) a little, I quickly packed the van and hit the road.

The woman who’s renting my townhouse in Victoria had offered her cottage on the Ottawa River (near Pembroke) as a stop over. I’d decided to take her up on the offer looking forward to a nice evening sitting on her deck overlooking the Ottawa River. Although the rain let up for a good part of our drive, as soon as we’d gotten into the cottage it started up again. At least it was nice to be indoors if it was going to rain. I couldn’t get the water turned on so that was a bit of a hassle but I did get the electricity turned on so the stove and lights worked. The cottage had been shut up all winter so I did a little ‘opening up’ work … removing plastic covers from things and coverings from the windows. A very comfortable place in a beautiful setting.

Monday, June 25

Beachburg, ON to Ottawa, ON
Most of the drive across Canada had been pretty relaxed in terms of traffic. In northern Ontario we’d drive long distances without seeing another car. So going through Ottawa in post rush hour traffic was a bit hair-raising. I had to cross town on the three/four lane highway to get to friends house where I was stopping for an overnight visit. Once again the GPS kept me on track.
I was visiting Joan and Steve Clarkson. Joan is the sister of my old university friend, Alan, who died back in the early 1990s. Alan and I always said that when we got to retirement age we were going to be like Waldorf and Statler. They are the two old guys on the Muppet Show who sat in the balcony and heckled the people on stage. I suspect as retirees Alan would have gotten me into a lot of trouble!
I had gotten out of touch with Joan and Steve but was happy to find them both well (and fairly recent grandparents, of all things). It’s great when you can just pick up with people where you left off. So we spent the day and evening getting caught up on what was happening in our lives and the lives of other people we know.
I’m always a bit apprehensive when I arrive at non-pet owners homes with Eliot in tow. But the old boy charmed both Joan and Steve with a combination of his natural charm and cuteness and his calm demeanour.
I realized that I was running low on dog food for Eliot so we made a run to the local pet store for supplies.

Tuesday, June 26

Ottawa to somewhere south of Quebec City
Tomorrow will mark the beginning of our fourth week on the road. Yesterday had been chilly, windy and rainy. This morning there was a bit of sun to start the day but by the time we’d crossed the Ottawa River into Quebec, the rains had begun again. We crossed into Quebec at Hawkesbury. Lest that name fool you, this is a very French town. I found a little café where I could sit outside with Eliot and have lunch. Lunch was easily ordered as the woman at the counter switched to English when I quickly became at a loss for words. So I took my lunch outside and began to eat. However, Eliot being the people magnet that he can be kept attracting people who began asking me about him in French. One gal told me about her Fox Terrier who’d lived into his 20s.(At least I was able to understand that much of what she said to me.)
Tonight we’re somewhere in the Quebec hinterland about an hour south of Quebec City. The rain has tapered off a bit now but it is still very damp. I don’t think many tourists find this place. A lot of the sites are occupied with large trailers that appear to be set up for the summer with little decks and even lawn ornaments. The woman at the office was delighted to have me wander in out of the rain as she said: “Oh, I haven’t had a chance to practice my English in quite awhile.”

Saturday, June 23

Sault Ste. Marie to Sturgeon Falls

A moderate day of driving today with stops along the way to check out the farmer’s market in Blind River and to send some email from McDonalds in Espanola, Ontario.

By late afternoon we’d hit the outskirts of Sudbury. For a city of just over 160,000, Sudbury sure is spread out. But we found it – The Big Nickle. It wasn’t exactly hiding and was easily seen from the road even if the road TO it was a bit difficult to figure out. And it’s REALLY BIG. I was quite impressed.

Eliot less so, I think.

And the huge smokestacks of Sudbury can be seen from all over town.

 

We had two Westfalia sightings today and gave and received the “Westy Wave”. Owning a VW Westfalia gives you access not only to expensive vehicle maintenance costs but also to the fraternity/sorority of Westy owners.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I bought some beer in Wawa. The cooler was going to be running all day so I figured it might as well have something to cool. But I had completely forgotten about Ontario’s “Beer Stores”. I was completely floored that the separation of beer from wine and spirits still exists. It all seemed pretty silly to me back in the 1980s.

So the deal is that you go into the store and there isn’t actually any beer on display. Well, OK, there are empty bottles of the beers that the particular store carries. Underneath each bottle is the quantities (6, 12, 24) that the beer comes packaged as. After you’ve made your decision, you go up to the counter and place your order. The fellow (yesterday it was fellow) goes back into the room where the beer is kept chilled and soon your selection shoots out through a little door on a little track with rollers.

Don’t the good citizens of Ontario know that in other provinces, spirits, wine and beer have been sold in the same store for years with nothing apocalyptic occurring? My goodness, in Val Marie, Saskatchewan just a week and a half ago, Ute and I purchased a case of beer in a little grocery store.

In any event, encountering The Beer Store brought back pleasant memories of life in Toronto in the 70s and 80s.

Tonight the dog and I are staying at a bustling campground/RV park outside of Stugeon Falls, Ontario on Lake Nipissing.