This campground is amazing. It is quiet and the sites are so far apart that it feels as if we’re camping in park by ourselves. A must try if you have not.
No pictures from these last two days, we just took it easy visiting with friends and doing a few odd jobs to the campers. We were spoiled rotten as our campmates had Starlink internet which they shared with us as the campground had almost no cellular service and no WiFi. It allowed us to stay in touch with family and watch the odd YouTube video.
As with other trips, I provide the following stats for this that might be interested.
– 1534 total km – 14.552 l/100km average fuel economy – 67 km/hr average speed – total drive time of 23:00 (hh:mm) – approximately 223 litres of fuel consumed
Home now and the van is parked in what will be its new home on our property. We had a gravel pad installed while we were away and we have moved the ShelterLogic structure onto this pad. This frees up space in front of our garage and allows for easier parking and backing-out of the van when we need to use it. As you can see below we are waiting for the replacement cover to be delivered.
New home for the van
All for now, check back again for another exciting adventure.
A cool morning awaited as we prepared to leave for the day and head back toward Ontario.
It was cold walk to the showers which were passable at best as they were tiny and old. Lots of hot water but no room to disrobe or move about easily while washing. A quick breakfast and then the tanks are dumped and garbage disposed of and we were on our way shortly after 9:00am.
We stopped a few km down the road at the Chez Marie Boulangerie. Built in 1652, the house is now home to the fourth generation of the Mercier family. The bread oven is now over 160 years old. We picked up a fresh white loaf and a few cheese danishes for a naughty snack along the road.
Built in 1652 the home of Chez Marie boulangerie.
Across the road from Chez Marie is a small stone structure that had a plaque on it indicating that it had been built in 1649 as a root cellar dug into the hillside.
We returned to route 40 and headed towards Quebec City. This time we were traveling around the city and that led us through a large construction zone in which we almost took a wrong turn. Phew.
On the correct route, we head towards to the Pierre Laporte bridge that crosses the St. Lawrence to Levis, QC.
Joining route 20, we turn towards Drummondville and encounter yet more construction. Only slight delays as the traffic is narrowed into a single lane and we pass a few paving crews. After an hour or so we arrive in Drummondville where we exit to fill up with fuel and groceries for the weekend ahead.
Returning to route 20 we pass through another construction zone before rejoining the highway. Construction seems to be the topic of the day.
More construction zones await us as we head towards Montreal, again not long delays just annoyingly more frequent than we would have liked. We leave route 20 and head West around Montreal on route 30 towards Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. We cross the St. Lawrence River again and pay the toll ($5.80) before rejoining route 20 and turning West towards Ontario.
We cross back into Ontario and join Hwy401 towards Cornwall, ON. However, yet more construction slows us again just 10km before our exit into the village of Long-Sault.
We drive onto the Long-Sault parkway that takes us to our destination, McLaren campground one of the parks of the St. Lawrence where we are meeting friends and are staying for 3 nights.
We enjoy a hamburger for dinner and enjoy the sunset before a campfire and then settling down for the night.
I don’t think I’ve ever slept in a campground as quiet as this one. Granted it is very quiet here with the mountain being closed until Thursday and all seasonal campers somewhere else it would seem. We slept in again and enjoyed a late brunch cooked on our griddle outdoors.
We both enjoyed some quiet time reading before going for a walk around the campground on a badly marked and mapped hiking trail.
The map was given to us by the campground host and included no details other than a coloured line on the campground map. As the area is criss-crossed by mountain bike/cross-country skiing trails, it was easy to get lost. Sure, the sports trails have signposts and maps but none referred to the hiking trails. There were a few inconsistent hiking markers but not enough to avoid getting lost.
Well it turns out that we didn’t exactly get lost, but we did navigate UP a single-track mountain bike trail where we were met by an upset cyclist who told us in no uncertain terms that we should not have been on that particular trail. I explained that there was a hiking marker at the bottom to which he shook his head and rode off. Oh well, no one was hurt.
As you can see by the few photos herein, Fall is setting in and the colours are changing. We soon returned to the campground and made our way past what is clearly across-country skiing clubhouse along with overly large parking lot and numerous ski trail signposts.
Back in camp we enjoyed some cheese & crackers ahead of a dinner of Mexican burritos. Now we’ve settled in by the campfire and will soon call it a night.
Tomorrow we will return to Ontario for one last camping location. Bonne nuit.
Today’s post title courtesy of Jerry Reed (Cledus Snow, Smokey & the Bandit, 1977).
Another easy morning (& even foggier it turns out) as today we start our westward return journey towards home. The suns burns through the fog over land quite quickly, but the fog over the river persists until after we leave the campground at around 10:00am.
Our traveling companions have left ahead of us as they are taking the ferry from Les Escoumins to Trois-Pistoles on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. We, on the other hand are heading back the way we came, starting first with a crossing of the Saguenay River by ferry.
Saguenay River crossing
West of the ferry we decided to stay on route 138 past La Malbaie as it would provide different scenery and hopefully a less hilly route. We stopped briefly in Clermont for a quick snack and change of clothes as it was getting warmer than either of us had anticipated and thus the long-pants had to go and be replaced with shorts.
Some of the scenery was spectacular with views to the North across the mountains now beginning to show slight hints of Autumnal colours. We stopped in Baie-Saint-Paul for a few grocery items before proceeding out of town and up the hill at Le Massif (a gear grinder for truckers that’s for sure).
We turned off of route 138 and passed the farm where we bought the fois-gras on the way East. Heading further from the river we passed through Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges before arriving at Camping Mont-Sainte-Anne where we will be staying for next couple of nights.
Today we slept in, at least until the foghorns awoke us from the ships passing in the river. It was foggy and we could barely see offshore at all. As we took it easy and lounged about the campsite all morning enjoying the peaceful nature of this campground.
Shortly after noon we packed a picnic lunch and headed down to the Rocky shore with seat cushions to sit upon. We enjoyed our lunch whilst being entertained by the occasional passing Minke whale. We saw about a half dozen.
Minke whale
We also sighted a few freighters which no longer needed to sound their foghorns luckily. Eventually the cool air got the better of me and I retreated back up the hill to our van and enjoyed a short afternoon siesta ahead of dinner.
We spent the evening at Mr. & Mrs. Milddogs.com campsite enjoying a beverage and watching for whales by the pale moonlight. Alas, no whales this evening.
Mr. & Mrs. Milddogs.com are heading towards home starting tomorrow and we wished them happy trails as we will remain out and about for a few more days yet, so stay tuned!
