Travel Archives - Page 20 of 39 - Our View From The Road

Sugarloaf Provincial Park

Good morning. Power at the campground is still out but we have full coach batteries and so are fine. By 10am we have eaten breakfast and organized the van. It is a till raining but we have reservations in PEI for Saturday and so need to move along a little in order to keep the driving days reasonable.

We’re aiming for a campground in Percé, QC with views of Percé rock. It’s one of the most picturesque places along this coast and in the Summertime can become quite crowded with tourists. We’re hoping the weather eases somewhat as per the forecast.

The drive along the coast is slow and relaxing, albeit wet. We arrive in the town of Gaspé and stop for some lunch. We enjoyed homemade soup and seafood at the Brise Bise restaurant before heading to the Oh les Pains bakery for a few baked treats to take on the road. A quick stop for fuel on the way out of town and back on the road.

Any hopes of the weather breaking are coming coming to an end. The clouds are so low that for most of the drive we can barely see the shoreline or treetops from the van. Corners on road appear out of nowhere as do the hills. We arrive in Percé and it becomes clear watching those outside that it is not a day to sightsee. The campground with a view has none and we decide not to spend money on something we couldn’t see. The weather is not supposed to improve much here over the next 24 hours and as such we decide to push on. We will have to return another year when it’s drier and warmer.

I think there’s a lighthouse somewhere out there.

We aim for Sugarloaf Provincial Park in Campbellton, NB. The forecast looks to be better with only light drizzle, let’s go find out.

The drive along the South shore of the Gaspé peninsula is completely different from the North shore. It is far more populated with many small towns along the way. Agriculture is much more prevalent and the terrain is flatter and not as high. Carleton-sur-mer appeared to be the main touristy center along the coast with a large harbour.

Boutillier Brothers museum, Pasbébiac, QC

A couple of hours along the coast and we’ve turned South to cross into New Brunswick, Canada’s only officially bilingual province. We stop to top off the fuel tank and head just out of Campbellton to Sugarloaf Provincial Park where we plan to stay for the next couple of nights. The campground is only just getting going for the Summer and there is lots of room for us even without a reservation. The site is level and treed, a good place to kick back while we wait for the last of the rainy weather to move out.

Although we grumble about the rain, our thoughts are with friends and family in Ontario suffering with the smoke from the Quebec forest fires. Hoping that everyone is OK and staying safe.

Forillon National Park

It’s OK gang, you didn’t miss anything, I just chose to combine two days into a single post.

Grand Vallée, QC. The day starts with a beautiful morning, although not clear, the sky is bright and we awake to the view across the St. Lawrence river. Our drive to Forillon National Park is only about 90km and so we enjoy a relaxing morning at the campground with showers and a nice breakfast.

Shortly before noon we head into the town to pickup coffee creamer. The sun is still shining but we know the forecast calls for changing conditions as the day goes on.

Heading East we skirt along the coast rising and falling with the river valleys and mountains. Nearing the easternmost point of the Gaspé peninsula, Cap-de-Rosier, the terrain smooths out and there are clearly fewer trees able to survive what must be a very windy existence. Fishing and tourism appear to be the lifeblood of the area and as the skies become more threatening I suspect that the community will see little income from either in the upcoming days.

We slow to look at the Cap-de-Rosier lighthouse, the tallest in Canada, and continue onwards to Forillon National Park. We’ve decided to stay for a night before continuing to Percé tomorrow.

The campground is really very nice with fairly level sites just off of the beach amongst the trees. The rain has started but at present it’s light drizzle and so we go for an exploratory walk to the beach. The clouds are getting lower and the waves are increasing with the winds now blowing onshore. There is a heaviness to the air that makes me think the forecast is probably right. The rain will be heavy tonight.

Back in the van we settle in for the night with dinner and some online videos. The rain is now steadily drumming the roof.

Sleep did not come easily as the rain continued it’s incessant drumming all night and is persisting this morning. The forecast is for it to continue throughout the day and so we decide to extend our stay here for another night before continuing along the coast.

We spent the day reading and relaxing while the rain fell. The forecast had been for 50-75mm, things were pretty wet outside.

Later in the afternoon there was a break in the rain and I managed to get in a 6km walk along a trail that parallels the beach. The ground is saturated and I get wet feet but it feels good to be out and about. I stop on the beach and watch the now angry looking waves crash into the shoreline. The sight and sound of the ocean clawing at the shore takes me back to my childhood and the many English beaches my family visited. I could have sat on beach watching for a while but the rain was starting again and I didn’t need to get soaked as drying clothing in the van is not easy.

Nighttime came and we settled in warmed by our small ceramic heater, that is until the middle of the night when the campground power went out. We were now ‘wild camping’ and as it was single digits outside decided to run the propane furnace to get through the night.

All for now, come back again to see how we make out and what we do next.

Into the Gaspé

A crisp 6C start to the day. The winds have dropped quite a lot but it’s still breezy coming off of the water. We packed up and prepared to leave, no shorts and tee shirts today.

We were about to pull out of our sight when I looked across the road and spotted a colleague from my work days. They too are traveling towards the East and so we may cross paths again over the next few days. Quite a surprise to bump into someone you know so far from home.

On the road we decide to take the quieter backroads as opposed to the autoroute. This has us meandering along the shoreline through small quaint villages each with their own character and charm.

We drive through Rimouski and then stop in Pointe-au-Père to look at the exhibits set up for the lighthouse, the Empress of Ireland and the submarine ‘Onondaga’. First, it’s still 8C with a stiff wind off the water making it feel much cooler than this. We decide for a simple walk about and did not go into the museum that commemorates the collision and subsequent sinking of the Empress of Ireland in 1914 with the loss of over 1,000 immigrant lives. This remains today, the worst maritime disaster in Canadian waters.

Arriving in Matane we stop for fuel. This turns out to be important as the smaller towns past this point do not all have gas stations. We also stop at the Poissonnerie Bertrand Desbois where Barb picked up lunch (Lobster roll & chips and fish & chips) as well as a seafood pizza for later. Mmm.

Poissonnerie Bertrand Desbois, Matane, QC

Barb takes over the driving for the afternoon and the roads become much hillier as we drive further East with at least one hill being posted at a 14% grade down with sharp curves at the bottom (of course).

Our day concludes at the town of Grande-Vallée where we stop at the campground ‘Camping au Soleil Couchant’. The campground is quiet, the lots are grassy and level and each has a wonderful view across the St Lawrence.

We enjoy our pizza and watch some online videos before enjoying the sunset. Good night one and all.

Notre vue depuis la route

Bonjour! As you might be able to guess today we set-off on our East coast trip to the Maritimes & we are starting in ‘la belle province de Québec’. (Oh, the title of this post is ‘Our view from the road’ for those of our readers that do not read French.)

Restless night, so am tired this morning but managed to go for a 6km walk before completing prep to leave. We drive out of the laneway at 9:30am and head into town to top off with fuel and then onto Winchester where we stop at Tim Horton’s for a breakfast sandwich and coffee. Hwy31 takes us to Hwy401 where we turn East towards Cornwall, ON. We cross into Québec and cross the St Lawrence river at Salaberry-de-Valleyfield before joining the Autoroute30 that takes us across the southern side of Montreal. At Boucherville we join Autoroute20 which we will follow to our destination in Rivière-du-Loup.

In all the drive takes about 7.5hrs including a stop for lunch and another for fuel. The day started overcast; however, by the time we got past Montreal the skies had cleared and were a beautiful blue. The only thing that detracted from a relaxed driving experience was the wind. Coming from the East it was blowing across the highway at times gusting above 60kmh. It made for a very tiring day of driving and I was really glad to pull into the “Camping municipal de la pointe” campground.

We have a site overlooking the St Lawrence and will get to watch the sunset from the van. The temperature is only 10C and so sitting outside in the wind would require a braver constitution than I have.

Tomorrow we continue along the south shore of the St Lawrence as we begin our exploration of the Gaspé region. Bon nuit.

Nothing to declare

Awake at 6:30am following a nice night in the park. I head off to the shower hoping that I find hot water. I am mostly satisfied as the water is warm and pleasant enough to enjoy. Barb reports from her slightly later shower that the system was now up-to-speed and supplying plenty of very hot water. Just my luck to have been the first of the day. Showers get a 8/10 loosing points on general cleaniness and age. Security and privacy were very good as each shower is in its own room. Water supply was also very good, not a dribble as can be found in some campgrounds.

We depart our site at 8:45am and head to the dump-station. It is clean and well equipped with rinse hose. Heading out of the park we head East long US-5 and I turn to head toward Fredonia, NY only to find a railroad underpass with a signed 10’-1” headroom clearance. STOP! At a supposed 10’-0” height for the van I was not about to test either the factory spec or accuracy of the sign so I turned about and headed into Dunkirk, NY where I crossed over the railroad tracks in order to return to the I-90 East.

The drive into Buffalo and through the city is uneventful and before long we are heading East through Western New York farmland. As the long weekend is over the highways are busier with truck traffic than we have seen for the past day or so but in general everyone behaves themselves and before we know it we leave the I-90 and join the I-81 North towards Watertown, NY where we stop for fuel and a sandwich in the van. Barb drops into Walmart and picks up a set of new melamine bowls that she has not been able to find in Canada since returning from the US Southwest a few weeks ago.

We decide to not cross back into Canada using the Ivy-Lea crossing, but instead turn onto US-37 and head towards Ogdensburg, NY and use the quieter crossing. This allows us to slow down and enjoy the day more and avoid having to drive on Hwy-401. At the bridge I learned that having dually rear wheels costs $9.00CAD instead of $4.25CAD to cross the bridge. I’d not noticed this in previous crossings over the past year or so, but had read online that others had experienced an up charge for the same reason on other toll roads and bridges.

Canadian customs was not busy and the staff efficient and much more pleasant than their US counterparts that we engaged with just a few days ago. Yay!

Driving home along Hwy-416 we both agreed that it was once again nice to be home in Canada and that, at least for now, we were both USA’d out for a while. We are looking forward to the Maritime leg of this trip which we plan on starting in just a few days, so check back soon for more updates from the road.