September 5 – Baby, it’s cold outside

We woke up to 59 degrees this morning. I took the dog for a walk while Carol went to find a shower. She found one, but it cost coinage and all I have are Canadian twenties. We haven’t been anywhere to break one. So she elected to leave her hair as is and just shower in the RV. I don’t seem to have that problem.

Did I tell you this place is busy? Of course, it is Labor Day weekend which the Canadians celebrate along with us. That may help to explain some of the traffic yesterday. The campground is not only full and busy, it is organized. At 9AM, we already have a volleyball tournament in progress along with roller hockey. There is a miniature golf course, an outdoor theatre with English subtitles, a restaurant, a bar (with all of these kids it’s required), swimming pools, craft projects and the list goes on.

Did I mention kids? I’ve never seen anything like it. You’re trying to navigate an RV or truck trailer combo between the campsites and towards you come kids on bicycles. You would think that the presence of 6 tons of motorized, moving steel and fiberglass would hasten their moving to the side of the road. No way. You are expected to stop until the parade passes. This morning we were trying to re-join the RV and the Dakota. I had moved the RV into the road in order to back in towards the Dakota. I was at a 45 degree angle and couldn’t see what was coming from my right, but I was only in the first two-thirds of the roadway. As I began backing in, I heard a teenage girl yelling, “whoa, whoa, whoa”. She and her friend had come down the road from my right side, seemingly oblivious to the fact there was a thirty foot RV with it’s front end in the road way. Although the back half of my rig was in my space and the only way around me was to pass in front of the rig, I was expected to halt all movement until the little darlings had passed. Needless to say, we were glad to get back on the road.

GiGi, the GPS, knows most of Canada. But today, we took a route that evidently wasn’t in her programming. It was kind of interesting to have her tell us to take an off-ramp where none existed. She was so confused, she just shut herself down. We woke her up in the next town and she’s been with us ever since.

Northeast of Quebec City, our route, which had somewhat paralleled the St. Lawrence, took within almost constant sight of the river. At Riviere-du-Loup, the first of three ferry crossings is established. At this point the river has become significantly wide and the ferries eliminate the need to drive all the way back to Quebec City to cross via bridge. Here also, we noticed the decline of farm land as most employment seems either maritime or fishing. One of the villages we passed through, St. Ulric, has the loveliest gardens. The village sits right on the shore and several benches have been placed where you can sit and look out over the river/estuary. Each bench has its own little arrangement of flowers. At the east end of the village, where a tributary flows into the St. Lawrence, is a park adorned with several gardens. I wonder what it looks like in February.

We are camped on the outskirts of Matane. While we started the day in shorts and tee shirts, it was quite evident when we got out at the office that jeans had become the clothing of choice. I estimate the temperature around 65 degrees with a good 15 mph breeze. Unlike last night, this campground, situated almost on the water, is virtually empty. When I took Spice for her evening walk, I counted four RV’s with lights on. There are several others, but they appear vacant, probably seasonal or semi permanent sites.

Tomorrow, we will be moving on toward Forillon National Park at the tip of the peninsula. The Gulf of St. Lawrence will be to the north and east, the Gulf of Gaspe will lie to the south. I think this will be our location for a couple of days while we explore.