Canadian Maritimes with Mahoney/Brewers 08

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Betty Brewer

Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 10, 2005
Posts
4,778
Russ Mahoney, Terry and I  plan to cross the  International Bridge here in Sault Ste. Marie, MI  to Canada  in the morning heading to our adventure in the  Maritimes. I will attempt to post an entry daily but entries may be less  reliable as I am  retired and want no schedules.  We thank  those RV Forum members who will guide us from their previous trips or from their recent posts.

Betty
On our way to Ottawa
 
I know it's tedious to be tied to posting every day, so I'll try to be patient. :D  We'll be eager to read whatever you post whenever you have time to post it.  But I'll be checkin' ..... :D

Margi
 
Betty Brewer said:
Russ Mahoney, Terry and I  plan to cross the  International Bridge here in Sault Ste. Marie, MI  to Canada  in the morning heading to our adventure in the  Maritimes. I will attempt to post an entry daily but entries may be less  reliable as I am  retired and want no schedules.  We thank  those RV Forum members who will guide us from their previous trips or from their recent posts.

Betty
On our way to Ottawa

Betty:

On to the land of $6.00 plus fuel, eh? ;D
 
Betty you'll be about a 1,000 mile from the Maritimes when you cross at the Soo.  When do you expect to hit southern New Brunswick?
 
Hfx_Cdn said:
Betty you'll be about a 1,000 mile from the Maritimes when you cross at the Soo.  When do you expect to hit southern New Brunswick?

I've checked  with my tour leader, Russ.  He thinks we will be in Southern New Brunswick in mid to late September.  We are on a mad dash to to Newfoundland to start.  Our next stop is in Ottawa to meet up with the Pally's and friends we met on our Yucatan Caravan.

Betty
 
It is official.  We are in Canada.  We crossed over on the International Bridge at 9 am this morning.  It was foggy with very little traffic in sight.   The border was the easiest we have ever crossed.  A toll booth set up, had one very friendly woman asking the standard questions.  What is your citizenship, where are  you going, how long will you stay?  Do you have firearms, alcohol tobacco on board?  Have a nice trip!  She gave us directions to the Interstate we wanted.

Whew was I glad that went well.  I did not want  to lose  any food or beverage on board given the costs of everything these days.  We are on Highway 17 heading east.  We had a long drive today over 250 miles which is way more than we have been doing and I was tired.  Scenery is pretty.  Some parts are like a green tunnel but the green on the trees is that crisp spring  color.  Lots of standing water and many many lakes along the road to break up the scenery.  We are staying in North Bay for the night in a Wal Mart parking lot.  We are making time to meet up with friends in Ottawa. Terry and I commented on how much easier it is to travel in Canada than in Mexico.  We can read the signs and the roads are fine.  I'm going to get to brush up on my french!

Betty

Russ provided a crock pot of saurkraut and smoked hot turkey sausages.  YUM. 
 
I don't expect you will have much difficulty with French in Quebec except for those pesky road signs. 

Attached is a text file I prepared a few years ago to help RV travellers visiting Quebec.
 

Attachments

  • FRENCH.txt
    8.4 KB · Views: 127
Donna and I leave for Ottawa, without the RV, on Friday.  We've committed (or are being committed) to keep our grandkids over the next couple of weeks.  We will be back in the Maritimes in September, and hope to meet up with Dave or Jeff on their Atlantic visits.
 
Betty,

As I told Russ yesterday on the phone we are jealous!

Our only trip to the Maritimes was in our 26 foot HR trailer towed by a Dodge conversion van back in 1992 or 93(CRS). It was the lonest vacation we ever took with the trailer - two weeks. Of course we started from northern Vermont (we lived just north of Stowe, VT at the time)

I am sure you'll have a great trip. We hope to follow in your tracks in a few years.

Ken & Sheila

 
Betty:

I'm soooo glad you're back on line with your trip journal reports.  I must sound like a broken record, but I do so love to "travel along" with you and Terry and Russ.

Margi
 
To all you folks going across Canada to Newfoundland.  When driving by Montreal the highway goes right past the site of the Olympic games 25 years ago.  At the Olympic Games site you can dry camp there and best of all it has a subway station that takes you directly to downtown Montreal.  It is a delightful way for a quick visit to the city center of Montreal and all of its underground stores.  Ardra and I have done it on each of our trips by Montreal.

JerryF
 
I did not want  to lose  any food or beverage on board given the costs of everything these days.

Betty, I think any food issues will be on your return to the U.S.  Forbidden items change of course, but last time it was meat, chicken, and some produce.  On our first trip to Prince Edward Island (maybe in the 1970s) they were having some kind of a potato blight.  As we got off the ferry in New Brunswick we drove through some kind of disinfectant and they went under our motorhome checking for whatever bug was the problem.  We were told the bugs get up under the wheel wells.  The Canadians were trying to contain the problem to PEI.  Anyway, you'll probably be using down your foods near reentry and that will help.  As I recall souvenirs that have skins and furs might be subject to question.

I just Googled United States Customs Prohibited Items and got a lot.  This one says:
These include plants, fruits, meats, vegetables, clothing made from the skins of endangered animals, ivory, lottery tickets, obscene articles or publications, and switchblade knives. Drugs without a doctor's prescription or narcotics, such as barbiturates, amphetamines, and marijuana, are strictly prohibited.

ArdraF
 
June 16, 2008 Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Hello friends and framily. We are in Day 2 of our Canadian travels. I wasn?t going to post anything daily but I kept thinking of Margi?s encouragement ?. so here goes. We left our Wal-Mart Campground early this morning. Now who ever thinks Wal-Mart camp grounds are a bargain at FREE, think again. I spent $ in Wal-Mart as well as at the local Independent Market in the parking lot. But I guess I did need groceries for the trip ahead.

The travel today was a mere 200 miles but the scenery was spectacular. Every mile or so there would be an opening in the tall pine trees to reveal a post card perfect lake that reflected the trees and the sky in the calm waters. I wish I was an author who could paint a picture for you as it was as pretty as it gets. The bridges we crossed had lovely rushing streams over small falls and were so picturesque. We saw a small red fox crossing the road at one point. The Canadian Highway 17 is mostly 2 lane ?freeway.? We slow down for the towns to meet their speed limit but we seem to be the only ones to obey the speed limits. Guess they don?t care about the cost of fuel. Gas prices seem to be getting less expensive today as we traveled east. But that is relative. The least expensive sign we saw for regular gas was $ 1.30.9 (per liter). Converting that to US gallons I get $ 4.94 cents a gallon.

We have not yet had to fuel up with diesel so I can?t give you that report. Bottom line. Who cares? Not that money is no object for us, but we have committed to this adventure and it will be pay as you go. We checked in to Recreation land RV Park east of Ottawa and will to connect with friends who live in Ottawa tomorrow. Only problem is that it is raining cats and dogs. Thunder and lightening too. In fact I am composing this offline as we have no internet right now. For those of you who may come another time the RV park is big rig friendly with satellite availability ( weather permitting) and they have free wi-fi. It is Recreationland Tent And Trailer park, Cumberland, Ontario (613) 833-2974. WEB SITE WWW.REC-LAND.COM

I am taking advantage of my 50 amp service tonight and baking a chicken casserole. Not that what I have for meals is so interesting but  when we pay extra for full 50 amp service I want to use all the utilities I have paid for.

Just heard from Fern and Annette, from our Yucatan trip. They will lead us on tour tomorrow through the sights of Ottawa. Life continues to be good.

Betty
 
At the Olympic Games site you can dry camp there

I can't imagine the Olympic Stadium would let anyone dry camp.  Are you referring to one of the commercial parking lots in the area?

When driving by Montreal the highway goes right past the site of the Olympic games 25 years ago

I don't see how that can be.  One would have to be driving through City streets deep within the City of Montreal to drive past the Olympic Stadium.  However if you happen to be driving along the South Shore of Montreal, toward Quebec City, you might get a brief glimpse of the tower from a distance..if you know where and when to look.

Other majoer East / West expressway routes across the City would not put you in view of the Olympic Stadium.
 
Betty Brewer said:
I wish I was an author who could paint a picture for you as it was as pretty as it gets.

Thank you, my dear friend, for once again taking us along with you.  If you're not "an author who could paint a picture for us", then I don't know who is.  We're very lucky to have you painting for us!  :D  No pressure .... but, thank you, thank you for your efforts. 

Margi
 
Betty:

We are in East Aurora (Buffalo) NY and the weather must be crossing us and headed across the lake, it has been a wet day!
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
131,670
Posts
1,382,734
Members
137,455
Latest member
MtnRV
Back
Top Bottom