Monday Morning and we start the first of our ?Maritime Adventure?. Based on the weather report the sun should be out today. But morning brings mostly overcast gloomy skies same as yesterday, but at least it is not raining. There is hope!
Slide was pulled in, every thing stowed and we were ready to go. I had moved the little car around to the back to hookup; and the motorhome decided it wasn?t ready to go just yet. The engine acted as if it wouldn?t start; but after a few tries, it turned over. Tim let it run a few minutes, shut it off and it restarted right back up. We have no idea if it was operator error, signs of a glitch or just the soggy weather. The batteries are good and everything else seems fine, so I think Tim was asleep and tried to crank the engine before all systems were ?go?. My heart sunk a bit and the reality of just how far away from home we are hit me. This and the weather put a damper on our start, but our normal cheerful selves eventually pulled out of it and the rest of the day was an enjoyable drive.
Our route was to follow Q20 until we reached Reviere-du-loup where we would pick up the scenic highway 132 and drive on to Matane for the evening.
We stopped at a tourist information building at Bas St. Lurient and I found a great map of just the Gaspe Pennisula. The lady was full of information and encouraged us to immediately leave Q20 and follow highway 132 along the river. We took her advice following ?The route of the Navigators? and although it slowed us down significantly (we didn?t make Matane) it was a beautiful drive, with small homes and barns; but large newly planted fields. I noticed that some of the fields were up hillsides and it was interesting that the farmers planted in rows going up the hills not parallel to it. They also watered with ?flood irrigation? as we passed several ?cisterns? each with their own number. We expected lots of flowers and the ?cute? little houses that we saw on O?rleans island near Quebec city, but we could tell these are working people making a living.
We next stopped at a view point and enjoyed a terrific view of the river. At this point the river is very wide and the opposite shore is no longer visible. From our map I would guess 10-15 miles across. The water is now bluish and not the muddy color we encountered up to this point. We met a young couple from Gaspe who at best could be described as free spirits; but they were very nice, spoke excellent English. They were planning on leaving July to drive west to Vancouver and then on to California and were interested in things to see. The young man had evidently lived in various parts of California and was anxious to show our country to his young friend, or wife?
Traveling along 132, we experience our first 4-wheel drive with the coach. Some road work was being done on a short stretch where it looked like the road sank. The construction truck and trencher were on the left side of the road and a small narrow part for traffic was on the right. It was full of hard compact dirt shored up on the right hand side. Everyone stopped work to watch us go through. It was so steep on the decline, that I was afraid our ?tail? end of the coach would scrape; Tim was more concerned about the sides of the coach getting scratched by the rocks that were sticking out. Two workers, one on one side and one on the other watched as we crept through and came up onto the other side. So now we claim that Tiffin Allegro Buses can also 4 wheel?at least ours.
As we travel onward east, we go through small villages which are spaced 10-20 KM apart and each one has an old church with similar "high in the air" steeples and metal or tin roofs. Most of the land is being farmed apparently alfalfa to feed the cattle but we noticed very few food crops. Now the houses favor lots of red roofs, blue trim and very white siding, with big vegetable gardens and flowers everywhere; and lilac bushes are in bloom and huge??There is sunshine everywhere!!!
Around 4:30 PM we decide to stop for the day and drive upon a nice Provincial Park called Parc La Bic on a beautiful bay. We pull in and I jump out, go inside and ask how much for one night. The response was $45 which includes $7.50 for a bed tax. Wow! That is expensive even for us and we have our own bed! So we move on.
We find a nice little campground just across the street from the St. Lawrence in the town of Rimouski where after trying out a few sites we locate a great spot and call it a day.
Today, Tuesday we were wakened by a beautiful sunny morning. I was holding my breath that the coach may act up; but the little sweetheart started right up and off we go heading toward Matane. The road winds and curves and we begin to see lots more of the shoreline. The beach area is full of hard rock mixed with water. At first we thought it was sand; but no it?s rock with puddles of water interspersed. Once again we pass little communities of little white houses looking out over the seaway. We wonder if these are vacation homes or year round.
We?ve pushed our limit on our tank of diesel. The last time we filled up was Cornwall in Ontario just before we entered Quebec, so we are between ? and ? on the tank and decide to get fuel in Matane. We pull into a Petro station where NO English is spoken. In my broken French part word phrases, I tell them we want diesel with a Visa. I have found that all the businesses know the word Visa.
After fueling we come to Petite Matane and find a great little rest stop on the shoreside of the road, have lunch. There is a young family of 5, mom, dad and 3 little girls. They are traveling in a Toyota camper/motorhome and I wonder how all of them fit inside. They are happy, having lunch and playing. It reminds me of the time our kids were young and we all squeezed into a Suburu wagon and camped for 2 weeks all along the west coast. It seems size doesn?t matter.
Highway 132 gets more and more hilly. I read the recap of all the villages out loud to Tim as we go through them. We stop at the rest stop to see the windmills of Cap Chat and definitely notice the oval windmill that is so special. Having been in Palm Springs, Ca and other areas where wind power is now being used, it wasn?t that unique. However, if you?ve not seen a windmill farm it?s something to behold.
The day is sunny and beautiful, we are paralleling the St. Lawrence and the water is clear and the air is crisp. We notice people working in the yards or sitting outside with no shirts on for me and bathing suits for the women. Tim and I have light jackets on as we think it's cool. Around 2 pm we decide to start looking for a campground. We feel we would rather spend this beautiful day sitting or doing something outside rather than in the coach; as it?s supposed to start raining again. We can always drive in the rain.
Tim had done some research and came up a campground called Camping de Riviage (spelling?) in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, which is a really cute village. We are parked with the coach facing out on the seaway, just at the edge of the beach. It?s an older little park, but very nice. The gentleman who owns it was very welcoming and spoke broken English. We told him we would unhook the car to get parked and all of a sudden he disappeared. Tim heads back to do the unhooking and the cute little fella almost had the car unhooked.
After getting settled in, he tells us of a good place for dinner if we like sea food. The restaurant is easy to find and we decide to go early as this is the eve of Jean Batiste Day and think maybe we can avoid the crowds. We get there and there is only one other customer. Tim decides to try their special which is mussels with a sauce. Now you have to know that Tim isn?t as enamored of sea food as I am; but he?s trying new things. I ordered what they called a seafood bowl?.rice?sauce?seafood mix all topped with a mild cheese which is lightly browned (I?m starting to sound like Martha Stewart). They bring mine and out comes Tim?s order a few minutes later. I wish I would have had a camera. What he thought he had ordered was nothing like what he got. He expected the mussels to be out of the shell and covered with this delicious sauce?..but NO, he gets nearly 50-60 muscles in shells. The look on his face was priceless. I offered to exchange dinners with him, but being a brave soul, he "muscles" right in and actually likes it.
We get back to the coach early to be able to sit outside and watch the boats pick up shrimp baskets in the bay; along with a canoe and kayaker paddling along the shoreline. The sunset was magnificent and most likely I did not capture its beauty on the camera. Tonight we go to sleep with waves slapping on shore. Tomorrow?s a new adventure.
Marsha~
