Yesterday, the second of October has to have been some of the most miserable driving I've encountered in nearly 60 years. At times the rain came down faster than the windshield wipers could clear it and being overtaken by truckers was miserable. Hitting pools of water on the highway was no fun either. At least I wasn't on foot. Fortunately I had only two hours of driving to accomplish so I had the luxury of pausing along the way. Alas the glowering, lowering grey skies obscured the brilliant fall colours through which I was driving and the pelting rain made picture taking impossible. Finally after being passed by the final impatient trucker I made Rivière Du Loup and found my campground with the help of my GPS. Set up in the rain and shortly after looked out to see my RV surrounded by a lake. Not the kind of shot used in tourist brochures. Hunkered down for the night and as the sky cleared the wind came up rocking my home and chilling its walls. Just to complete the picture across the road is an enterprise called Santa's Castle complete with Silent Night, Holy Night and Xmas decorations—though what a breaching whale has to do with Santa I'm not certain. Despite it all I went for a walk in the rain—and regretted the wet clothing later.
Discovering that I was camped five minutes from the ferry to the North Shore of the Saint Lawrence I decided to seize the day and take advantage of the opportunity. Thanks to the internet I was able to discover that the ferry sailed at 8:00 AM and a half hour lead time was advisable before embarkation. Next I needed a place to camp the next night. This late in the season the first criteria in such a search is "are they still open?" Again research online showed that an ideal location was still available at the midpoint between the dock and Quebec City.
Accordingly at 7:15 AM next morning I set out. At the entrance I was met by a personable young man who endeared himself further by classifying my RV as a car for fare purposes. When you take the ferry to Grand Manan the trip to the island is free; you pay to get off. Here I was presented with a billet and told to pay on board, the deck hand collected it before we departed the ship. Sufficient haze remained in the air to make picture taking futile again but as we got closer the North Shore glowed in the sun. The sail was uneventful save for some rocking as we neared the North Terminus. The truckers and frequent travelers all settled into the dining area for breakfast while I took advantage of Wi-Fi to read E-mail. Disembarkation is a mad scramble but I found a rest area to wait out the traffic jam.
The trip along the North Shore is memorable. Steep grades and sharp curves follow the coastline and give one the sensation that the next drop will be into the river. The dark rocky heights are marked by verdant evergreens and splashes of brilliant hard woods. The most spectacular sights lacked a pull-off for picture taking and others were marked by rows of electrical transmission towers. Nevertheless I do not regret the journey though there were a few impatient drivers who probably wished I hadn't. Along the way I found a small restaurant for an early Dinner which served Chicken and Poutine in five different iterations—no I didn't partake.
When I arrived Le Genévrier proved to be everything I'd expected in a campground and high-speed Wi-Fi in my RV!
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