Trekking Through Quebec

May 10, 2010

Last Wednesday having no access to the internet since I was unwilling to pay another $10.50 for a few hours internet service, that fee at Quinte Isle Campark is usurious, was off by 7 AM beating the school buses on the rural roads. Was shocked to find gasoline selling in Picton for 91.9¢ a litre and wasted no time filling up. The drive up to the 401 seemed to take forever. Heading East one passes through Kingston and Cornwall taking care not become a speed-trap customer. At the Quebec Border I noted that the Information Centre is still under construction and does not look to be ready for a June opening. Earlier I wondered at the forethought behind the closing of three consecutive service centres but suppose having been built around the same time each needed to have their buried fuel tanks replaced at the same time. Decades ago I remember liking to stop at the 1867 Restaurant near Upper Canada Village because it was one of th few remaining service centre establishments that actually supplied counter service in contrast to the usual Burger King/MacDonalds stand in line takeout look.

Stopped to visit Quebec Tourism in their trailer at Km 6 on Highway 20 and took their advice to ignore my GPS and follow Highway 20 through the southern edge of the Island of Montreal missing downtown traffic and the construction I remember from last year. Highway 20 for a time passes through city streets and remains much patched though not nearly as rough as it was decades ago when I learned to avoid it. Eventually 20 crosses the Saint Lawrence and I took 10 to Bromont. There’s been much construction and street renaming since my GPS was programmed so I had to take my own head for it in finding my campground. The town of Bromont is nestled in among the Laurentian Hills, Mountains, south of Montreal and remains an equestrian centre benefiting from facilities built for the 76 Olympics. I was pleased to find a fluently bilingual campground manager and preferential pricing, Wi-Fi included. Spent a quiet 2-day respite though outside my RV the area spent a day under a severe thunderstorm watch that brought gusting winds and a half-hour power blackout along with intermittent showers.

Thankful not to have been on the road in gusting winds the day before I drove up the Eastern Townships with just enough wind to keep the fog at bay. The drive was distinguished solely by its tedium though being stiffed 112.9¢ a gallon to fill up served to ruffle my feathers. Reaching Rivière-Du-Loup seemed to take forever but I finally turned at Highway 85 and found Camping Lido. Just opened that day the smell of fresh paint pervaded the office and my hosts Réjean et Manôn were friendly and bilignual as well. The washroom was unheated though, lacked toilet paper and had pay showers; the temperature felt ominously like snow which did arrive. Again decided to stay over and ended up extending that stay when the forecast proclaimed more wind and rain. My Wi-Fi service was good here so I managed to catch up. I even managed to sweep out the RV and scrub a few layers of dirt off the textured ABS floor. Around my site my French Canadian Neighbours were moving trailer loads of goods into their seasonal trailers. Jeep Wranglers seem to be the vehicle of choice here--at least no one here drives Hummers.

Woke this morning to a world of white and cold. At a certain point heat pumps stop creating heat and I have to resort to my noisy propane heater. When I finally got myself going my RV and the grass surrounding it were still snow-covered though the roads were clear. The ‘mountains’ were coated in sticky white stuff until 20 miles inland I topped a rise and it magically disappeared. At the New Brunswick Border one first meets the Irving Station and then the tourist centre. Although its Quebec counterpart was marked as Fermé, the NB centre failed to bother to so inform tourists. In Edmunston I stopped to shop at Sobeys, now an Atlantic Superstore. Don’t know that I was aware of the degree to which this area is French Canadian, aside from being over-large for easy shopping the signage was in French and all the packaging had the French side showing. Since I’ll be visiting relatives didn’t want to get too many perishables and had trouble finding things in any case.

Highway 2 in New Brunswick is now a 4-lane divided highway for its entire length and sections of it are old enough to be in need of reconstruction but I rediscovered the fact that large portions of it along my route to Fredericton are not programmed into my GPS. GPS give strange results when they think one is driving through rocks and trees. For miles there is fencing on either side of the highway with passthroughs for men on foot which one supposes are meant to keep out the moose; I wonder just how effective this effort has proved to be. Today was calm and without precipitation but just once I’d love to see this province without a heavy leaden sky glowering overhead. Took my own head to find my way to Hartt Island RV Resort beside the Saint John River in Fredericton. Highway 2 may be faster but Highway 102 follows the river and is a shorter route. I still have 264 miles or 426 km to go to reach Halifax tomorrow. When I crossed the border this morning I lost an hour.