We had a leisurely start to the day. It was shortly after 8 when we got underway. Had to talk to the lovely couple from outside Ottawa who were on their way to BC to visit their son who had just moved to Lillooet. I had to tell them about this wine that Gary and Dale introduced to Margery, which is gathering a reputation. The TransCanada was quiet except for the semis and occasional car. Trees lined the highway. We left Ontario and entered Quebec and as we were going along Greg and I said at the same time “was that a person lying on the side of the road” . We stopped and Greg backed up the RV and truck (which are about 60 feet long) and I rolled down the window to get a better look. Saw some twitching so called out to the man if he needed some help. He replied No, just having a rest. Phew. We had visons of calling the police and trying to tell them where we were. We were near Duparquet but didn’t figure that out till later when we passed through it. Figured we had to stop as we could see the headlines “person on the road and no one stopped”. The day proceeded. We saw several gold mines and one I thought was Bauxite (MacEwan was the company) but no internet tonight as I write this for me to check it out. We passed through Malartic and did discover that it is one of the largest gold mines in Canada. Saw a road sign to watch out for people in horse and buggies. Next stop was Val d’Or. This was fun as we had to go right through the town and around traffic circles in our big rig. Even stopping for diesel was an adventure; trying to get to the pumps and back out again. We had to pass by several before we found one that we had some hopes of getting to the pumps (we did have to back up to do this). Sometimes I have a vision of one of those planes that can fuel other planes in mid air swooping down on top of us and giving us diesel. We bumped and careened along the terrible highway. We postulated that the 13 billion in equalization payments given to Quebec wasn’t used for maintenance of the TransCanada in this part of the province (not making a comment on whether these payments are good or bad). We began to look for our campsite and finally saw the sign “camping Lac Rapide”. We turned off and the sign said 6 K and after 6 K we ended up in a first nations village. This was definitely not it. I got out and went and talked with a very nice young woman who was very helpful…. More backing up and down we went to the highway and a short distance down the road just as she told us was the real campground. The “highway” bounced the dickens out of us, the RV and the truck. We were pleasantly surprised (and pleased) to find that nothing new had shaken off, broken off, or vibrated off. Greg on the other hand, did not fare that well. The constant jolting took its toll on his sciatic, and tail bone. Three cheers for Advil. As we were …you guessed it— backing into the site we heard a loon. Made it all worthwhile. No services except non potable water, so you will have to wait for the next installment.
The constant bouncing, jostling and shaking also contributed to the fact that there is only one photo today that was taken somewhere after we entered into Quebec and one of Lac Rapide just behind our site.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Just read your last few entries. Isn’t it lovely to meet these lovely people along the way? I wonder what Geraldton was like when Bryson was there. It is a long drive, I know that having done it but the map really brings it home. When do you think you will be in Fredericton?
Dorothy:
Thanks for reading our blog. Its nice to know we have an audience. Its kind of like being a radio announcer, they talk into a microphone and hope that someone is actually listening. Don’t forget that you can subscribe so that it just shows up in your email. You won’t have to go looking for the new entries.
We have made it to Gagetown, but because many of the stops did not have wifi, some had no cell covereage and occasionally, not even electricity, the blog is actually a couple of days behind where we actually are (each blog entry can take between 1 and 2 hours by the time everything gets written, photos picked, up loaded, downloaded, crossfried, stir fried, boiled, etc. Hope to bring the blogs up to date over the next few days.