From Ontario to Quebec to New Brunswick.....

Our Location: Walmart Front Parking Lot, Edmunston, New Brunswick

We've been having connection issues with the Jet Pack and so I'll summarize our travels. 

We arrived last Friday at Riverbend Park and were told the mosquitos are plentiful, okay not a problem, we’re staying a few days but being from Northern Ontario we’re used to flying pests right? Well let me tell you, we have no idea how fortunate we are in our summer location with the bugs. Here we couldn’t go outside without being covered from head to toe, and I mean COVERED, not 20 or 30 but hundreds, they came in on everything and were like bees in a swarm.

 

Our stay in Carlton Place, heading into Ottawa and the cloud cover.

 

Ottawa as seen from the Dogsled as we cruised by. 

 

We had to get out of the Igloo on Saturday for a while, we were going a bit stir crazy and headed into Carlton Place a short distance away. The Dogsled steering was off as we pulled into the store parking lot and I didn’t like it at all. We’d passed a Chevy Dealership just down the road on way to the store so I headed back there, they were 5 minutes from closing. Two technicians came out and checked it out, it could be any number of things but we’re pretty sure it’s something to do with 2/4/4hi-lo drive. They put us in a cute little Chevy Trax free of charge and said they’d call Monday morning with the results. Hmmmmm…okay the power train is still covered for another 20, 000 miles, but electrical issues aren’t. So we’ll have to wait and see. Back to the Igloo we went with our little tiny Trax and the mosquito population which kept us trying to get to the door 4 times before they finally stopped picking us up and carrying us away. Saturday night and most of Sunday it rained which also put a damper on our sight seeing ideas. Instead we stayed in, watched some movies, had a nap and just hung out. 

 

Between Ottawa and Montreal, including crossing into the province of Quebec.

On our way to Drummondville, QC. Love the stop lights, side ways instead of up and down, much easier to see.

 

Monday morning 8:30 am the dealership called, they can’t find anything wrong with the Dogsled, they think it was stuck in 4 wheel drive but it was no longer stuck. All the fluids are good, right levels, right colours, no smells, no issues in the front diff either. So we’re good to come pick up any time. By 10 am we’re in the little Trax heading for the dealership, picked up the Dogsled quickly. Thanks to Kathleen, and Matt for their help during our stressful time. We left the dealership, crossed to Walmart for haircuts and a quick little few groceries. We noticed no bugs of any kind. So instead of staying for another night at Riverbend Park we opted to come to the Walmart out of the bugs and the wet. Fill the Dogsled’s water bowl as I’m not connected to the Igloo, always easier that way. Home we go, hook up, pack up, fighting the mosquito’s the whole time. My pant legs were covered with at least 100 buggers on each leg, not mention all the other places they were that I couldn’t do much about. Half an hour later we’re ready to pull out, three turns of the wheel and whoosh we sunk. Now we can’t go anywhere, not in any drive 2, 4 or 4 lo. Tires are full of mud and we’re three feet from being on the gravel driveway. Top it off, it’s pouring rain again. Hmmmm…this is not a good thing in my opinion. I think Mr. Murphy is back, and I’d like to send him elsewhere. 

 

Sights between Drummondville and Edmunston, NB. Including Quebec City in the bottom two photo's, can you see it off in the distance?

Martin owns Riverbend Park but had nothing big enough to pull us out. We’re only down a couple of inches and I stopped no use burying us deeper. So I called the Auto Club and guess what NO trouble with the membership now but the lady tells me I don’t have RV coverage and they can’t service my 5’er. I told her I don’t want them to service the trailer, just pull out the truck. She tells me I’ll have to sign a waiver before they hook up the tow truck. Send him anyway. Nice fella arrives within about a half hour, hooks up one cable to the front of the Dogsled and he pulls us out of  the slicked up muddy spot. He didn’t ask me to sign anything before hooking up, just to sign that I was happy with the tow. I was very happy with the tow, he didn’t care that the Igloo was attached. Martin the owner offered to pay for the tow and also gave the driver a tip. You can’t beat that for helpful now can you? Out of the mud we stopped to dump the tanks on the way out. We topped up the fresh tank to about 2/3 and headed off down the road. We arrived at Walmart since we’d already asked about staying and were told we could most definitely stay. A quick parking lot set up, we made lunch, cleaned up and then headed out for a walk. Riley, Jan and I made two rounds around the outside of the lot, then Jan and I continued for another two rounds. The wind is a bit crisp, fairly good speed and there are NO mosquitos at all, not even one. A much better place to park, no standing water, no soggy grass and no bugs.

 

More of Quebec City as we passed by, and the highway heading further north east.

Tuesday found us on our way toward Montreal, Quebec. Uneventful travel day, we simply followed the 417 East to Provincial Highway 30 East to PH 20 North until we reached Drummondville, Quebec. We stayed in an empty parking lot near the Walmart in Drummondville for two nights, the rains have just continued to fall almost the whole time. I needed a break from driving in the rain. We debated about sight seeing in Quebec City but as all of the road signs are in french with no english anywhere we decided against it and instead just motored on northward on PH 20 past QC and not quite as far as Riviere du Loop, QB, taking exit 499 we headed toward Edmunston, NB which is where we are located tonight. An information centre just past the NB provincial line netted us some information for our time here in this province. Tomorrow morning, Friday June 8 we’ll head a bit north but  mostly east heading for the shores that brush against the Atlantic Ocean where we will find a nice park and stay for a few days while we spend some time exploring the area. We haven’t explored much due to a few reasons including the weather, cool, wet, rainy, with splashes of sunshine on occasion but not very encouraging. Hopefully by the end of the weekend we’ll find some blue skies and warmer temperatures. 

 

Some of today's views in the province of Quebec.

We drove along the St Lawrence Seaway for most of the day today.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

Finally into the province of New Brunswick!!!!

Until next time…. take care, be safe,

Deb

Going to rest for a couple of days now....

Our Location:  Riverbend RV Park, Pakenham, Ontario

A nice night for sleeping or at least nothing bothered me last night. I fell into bed right around 10 pm and didn’t hear a thing until 5 am this morning. According to sister Jan there were lots of kids out and about screaming and yelling, etc around 11:30 pm. Seems they too were staying at the Walmart overnight. 

Some of the sights as we drove along Trans Canada Hwy 17 East between North Bay and Pakenham in Ontario.

We were all up by 7 am, packed and ready to head out again this morning at 8:30 am. We were happy to leave North Bay behind us in our mirrors and point the Big Dog’s nose east once again. We pulled back on to TransCanada 17 to continue along our way. 

Leaving  North Bay, lots of water around, some rivers, some marsh, some bigger bodies as well.

Lots of little towns dot the landscape between North Bay and the Ottawa area. I won’t try to tell you the names other than the few that stick in my mind, Deep River, Mattawa, and Arnprior.

Of  course fog was constantly seen over most of these bodies of water.

We stopped a couple of times, once for fuel and while we didn’t really see the parking lot accident I certainly heard it. A Chevy Silverado backed into some little Honda car as it sneaked behind to get to the gas pumps. Ironically a police officer was just returning to his own cruiser when the accident happened. Who says there’s never a cop around when you need one? 

Blossoms, lilacs, and lots of green are now everywhere.

Our next stop was a leg stretch in Deep River at a church/school parking lot. We didn’t realize it was a school lot until we read the the bus signs. Didn’t matter we were there for 10 minutes and then gone. 

Some long sweeping vista, road signs are in kilometers, and a bit of rusty looking water tower in Deep River.

A bit of rain, a bit of sun, hot, humid weather and a few rumbles of thunder have been the call for the day today. I believe this weather will now pass us by as we’ve been heading east right along with it but will staying for a few days right here in this park. I do wish we’d have a thunderstorm though that might help the humidity that has locked in around us these last number of days. 

Some of the sights we noticed along the way.

We arrived at River Bend Rv Park in Pakenham, Ontario near Ottawa around 1 pm this afternoon. We parked here last fall when we came for sister Jan’s daughter’s wedding. Brittany and Kevin were married at the end of September and have since left the Ottawa area, moving to Newfoundland where Kevin is now a member of the RCMP detachment in Port au Basque. They are expecting their first baby, a boy, in mid to late September. 

Deep River hosted our rest stop in the church parking lot.

We are parked in J2, not far from where we parked last fall. This spot is closer to the road and near to a marshy area and the mosquito’s are horrendous. We’ve sprayed all the screens with bug spray  and I can tell you we won’t be outside here doing much. According to the park owner they’re waiting for the dragon flies to arrive as they apparently help control the mosquito population. 

Arnprior is where we get off Trans Canada Hwy 17, and head toward Packenham.

I called my dad but had to leave a message as he’s off gallivanting around the country side somewhere. After the message leaving effort I started lunch preparations, we finally finished eating, and doing dishes by around 3 pm. 

I enjoyed this drive for the most part, some great views.

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing, reading and doing a few things to entertain ourselves. Called my dad again to chat, he says it's cold, rainy and windy back on the rock. 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit.

Until next time… take care, be safe,

Deb