Day 9 Canadian Maritimes - Gaspe Peninsula - Sleeping By a Submarine at Rimouski

 Ahhhhhh things sure are looking different now! We made it past Quebec City without too much trouble. The eastbound lanes had construction and were narrowed down to two lanes, but we weren't nearly as bad as the westbound. They were stopped at a standstill or moving only at a snail crawling pace. 

I know some people would say we needed to tour Old Quebec and tour the city and tour the museums etc but really, we like to avoid the crowds and the tourists and the traps. We prefer to get out and see natural beauty and lovely things and peace and quiet. So our goal was to scoot around the city as fast as possible, and hopefully on the south side of it, so we could avoid the major snarled up traffic. And we did!

Now we were cruising along the shoreline of the St Lawrence River. It's getting wider and wider and there is definitely more of a sea salt smell in the air coming from the Gulf of St Lawrence at the end.

The views are spectacular even though it was a cloudy day. We wound our way along the shoreline. Sometimes the roads were rough and patched, other times they were smooth like a silken ribbon. This is the traveling that we like to do.

Things were unfolding before our eyes. I kept the camera ready to snap some quick pictures. Otherwise we would pull over if the road allowed and absorb and enjoy the terrain and the scenery.  This is the first of many lighthouses that I was able to take a picture of. The entire waterway of the St Lawrence River needed lighthouses to guide the ships and keep them away from the craggy rocks.

As we wound along route 132, we are heading north and east to loop around the edge of the Gaspe Peninsula. Life, I am sure, is pretty rugged here with the seasons. We admired the little villages with stout homes and sturdy old buildings.  

One thing we noticed is that almost every single solitary home was neat as a pin. There was evidence of pride of ownership and taking care of what you own. It didn't matter what it was worth, it was worth keeping up. Very, very rarely was there a "dumper" house in need of repairs or clean up. You know what I mean. 

As we drove onward, we just noticed how perfect and neat and well-kept these little homes were. And I'm not talking about it just a touristy section of a little town. I'm talking about every house whether it was in town or out in the country. We could see that every one was well maintained and taken care of. The yards were neat and there weren't weeds or scraps all over. Even in the common areas around businesses or agricultural buildings, everything was neat and groomed and maintained. No weeds or junk! 

Some areas were rolling farmland, and other places were craggy rocky shores. I think winding our way along the southern shore of the St Lawrence was a good choice.

Almost every little village or town had a single large stone church. Almost every one had silver steeples. We admired the structure and the rock work of some of these buildings. I can only imagine the craftsmanship and artistry involved in making them. This one is dated 1768.  That is over 250 years old.

Many of these little towns had Inns or boarding houses for travelers.   I think by the size of them, that is what they were. Now later turned into multi-unit housing or airbnbs. Towns were so well kept and felt so "established" with their older structures instead of newly constructed fabricated stuff lining their roads.  Bountiful flowers and hanging baskets were everywhere, even at this time of September.

We admired a lot of the construction and carpentry put into these older homes. Not only that, the maintenance to keep them looking just as beautiful must be an ongoing task. Just look at the brickwork and the columns on this beautiful home. I think it's called a Mansard?

We are seeing all different types of architecture mixed together in these tiny villages. I can only imagine it's from immigrants who came from different countries. Each one brought along their own familiar style or construction that they were comfortable with. What a beautiful mix of homes that are I'm sure between 100 and 200 years old or maybe more?

Even the ones that are getting worked on, look neat and clean during the process. The shutters on this one are really really cute. We have seen some of the other homes that have actual working shutters that close up and batten down during the heavy storms. We are mostly seeing those along the shorelines.

The rough cedar shingles on the sides of the seaside homes are all grayed out from the salt air. It really gives a feeling of "seaside" when you see these weathered looking gray shingles. Very steep roofs are to help with the snow loads, I am sure, on the heaviest winter months. A lot like in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I grew up.

This one really caught my eye! Not only is it cedar shingles, but it's in my favorite colors. As most of you know, our house is white and red. But it's the opposite, we have white siding with red trim. But I really do love the combination.

After a long day of driving, we decided to stop off on this little beachside resting area that was near a trailhead in Rimouski. The name of the road was Rue Macaroni! I kid you not... 

The little parking area was for a trailhead and nature preserve called Réserve nationale de faune de Pointe-au-Père. Even this far inland of the St Lawrence river, the tide goes up and down. Leaving behind title pools among the rocks and some really squishy areas. We didn't dare walk down there because you never know if you're going to lose a shoe in the muck.

We weren't allowed to overnight there but we figured it would be a great spot to spend the rest of the afternoon for a nap and then cook our dinner in the evening. Later we knew exactly where we would move over to sleep for the night.

While putting together the evening meal, I took out our precious jars of pickles. These are from our neighbor Sheryl who makes the most awesome dill pickles and also bread and butter pickles. Steve likes the dill, and I like the bread and butter. So we are slowly rationing them out, one pickle at a time, as we travel. We had to make quite a bit of space in our tiny RV fridge just to bring along these pickles. So you know how good they must really be if we are going to give them that much of our precious square inches on the small refrigerator shelves. 

Even though it was a cloudy day, the shoreline was rugged and beautiful. We really do enjoy looking at the scenery, but I don't think I'd ever want to live here. I'm sure the winter is brutal and lasts a long time.

I'm not sure what the orange colored lichen is growing on the rocks but it adds to the contrast of the dark gray stone. How beautiful...

We watched the sunset, and a few other people came to sit on the rocks of the shoreline and watch it as well. It was a beautiful treat with a sky dotted with clouds. It really illuminated the gorgeous orange colors as the sun went down below the horizon.

As it was just about done with the orange tones, but suddenly flared into a bright crimson red. If you didn't know any better, you would swear the shore line on the opposite side was set aflame in wildfires! But it wasn't. It was just a great tone of the lights playing off the undersides of the heavy dark clouds. What an amazing view.

Before it got totally black, it was time to turn our attention towards the submarine in the background. The light was reflecting off of it's bright silver shiny exterior. What a sight to behold. This submarine is part of a museum, and they allow RVs to park overnight in their lot. The next day if you wish, you can tour the museum and leave a donation. So we knew where we would be staying for the night... It was only a slight distance away from the beach where we watched the sun set.

By the time we got there, it was totally dark. Because of the clouds, there wasn't any moonlight to guide our way. Our headlights illuminated the main route around the building, but we didn't want them shining in the windows of the various RVs that were already parked there. Steve turned down our headlights to just the running lights so we could kind of see our way. In the dark, we picked a spot and pulled in for the night. You can watch that part on our YouTube video link below. We just knew we were level and safe for the night. It was good to put out the slide and crawl into bed. 

We did more driving this day than any other day so far. We usually try to keep around $200 miles or less. Today was actually 318!!

We sure slept good.

The next morning was dreary and dark and gray again. I did get out and take a few photos. This is how the RVs were parked around the edges of the large parking area. There is water on all three sides. It's a wonderful thing that they allow the free RV accommodations overnight.

Nick was not too happy about his bathroom situation this morning. It was all gravel parking lot or big rocks of the rip rap along the shoreline. There was no grass to be seen. He finally had to give up and do his business on the rocks. It was not his first choice, but he had to make due. Or "doo-doo"? 

We started making some coffee and cooking breakfast. A breeze had kicked up, and by the time we were done with breakfast the sky was all blue and the clouds were all blown away! 

It was too early for us to leave a donation at the museum, they weren't going to open until 10:00 a.m. we wanted to hit the road before that. We drove down to the end of the parking lot to loop around and get a view. This big motorhome was at the very end and had a great 360° view over the water. We waved as we drove past and headed on back out to the road.

Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père (SHMP) Sous-marin Onondaga. 

The submarine was probably very interesting, but we aren't so much the museum type people. We're out here looking at natural beauty rather than the historic features of the area. But we appreciated their hospitality.

Here's the video that goes along with today's blog: 

318 miles today 

1,335 miles so far