Day 12- Canadian Maritimes - Cloridorme and Cantine Parking with POUTINE!

Waking up in Cap Seize, it was dark and grey and it was time to hit the road again. The winds had finally died down from the last 2 days, and we felt it was good to work our way back down along the seashore. The main route around the Gaspe Peninsula runs basically along the seashore with just a few roads that cut through the very middle.

Go back down into Saint Ann de Morts with the intention of getting fuel, and also finding a laundromat. Good old Google pointed us to the only laundromat in town. So we really didn't have a choice of all clean or dirty it was... we really needed to do some laundry because we've been on the road for 13 days. 

Usually when we travel, we bring along this Costway washer/spinner unit. It is so handy and portable. It only weighs 30 lbs. And it doubles as a laundry hamper while traveling. Just put our dirty clothes right inside of it as it sets in our shower stall.  When it's time to do laundry, we just fill it with hot water from the shower head and let it agitate right there in the shower stall. We let it drain right through the floor drain in the shower. Then for rinsing we move the clothes to the side and refill with rinse water with fabric softener. Once that is done, a smaller batch at a time is loaded into the other side where they spin. They actually spin almost dry! Then we hang them on hangers to finish drying by the end of the day. It's so handy.

But sadly, this time we decided to not bring it along. We had figured that we would be doing a lot more boondocking, thus limiting our access to extra water. Onboard water is precious when you don't have a lot of places to fill it like at campgrounds or dump stations. So when planning our trip we decided to bite the bullet and not take it along and hit the laundromats instead. 

In retrospect, we found out that Canada is very welcoming to travelers and almost every town has free access to safe portable water to fill up for travelers like us. If we had known that, we would have brought it along for sure.

Have I mentioned that 

I hate laundromats!!!

 Ugh! 

We gathered our Loonies and Toonies, which are $1 and $2 coins in Canada. Steve grabbed the hamper and I grabbed the soap and dryer sheets. We trudged on in and looked around. This was not very promising. The first three beat up avocado colored machines by the door didn't even have coin boxes in them. We assume they are out of order.

We walked down the row of washing machines and only ONE machine was available. All of the rest were filled with people's clothes, but they were already done running through their cycles. Just sitting there. There was not a single solitary person in the place to unload them! There was one machine that was empty but it was jammed and we couldn't put money in or shake the jammed coins out. So that left us to only one single machine to do two loads of laundry. 

The place was definitely stinky, the floors look like they hadn't been mopped in ages. The bathroom, which was moldy and filthy, stunk to high heaven. This was not going to be fun. But we had already put our money in the first machine and had it filling with water to do our first load.

This big huge extractor machine in the back would have been great, except it had a sign on that said out of order. The sign appears that it had been there for quite some time...

Someone came in and removed two loads of wet clothes and left. So now we had a second machine accessible to load in our second batch. 

While the machines were running, we did have the opportunity to go back in the parking lot and Steve was working on cooking us breakfast. Now it was time to access the dryers.  The first two big turquoise ones didn't look very clean. I think people use them for work clothing? The other six white ones were being used by four other people. So fortunately we have two available for ourselves.

We have learned that laundromat machines either heat up too hot that they burn everything and set in the wrinkles as well as dissolve some of the elastic rubber in clothing. Either that, or the machines don't heat up enough and it takes you three times the coins to get your loads finished. It's really the luck of the draw? 

This was kind of a dreary and desolate place. As our clothes were drying, we didn't even want to fold them on the tables. Bit by bit we picked out the dry items and carried them back to the motorhome in stages.

Yes, this is my "laundromat waiting face" for the rest of the loads to completely dry.

Eventually we had everything trekked on back out to the motorhome. While I finished up the breakfast dishes, Steve brought out the last few items. Some damp things were hung up on hangers and suspended them from the cabinetry to dry while we went down the road.

Soon we were back on the road and working our way along the shoreline. The amazing cliffs and the beautiful sceneries soon took away the ickiness of doing our laundry in a laundromat. We just know next time, we won't second guess ourselves and leave the Costway unit at home!

Even though it was raining, the weather kind of fit the scenery. The salty sea air, and the blustery winds, and the crispness and the cold were all a part of the experience. This is what we were looking for, something different than what we were used to. Traveling along through these tiny villages was a real different environment. We imagined what it would be like to live here, but we knew we really wouldn't want to.

The raw beauty of the land surrounding each of these little villages just reinforced in us the fact that it was very rugged and difficult to live in this part of the country. It takes special people to survive out here. They may have the basic amenities, but they are so far from any large cities including medical and industry, as well as competitive shopping and fuel. So they pay what they have to in these small villages just to get by. I am sure many of them rely on the passing tourists to help their little businesses.

And speaking of businesses, we were told in this little tiny town of CLORODORME-QUEST that there was a little food place down on the quay. 

 (A quay is a man-made structure jutting out into the harbor. It is used for loading and unloading of boats for the fishing industry. It is usually made of dirt and rocks).

This little adorable place called Cantine du Pecheur was said to have the best food in town. Not only that, it would also allow you to spend the night on the quay in complete comfort and silence. Next door there was a little ice cream shop. 

Now this was going to be our FIRST restaurant food of the entire trip. We don't often eat out. But we decided to splurge because we read that their crab and lobster rolls were the absolute best... 

What an adorable little place! They have a takeout window, as well as a few tables off on the side and an outdoor public restroom building detached from their tiny business. We noticed a lot of locals coming to pick up their orders and leaving, so we know the food must be good.

We went up to the window to order and three of the staff people inside only spoke French. They did ask us to wait for the fourth person who was English speaking to come up so we could ask about staying in the lot. He came from in the back where he was preparing food, wiped his hands on his apron, and spoke to us in perfect English. And yes, of course we could stay in the lot. 

We decided to order crab rolls with onion rings and a big pan of poutine! Steve had never tried poutine before and he was very anxious to sample this traditional Canadian delight.

They even said they would bring it to us out in the motor home in the parking lot because it was starting to rain. We walked back along the quay, among the piles of fishing nets and lobster pots and crab cages. This was really a working fishing quay, and we were fortunate to be granted the permission to stay here overnight.

We parked off to one side, 

so we wouldn't block any trucks 

that would be coming and going.

Colorful fishing nets piled up, as well as what are known as lobster pots. They are stacked up together when not in use. But when they are submerged out in the ocean, they are stretched out like long cages to capture the lobsters and the crabs.

Just like this: 

 

Soon we had a little knock knock at the door. The gal working inside had graciously brought out our meal to us. When Steve handed her a tip, she seemed genuinely surprised. I guess she didn't think bringing our meal out to our motorhome was service? It sure was nice of her...

We unboxed all of our goodies, and boy did it ever smell good! Extra special treat was that neither of us had to cook anything for dinner. There was actually enough food here for two meals each. 

We were also surprised to see that our crab roll also included french fries. We were already having quite a bit of food here. So we scooped up the french fries and stowed them away in our freezer for later. We reheat french fries in our air fryer, and they are just as good as the day that they are made. The crab roll was so big that we had to cut it in half to share it between us. Plus we needed a fork to eat up all the extras that fell out because it was overloaded with crab meat.

And now for the POUTINE!!! For those of you who don't know, this is a famous comfort food made with hot french fries, fresh cheese curds, and a rich brown gravy.

Steve had never had poutine before. I did because sometimes traditional Canadian foods wander their way down into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. So this was something that can be found from time to time in the states. Or people just make it at home because they love it after visiting Canada. 

I could eat some of it around the edges, but I can't do the cheese curds. (lactose intolerant). But the gravy is such a rich gravy with a almost red sauce taste texture rather than a regular brown gravy made with flour and meat drippings.  It has a little "zing" to it's flavor.

We also ordered some onion rings on the side, and they were probably some of the best onion rings we've ever tasted. The homemade breading was just perfect as well as the rings inside. I think they were made with Vadalia sweet onions. We really enjoyed them and saved half of the pile to reheat later for another meal.  They came with little dipping containers of honey?? 

Once we were done eating our fill, we put the leftovers away for another day. I had had enough and was stuffed, but Steve saved just a little bit of room to wander over next door to this little ice cream shop also situated on the quay.  We loved the brightly colored buildings which look so attractive against the grayish environment of the harbor buildings. It really helps to stand them out as a business rather than just someone's house. 

He brought back his cup of ice cream for dessert, and that was just the sweet treat he was looking for at the end of such a large meal.

Plus, Nick got to lick out the bottom of the container, so he didn't feel left out.

With full tummies, we curled up in the comfort of our nice cozy warm motor home to watch a little TV before bedtime. We have our star link along so we can watch anything we want with our Roku stick attached to the tvs. Believe me, there aren't any broadcast television stations way out here on the Gaspe Peninsula. 

It was raining on and off through the night. But we didn't care, we were cozy and warm and well fed. Thank you Clorodorme Quest for hosting us.

Here is the YouTube that goes along with today's blog post:

93 miles travelled today 

1,560 miles travelled so far

I think this was also the highest price that we paid for fuel which after converting it to US currency was $8.84 a gallon for diesel!!!