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... 

ON EDIT: LONG TIME READER MAEBEME POSTED:

MaebemeMonday, September 28, 2026 at 1:50:00 PM CDT

I chuckled at your comment about Rue Macaroni, then thought, I think you may have misread the sign. It's actually Rue Marconi named for the inventor of the wireless telegraph. There was a station built in the area.

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 tidal 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

Day 8 - Canadian Maritimes - Tires and Ferry - Sainte-Sophie to Sorel-Tracy

Waking up in Sainte-Sophie, we were on a mission to get the new tires for the cargo trailer as soon as possible. The nearest Canadian Tire was about 15 miles away in Saint Jerome.  For some reason, our GPS wanted us to take back roads instead of the main highways. We weren't sure why? But we decided to do it anyhow. Later we'll figure out why... Lol!

We got to the Canadian Tire store and out of the eight clerks, only one spoke any English to really help us. Using our translator app on the phone we were able to connect and make ourselves understood. One cute young girl behind the counter is trying to learn English from a book. It was kind of fun trying to interact and figure out what we were doing and who to talk to and what to get. She finally came out of the back storeroom with the exact tires that we needed. With a big smile, I might add! 

We checked the date codes, and yes they were both fresh new tires. Then we went over to the service counter where the gentleman explained that they did not have the time to take our wheels and rims off our trailer to swap over the tires. But if Steve could take them off himself, they would have the time to actually remove our old tires from the rims, put on the new ones, and balance them too. Then Steve would have to put them back on the trailer again himself out in the parking lot. That sounded good to us, rather than having to wait sometime in the afternoon or the next day to get them swapped over!

We went out in the parking lot and Steve took off the remaining old tire, with just the spare and a jack holding the cargo trailer in the air for that short span of time.

He went back inside while I waited in the parking lot with Nick in the motorhome. Nothing happened to the cargo trailer while he was gone. We were in a pretty level flat area of the parking lot. 

It didn't take very long at all and he was wheeling his cart back with the two new tires on our own rims. Now he would put the spare back on the front hitch rack and we would be driving on two brand new matched tires.

Quick as a bunny, Steve handled the job of installing the new tires. He had been doing this type of work ever since he was a young teenager. He worked at a gas station in a small town in Door County, Wisconsin. He handled things like tire repairs and small engines, as well as pumping gas and automobile services. Jack of All Trades, I tell you!

The total of two trailer tires cost:

$240.28 CAN

$172.43 US

Then mounting, balancing and

 disposal of the old tires 

$57.49 CAN

$41.25 US

Now for the return trip to the Sainte-Sophie area where we started. OH MY GOSH! By now it was Noon Rush Hour and we tried taking the main roads and arteries to get back to where we started from. It was absolutely madhouse, complicated by construction and multiple detours. We were crawling along in bumper-to-bumper traffic and rerouting ourselves over and over again trying to find ways through city blocks of residential areas. Traffic was snarled up everywhere and now we see why. We should have just taken the backcountry roads behind the Canadian Tire back the way we had come. I think it took over an hour to go 15 miles!!!

Finally we got back to the area we needed to be, and headed further east along the St Lawrence River, trying to stay north of Montreal and bypass it completely. The more we stay out of the big cities, the better. Now if we could just get over the river without having to go up into the city of Quebec??? 

We found the perfect answer, a ferry crossing of the St Lawrence in a tiny town called St Ignace de Loyola to hop on the ferry and cross over to Sorel-Tracy.  It wasn't going to cost much but it was going to save us a lot of grief and traffic snarl up around Quebec. 

We stopped first at a little city park near St Ignace de Loyola and made a little lunch. Then we timed ourselves to hit the ferry mid-afternoon so we wouldn't be in Evening Rush Hour traffic waiting in line. We could see from Google Earth photos in the past of cars lined up waiting to load on. So I think we timed ourselves perfectly...

As we pulled up, they were just loading and we really didn't even have to wait. It didn't cost too much for the motorhome and the cargo trailer:

$31.65 CAN  $22.62 US

We had a choice to get out and walk around on the ferry before we set sail. But once the other vehicles were parked around us tight we wouldn't have been able to get back into the motorhome doors. With Nick on board, we decided to just stay inside of the motor home during the journey across the river.

We could lean forward and take pictures through the windshield, all around. While we were waiting for the boat to take off, it was nice to get settled in and refill our coffee cups for our "cruise". Lol

The ferry gently edged away from shore and we could suddenly feel a buoyancy and movement of the boat. Not a lot because the waters were calm. But we knew we were on our way. 

Here is Captain Steveio of the SS Winnebago View---

I guess that makes me KarenInTheWoods First Mate?

We also happened to find a little stowaway on board. Do you think we should make him walk the plank?

Nawwwww --- he's too stinkin' cute.

This ferry is operated by the Quebec Ferry Corporation. The fees are low because it's an important part of the transportation system. It helps alleviate the congestion in the larger cities by getting people to cross the St Lawrence in more remote areas of the province. 

The flags were fluttering in the wind as we were sailing across the river. This was a really nice way to get around, plus we aren't using any diesel fuel to do so.

Nick soon relaxed on the love seat and we cruised in peaceful comfort. It wasn't a very long cruise across the river, but it was fun.

Steve said it's the only type of cruises we like, not a lot of people and we aren't dipping and swaying out in the ocean.

We disembarked and found our way easily through of the town of Sorel-Tracy. Just east of the town a little bit was a beautiful little city park, in a suburb of the town. It was called Saint Anne de Sorel. Overnight stays were permitted. We found a really cozy spot tucked up next to some hedges near the playground. From here we could watch the big ships go up and down the St Lawrence Seaway.  We got settled in and Steve took out a couple lawn chairs. We took out the grill to make up some dinner because we were secluded between the motorhome and the hedge.

We were listening to four young boys on the other side of the hedge. They really couldn't see us, but we could kind of observe what they were doing. 

They appeared to be between the ages of 6 and 10. They were stretching out their shirts in front of them like a pouch and loading them up with wood chips from the playground surface. They were struggling up the steps of the spiral slide and dumping their loads at the top! The wood chips would then slide down to the bottom and another boy would try to catch them in the front of his shirt. Their shirts were all stretched out and filthy dirty in no time. We kept giggling at them. They were so cute. One young man finally took his shirt off completely. He was loading it full with the biggest loads of wood chips. It took two of them to struggle and haul it in cooperation with each other to the top of the slide. They dumped their load but it just wasn't sliding very well. So they had to sit down and slide. They pushed the pile from behind with their legs spread like a snow plow. Pushing all those wood chips back down to the other two boys who were waiting at the bottom!! It was hilarious, but it was also good to see four young kids having fun instead of sitting home on electronic devices. 

(The next morning, we saw two of them return on their way to the school bus stop. They each had to try and do one more load, even in their school clothes. I bet their mothers were impressed??)

We watched several large ships come up the river. We used our marinetraffic.com website to check on who they were and where they were going. This one was hauling concrete to Toronto.

It was quite nice, relaxing in the shade between the motorhome and the little hedge. It was our own little private patio/park area.  Sometimes, after a long day of tire changing and "cruising", you need to relax...

But one more thing had to be taken care of, Steve took out his Viair portable air compressor pump. The shop had only put in 30 lb of pressure. These tires really need to be at 40, according to the sidewall with the maximum of 60.

He had them both topped off and screwed our Tireminder TPMS sensors back on. Tire pressure monitoring system.  We use those vigilantly on all six tires of the motorhome as well as both tires of the cargo trailer. We can monitor our temperatures and pressures all on an app on my phone as we are driving down the road.

One more thing taken care of, 

 one less bump in the road.

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

90 miles traveled today 

1,017 miles traveled so far

Day 7 - Canadian Maritimes - Sainte-Sophie and Tire Trouble on Cargo Trailer

We are now one week into our Canadian adventure to the Maritime Provinces. It sure has been fun and we are excited to get further ahead to the East and see the ocean! 

The terrain was very agricultural, and we drove through a lot of pretty countryside. Neat little farm houses and small farms. No mega farms. 

It's funny, but to us this could look like any road in Wisconsin. We kind of laugh about that. But it's good to see how things are the same just as much as how things are different. That's part of expanding our horizons when we travel.

We looked for ways to skirt around the top of Ottawa city so we didn't have to go through the middle of town. We jig-jogged on little roads until we found our way around. If we can avoid the three big cities of Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec, then we will consider ourselves lucky. Our GPS programs always want to take us through the middle of the big cities.

The least big city driving we do, the better. We would rather look at things like this then at billboards and tail lights of other vehicles in front of us.

We made our way to a small community called Sainte-Sophie. They offer a cute little city park right in the middle of their downtown. There is a dump station, free potable water, nice bathrooms with heated hot water! It's a pretty little city park with benches and tables and a pergola and pretty street lights and beautiful flower plantings. They offer seven large RV pull through sights that are wide enough that you can extend your slides if you need to. We were the only ones there.

It was starting to rain so things were a little cloudy. So these pictures are kind of dark.

I cooked up a delicious pan of chicken alfredo, using up the rest of the grilled chicken Steve made that we had in our freezer. It was kind of damp and cool, so it was good to have something warm and home-cooked. Comfort food.

After dinner, Steve was doing our normal "walk around" checking the motor home and checking the cargo trailer. He suddenly noticed something very unusual with one of the cargo trailer tires! 

(They were just fine when we left home, but they are the original tires from when we bought the trailer 3 years ago) 

I'm trying to get out and walk short distances on my sore knee, using straight legs and putting some weight on it. I was just getting back from hobbling around with Nicholas, and Steve had the jack out and was already removing the tire off the cargo trailer.

In no time at all, he had the bad tire off and he had mounted our spare. We had picked up a new spare when we bought the trailer 3 years ago. So we knew that was in good shape.

I am so thankful that Steve has the tools and the ability to change a tire quickly in a parking lot. We do have roadside assistance on our insurance, but that would be a lot of hassle and rigmarole trying to get somebody to come and take care of this for us.

Yep, after closer examination it appears that a belt broke loose within the tire and made it oval shaped. It was wearing severely on some portions of the tread, and really could not be trusted even one more mile. I am so glad that he noticed this condition.

The tire is from 2019, so that's making it 7 years old. It should be replaced anyhow. So it's a good time to do it, and replace the other one as well. It's always best to do them in pairs.

I checked online and the nearest Canadian Tire was about 15 miles away. They actually had 20 of the tires in stock of the exact size of what we needed. So we knew that first thing in the morning, that is where we would be going...

The price of the tires at Canadian Tire, after the exchange rate, will actually be cheaper than if we had bought the ones we were originally looking at in Wisconsin before we left.

Just one more little bump in the road. But easily handled.

156 mi travel today 

927 miles traveled so far