2 Miles and 4 Feet from Home

Friday, July 17, 2015

New Brunswick

Well the temperature did get down to about 45 last night. We were really not prepared for that in fact I told Lyn to leave one of our blankets at home to create more room in the car. I can still picture it on the couch. We had read about temperatures in the 50’s and thought we were prepared. Anyway it was a cold night. Luckily Lyn had a sleeping bag that allowed her to stay warm while I tossed and turned a bit. Anyway we got up about 7 and walked Jasper. I fixed Lyn some coffee and a kind of make do breakfast. In other words make do with what we had in the cooler. I fixed scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese. This with the coffee hit the spot. It both warmed us up and got us going! Today would be a travel day. We were headed to Prince Edward Island which was over 9 hours away. We decided to stop in New Brunswick along the way and break up the driving a bit. We would follow the Canada Transcontinental Highway the entire way. It was beautiful with lots of warnings about Moose crossings! We never actually saw one and I guess that is a good thing. We stopped at the New Brunswick Visitor center that was nice in just about every way. They had great picnic areas and a great information center complete with Wifi. We hung out there for about 30 minutes and got information on a campground that we could stay at for the night. Finally after several more hours of driving we saw the turn for our campground. We turned off the exit but our GPS said we had 25 minutes left to go. Oh well we decided to follow and see what happened. We took turn after turn after turn and ended up going through a very rural neighborhood that ended at a dead end that turned into our campground. When I pulled up to the little registration house it had a sign on it that said working in the back yard. Finally a lady came out that had the same surprised look that we did. Anyway we were not 100% convinced about this place but she gave us a map and showed us where the tent campers could camp. She told us to go pick a place and come back and we would settle up. Well we went over a hill and saw a beautiful lake and as luck would have it they had several spots available right on the lake. We went back up and told her the spot we wanted and for $29 we could have a little spot of heaven for the night. We drove back down to the site and set up camp. It was about 65 degrees and sunny. In other words about perfect. I went back to get ice and firewood and she reminded me to have Jasper on a leash at all times unless I took him swimming and then no leash was required. Love it!. The firewood was only $5 and came with 14 pieces with kindling and newspaper. They also said they would deliver it to our site. This was a deal for sure. We went back to our site and Lyn fixed a great dinner. When we finished a guy showed up with the wood and we were treated to a nice fire to sit by before we went to bed. Tonight is going to be cold again. May just have to let Jasper join us for the extra warmth. Tomorrow we head for Prince Edward Island and will see whatever it has to offer.

Breakfast!

Some of the best instant coffee!

New Brunswick Visitor center.

Now we are on Atlantic time!

View from our Campsite!

And we had great Wifi!

Dinner time!

Jasper time!

Camp fire!

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Quebec City

We slept really good with the temperature getting down to the upper 50’s. Pretty much perfect! Jasper got me up about 6 and I took him for a walk and then decided to take a shower. The bathrooms at this KOA are especially nice with fancy tile and plenty of room to lay your things out. One odd but great thing is they play music pretty load inside. This morning they were playing a special on the stones and it was really a great way to start the day! Janice and John had invited us to breakfast and were treated to eggs and ham, bacon, fresh fruit and other goodies. Yum Yum! Today we were going to tour Quebec City. I had been for a quick visit one time before and knew we were in for a treat. The great thing today is that Janet and John told us they would keep Jasper while we went. While we love taking Jasper everywhere we usually do not have an opportunity to go in places together as one of us has to stay with him. We could tell he was in good hands as they have two dogs of there own Prissy and Bo. They are beautiful dachshunds. Quebec City was only about 20 minutes away and we arrived there about 9:30. We parked along the river and started to climb into the town. One block in and we were already stunned at its beauty. I kept telling Lyn that it was even better at the top so I kept pressing us onward while telling her we would check out these shops on the way back down. Finally after about a 15 minute climb we were at the top and on the promenade deck looking over the river. The view is spectacular! You really could spend hours just walking in that area but behind us was the town and it is about as charming as it can get. It had great architecture and every side street invited you to come take a look. There were lots of shops and restaurants and historical places. Since we did not have Jasper we were free to go in the shops, churches and restaurants which was a treat. Thanks again Janice and John! We ended up eating at a little place that served ribs. One of Lyn’s favorites. We split the meal which was just the right amount for lunch. I had a local beer with my meal and it was delicious and relaxing. When we came in they asked us if we wanted to sit in the window that faced the street. This was a great way for them to advertise since everyone walking by could see our nice meal and gave us a great view while we ate. We enjoyed every minute and then headed back down to our car taking many detours along the way. The weather was dialed in at 75 and sunny. After we got back to camp we washed clothes caught up on the blog and decided we needed a nap. Sometimes life on the road catches up with you and this was one of those times. We slept for about an hour and a half and then headed down to Janice and Johns for dinner. We brought leftovers from the night before and some local wine and they had steaks, salad and corn on the cob. We put it all together and Voila another great meal. After dinner John built a fire and we sat around having great conversations and roasting marshmallows. What a great way to end the night. We went home around 9:30 and got some extra blankets out of the car. Tonight’s low is expected to be around 48 degrees. Yikes!!! Tomorrow we are headed to Prince Edward Island. It s almost 10 hours of driving. We will probably stop somewhere along the way to keep our driving time down and our relaxing time up.

Breakfast!

Janice and me. I

think Lyn caught me mid chew.

Prissy and Bo!

Citadelle de Quebec

Quebec City

Notre-Dame of Quebec

Notre-Dame of Quebec / Lyn lit a candle and wrote a note in honor of her Mom and Dad in the guest book.

Quebec City

Citadelle de Quebec

Quebec City

Lunch time!

Yum Yum!

Quebec City

Citadelle de Quebec

Dinner time!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

On to Quebec City!

The plan for today is a rest day. We will travel to Quebec City but our only plan is to set up camp and relax. The drive will only be about 2 hours and 45 minutes so this will be an easy day. We got up about 7 and walked jasper. Then we packed our stuff and got ready for the day. We went down to eat breakfast around 8 and remembered that we had to move the car by 8 so they could clean the streets. Parking here has been a dance for sure. First you look for free parking then when that is not available you look for metered parking. It is free from 9PM until 8AM but until that time it is $3 an hour. There are also signs on the street that tell you when they are going to be cleaned so you need to be aware of that as well. Anyway if you lived here a bike would be the way to go or maybe the bus when the bike would not do. After moving the car we had a leisurely breakfast we decided to head out about 9. Benoit our host said his good-byes earlier and told us to leave the key with the cashier at the coffee shop. He was super laid back and best I can tell seems to be living a super laid back life. Anyway the drive to Quebec City was uneventful and we only stopped once on the way there. Once we arrived at the Quebec City KOA we set up camp and checked in with our friends Janice and John. They were doing a similar trip to ours but were doing it in the opposite direction. They bought a full size camper last year and were on a 6 week trip. Wow 6 weeks!!! They are truly our hero’s. Anyway we decided to have them over for dinner so we went to the local Walmart to buy some groceries. This Walmart was very unusual. They had no fresh food. All of their produce and meats were frozen. Kind of crazy. Anyway we found another grocery store and got our supplies for dinner there. Lyn was cooking dinner and the sky started to get darker. A quick check of the weather showed that we were in for a lot of rain but that it should hold off until after about 9 PM. Janice works with me at Southern Guilford High School we have worked a lot of years there together. We both swapped stories of our trips while eating Lyn’s delicious meal made up of Pan-fried chicken, homemade mashed potatoes and green beans. We completed the meal with a store bought apple pie. Yum Yum!!! We talked til about 9 and then it started to rain. We said a quick goodnight and pretty much dove into the tent. We fell asleep about 10 while listening to the rain hit our tent It was peaceful, cool and we were dry. What more could you ask for. Tomorrow we plan to have breakfast at their place and they have offered to keep Jasper while we explore Quebec City. (One quick note that just happened while I was writing this blog. We have the picnic table on a bit of a slant. As I went to get up the entire table started to fall back on me and I watched as my computer started to be higher than me. I quickly rolled out of the table to let the table stay were it was. I thought I had done this unnoticed however I did here a couple of kids laughing a few sites a way. I just stood up faced them and took a bow. Not sure why but it just felt right. I know, I know, no more apple pie for me!)

Across from our place.

Heading out of Montreal.

On our way.

Be prepared for standing cyclist!

Dinner with Janice and John!

Lyn's new favorite drink!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Montreal!

We woke up around 6:30 and I took Jasper for a walk and fed him breakfast. It was nice and cool outside. My kind of weather. When we got back Lyn and I took showers and got ready for the day. This place has a shared bathroom and a shared kitchen. So far we have had them both to ourselves. We do have our own small Balcony that looks over Rue Bernard Quest. In the morning this allows us to see the neighborhood waking up. Lots of people use bicycles and it is common to see a Mom with one kid on their bike and one in a trailer. They also have bikes you can rent for only $5 for 24 hours. Wow what a deal! About 8 we went down to the coffee shop below and had breakfast. This was included in the Air Bnb pricing. The coffee shop hads a real funky vibe and we loved it. I ordered a Popeye omelet and Lyn had a banana and chocolate crepe. Lyn had a coffee and I had a cappuccino. It was delicious. What a great way to start the day.

After breakfast we grabbed Jasper ad headed to Montreal’s historic district. I have to admit I had done no research on this area so we were in for nothing but surprises. We found Parking and headed out. Wow what a treat. We loved the feel of it right away. The only problem was that we needed a map. Lyn noticed that free wifi was available and so I downloaded a map of the area. It lead us to the visitor center where we were able to get a map of all of the attractions. We visited Notre-Dame and many other historic sites and we also went in lots of shops. We would take turns staying with Jasper while the other one was in the attraction. Usually while we waited with Jasper people would come up and oo and ah over him. He loved it! After walking around for about three hours we headed to the park that backed up t the river. It was beautiful in just about every way. After about 5 hours just being out and about we decided to go get some gas and head home and relax a little. The day had gotten hot and we were all tired. Jasper was worn out and I think was happy to see his bed. Our room does not have air-conditioning (Most do not here.) so we decided to sit on the shared back deck and just enjoy the shade. Lyn fixed lunch from leftovers from our family reunion from the day before. It was great. Finally we took a short nap and then took Jasper for a walk around the neighborhood. By this time the sun was finally off of our balcony so we sat outside and just watched life go by. I think I could get use to that. Anyway we needed to finish up some food in our cooler so Lyn made a salad and we had dinner on the balcony. There are plenty of things we did not do in Montreal but we did enjoy every minute. So we will just have to come back in the future. Tomorrow we go to Quebec City and get back to doing what we love….Camping!!! We are meeting friends from my work there and looking forward to checking it out and seeing what it has to offer.