Cross-Canada with the MAHARG's

The forecast was right – it’s raining lightly this morning, so we pulled up the blind in the bedroom at the back of the RV and enjoyed coffee in bed and the view one last time.

We packed up and drove just over an hour further south to Shigawake, QE where Lyndon’s mom’s cousin Carl Hayes and his wife Lois live (some of their kids and grand, great-grandkids live close too).  Lyndon’s parents had visited here a number of times and we had looked forward to our first visit to the area where Lyndon’s grandmother Sarah Dow grew up.

Carl & Lois are both avid genealogists and as they have both spent their whole life in the Shigawake / Port Daniel area know “everyone”.  The Hayes family are now 7 generations old in the area! We were quickly enveloped in stories of numerous relatives in the area.  Thankfully we don’t need to memorize it all, Lois shared her notes and I was able to glean the relationships that helped us fill in the family-tree-blanks.  What a treasure!

They took us for a drive to show us the house where Gramma Dow (born in 18…) grew up and marvel that it still stands today and someone calls it home! We are amazed to learn that if farm land goes unattended here (which a number of the smaller fields have done), they are quickly returned to heavily forested areas.

An added bonus is that Carl’s sister-in-law Gail Hayes is also visiting here, so we’ve enjoyed getting to know her and hearing about her home and family in Belleville, ON.

A few hours down the road we arrived in Perce, QE.  Being the off-season we easily found a campsite in town with a fantastic view of the ocean and the famous Perce Rock.   The town was one of the busier places we’ve been on this trip – clearly a popular place even in September. 

We got onto a boat tour that took us out near Perce Rock and Bonaventure Island, which has one of the largest gannet colonies in the world as well as numerous hiking trails and some historical fishing village homes. 

 Lunch was some yummy seafood chowder and fish cakes at a seaside restaurant followed by some strolling and shopping.

The evenings are already cool and short, so we had an early BBQ supper, fire pit and enjoyed the view from our campsite before heading indoors for the night.

What a spectacular drive we had today!  For the most part, the road hugged the south shore of the St. Lawrence River until it became the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  On the left was the river, and on the right – beautiful cliffs, small towns – usually with a steepled church near the shore, and once in a while a few leaves that are just beginning to change colour.  We were surprised at how many villages line the coast.  The highway was good…until lunch when the construction and sharp inclines/declines started.  It started to rain lightly as we got into Gaspe.

Our campground tonight is against a quiet (we hope) bay.  When we got back from a drive, that may or may not have included a shared banana split, we found our twin RV parked right beside us.  How’s that for a coincidence?

We left Quebec City and followed the St. Lawrence east to Rimouski, QE (doesn’t sound remotely French to me!). 

Three local attractions are located together at Pointe-au-Pere: the lighthouse, a 1960s vintage submarine, and the Empress of Ireland (Canadian Pacific) memorial museum.

The submarine which was built for cold war era patrols never saw active combat was very well cleaned up, labeled and audio-narrated from the perspective of a submariner taking his young nephew for a tour.

We had never heard of the ship called the Empress of Ireland that sank 2 years after the Titanic in 1914.  It was struck by another ship shortly after it left Rimouski.  Most of the passengers died.  The museum has a number of artifacts that have been recovered from the ship that is a popular and dangerous dive site at the bottom of the St. Lawrence.

Last, we climbed the 128 steps and 2 ladders to the top of the lighthouse. The view across the St. Lawrence was worth it, and would have been ever better if it wasn’t raining off and on.  The original prism-ed lens from France is still there and with a kerosene light could be seen up to 45 km away.

Is there such a thing as too many sunset pictures? Not for us….this is at our campsite for our last night on the St. Lawrence. What a great way to say so long to this great river!

Rather than continuing East today, we decided to stay in Quebec another day to let Hurricane Dorian pass through the Maritimes.

Laundry, a little minor RV maintenance, a haircut for me and catching up on the blog were on the to-do list.

We had a quick peek at a waterfall when we drove into Quebec city yesterday and so took the short drive to Montmorency Falls.  The falls are used to generate electricity and so the area below the falls are open and a popular place for families and children to go exploring. 

We got a good start and found a good parking spot at the west end of the Plains of Abraham.  This gave us a great opportunity to walk the full length and take in the various statues and plaques that describe the war that was fought here between the French and English.  The weather was fantastic for our day on foot.

It was lunch time by the time we arrived in the park in front of the picturesque Frontenac Hotel.  We found a street vendor making crepes of many kinds, hot off the griddle.  Lyndon ordered ham and egg and I ordered smoked salmon.  The cook broke an egg and spread it over the crepe just after she flipped it.  We topped it off with a lemon crepe for desert!!

A short, steep ride on the funicular took us down into the pedestrian only streets of Old Quebec.  We were surprised to see how many fur products, full animal pelts and even seal skin boots were for sale.  It was a feast for the fashion savvy – not that we are (shock I know) but no wonder the French women look so snappy, with so many great stores to shop in.  We made a few contributions for their economy and our wardrobes.

We picked up a little musical culture in the form of wooden spoons and a unique light fixture before we huffed and puffed our way back up the hill and to the National Assembly of Quebec.

Being the oldest legislative building we have visited so far, it is definitely the most ornately decorated.  Its décor and history reflects the influence from France.  It also includes many references to England and the Westminster model of government.  The building underwent a major renovation which includes some interesting art – which was created using a variety of holes of varying depths. 

As we set off for Quebec City we were kept very entertained by the GPS’ attempts to pronounce the names of the roads in a convoluted mash of French/English.  Once again we crossed the St. Lawrence – this time via ferry. 

We stopped for lunch at a Tim Hortons at a rest stop in rural Quebec.  Our minimal French language was put to the test and we successfully ordered our lunch in French and got what we wanted!

We navigated our way to the metro train and to downtown Montreal.  Considering all signs and announcements are in French only, we were pleased with our successful navigation.

The sun came out in time for us to enjoy smoked meat poutine at an outdoor café on the promenade.  We even saw the Bluenose II in dock – making its way out the St. Lawrence.

The highlight of the day was visiting Notre Dame Basillica to attend a “Take a Seat at the Organ” (the Casavant Brothers built in 1891 with 4 keyboards, 92 stops and 7000 pipes).  The organist, Pierre Grandmaison, played a number of pieces from classical to pop (Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, Amazing Grace – Singing in the Rain and Theme from Star Wars).  Before he began playing, he invited people to come watch him play and so I did!  He never had music in front of him and it was a treat to watch his feet nimbly navigate the bass pedals.

We packed up and started towards Montreal.  The Iroquois locks were just 20 minutes down the road and we had been told it’s a popular spot for tourists to watch ships and boats navigate through the lock.  Not knowing what to expect, we were pleased to see a large lake tanker in the lock when we arrived and a tug boat and small pleasure craft followed.  It’s amazing to think that regardless of size, all ships/boats have to bypass the power dam using this one lock.

Lunch was a highlight.  We met my cousin Dylan and hubby Calvin in Cornwall and had a fantastic (too short) visit over lunch.  Hard to believe their two kids are both in university!

We arrived at the campground in Montreal in time for supper and another visit – this time with my colleague Eric.  We hadn’t seen each other for a long time, so enjoyed catching up on each other’s news, including that he got married!!

The sun was out today so we took a drive to Mallorytown and on to Rockport.  Mallorytown is very small and unfortunately no merchandise with the town’s name was to be found for our own Mallory.  Rockport is a popular dock for tours of the 1000 islands and we were glad to get onto a 1 hour cruise that took us around a number of the islands, including the famous Boldt Castle.