Wednesday September 9, 1998 - Ontario

Toronto - sunny and warm.

I had a small breakfast and said good bye to Sam, I was on the road by 8.30am. It was a nice drive from La Malbaie to Quebec City along the north shore of the St. Laurence River, through hilly farmland and forest and many small towns. I crossed the river at Quebec City and got onto the TransCanada highway toward Montreal.

Shortly after crossing the river I was adjusting the CD player (and not looking at the road) and I veered off the highway at speed. I zoomed across the grassy verge at 100 kph, knocking down a small reflector post and narrowly missing two larger signposts. By the time I got my foot off the gas pedal I had slid into a swamp by the side of the highway. The truck was at an almost 45 degree angle in the swamp, the 2 wheels on the driver side still on the grass but the other two wheels well into the swamp. I climbed out thoroughly shaken up. There was smoke or steam billowing out from under the truck.

Amazingly, the car immediately behind me on the highway followed me off the road. I guess they thought something was terribly wrong and wanted to help. So by the time I managed to get out of the truck (pushing the door open was hard because it was almost above me) that car was parked beside me and the three men in it were already out and asking me questions in French. Did I fall asleep? What happened? Did I have a rope or chain? I told them that I did have some rope but it wasn't very strong. I tried to dig it out but it was on the passenger side of the cab and I couldn't get at it. The men started talking about what they could do, that they really needed a chain to get my truck out of the swamp.

Just then a cube van also pulled off the highway, it drove a little ahead of us before stopping. We all stared at it: there was a chain wrapped around its rear bumper. The van driver got out and the three men ran to meet him. There was some discussion about whether to try to pull my truck out forwards or backwards and then they wrapped the chain around my truck's front bumper and the car pulled my truck out of the swamp surprisingly easily. They got me to start the truck and drive it forward a few feet to see if it was driveable. On seeing that it was they all left. From start to finish that episode took maybe 20 minutes! But I was still pretty shaken up by it all so spent another 10 minutes or so cleaning mud off the windows and straightening things out inside the truck. It was a good thing I had screwed down my sleeping platform when I was in Whitehorse, the back of the truck was relatively undisturbed by the trip into the swamp.

After that I pulled off the road when I wnated to fiddle with the CD player. The rest of the drive to Toronto was uneventful and as boring as only the highway from Quebec City to Toronto can be. On the outskirts of Toronto I phoned Isaac and Gretel for directions to their place and arrived there around 9.30pm. I told them about the swamp episode and showed them the mud along the passenger side of the truck, which I had not yet cleaned up. Isaac thought it looked kind of artistic, you could see the marks of the bulrushes sweeping along the truck side.

I said I'd really like a beer so Isaac got a sixpack of Corona from their downstairs neighbours. They live in an attic apartment in a three storey house in the Annex part of Toronto. They showed me their theatre in the stairwell between their apartment and the one below. They come into their apartment via an outside fire escape stairwell so the inside stairwell is blocked off at the bottom. It has a landing half way down which is their theatre stage, and the steps from their apartment down to the landing is audience seating area. They have lights on the railing above that shine down onto the stage, and at intermission their kitchen is the theatre bar. Their theatre can hold a grand total of six audience members. We also discussed their plans for the Film Festival opening the next day, which they are participating in. I slept on a futon on the floor of the living room.

Tuesday September 8, 1998 - Quebec

La Malbaie - rainy.

Since the time changed at the New Brunswick-Quebec border I had set the clock back an hour in the cab of the truck, but I forgot to change the clock in the back where I slept. So when I woke up and saw that it was already 6.30am I thought I was going to miss the ferry. But once I got into the cab of the truck I realized my mistake and saw that I was actually early, arriving at the ferry dock at 6.00am. I made breakfast there and boarded the ferry just before 8.00am.

You get a ticket in the line-up parking area and then pay for it on the ship. On the ferry ride I got caught up on my journal. After debarking I drove to La Malbaie and asked for the Katimavik house at the local tourist info house. The coast here reminds me a bit of the Labrador coast, but there mare more trees, farms and towns. It is very pretty.

At the Katimavik house I talked to Christian, the project leader. He told me that Sam was working in Clermont and I could probably see him at lunch time at the City Garage. We talked about Katimavik a bit and how they get the most applicants from Ontario and Quebec and need to advertise more in the other provinces. He said that Jacques Hebert has retired from the Senate recently and is now touring all of the Katimavik sites. They got their budget increased this year and may have 750 participants instead of 600.

I drove to Clermont and chopped up some of my vegetables at a picnic spot by the river and then showed up at the City Garage for noon to meet Sam. He is really enjoying it. Later I went to see their work site where they are clearing trees and brush along a trail by the river.

Sam asked me to stay the night which I agreed to but that definitely throws off my schedule. Also it is further to Toronto than I thought. Oh well.

Around 5.00pm I returned to the Katimavik house in La Malbaie. After some milling around I had supper with the group: fajitas and coleslaw. A bit skimpy due to miscalculation. I brought in all of my CDs from the truck for Sam to go through and pick stuff he wants to tape and I got on the internet on their computer to pick up email. After supper I brought Yohan into the house.

They had a weekly meeting scheduled which I sat in for part of. Five of the participants are francophone and six are anglophone. No one is bilingual so Christian must do a lot of translating. They first debated a statement proposed by Christian that healthy human beings have choices and must therefor take responsibility for their lives. Very interesting debate. The conclusion seemed to be agreement with the statement, but the debate was limited to 30 minutes so who knows what the outcome might have been if they had gone on longer. Then they discussed food, money, work and the schedule of events.

It was a very long meeting and afterward they thanked me for visiting. Part of the group then went out to the local Sub shop, and another part started work on making a clubhouse in the basement. Sam taped the CDs he wanted. I was pretty tired and went to bed in the truck around 11.00pm.

Monday September 7, 1998 - Quebec

Riviere-du-loup - cloud and sun.

Isaac and Gretel got up very early and had left by 6.00am for Toronto. I started packing and was ready to leave by 8.20am. Said my good byes and was off.

I made pretty good time until I got to New Brunswick. First I stopped for souvenirs in Sackville, and then I made awrong turn and started heading for Shediac. I bought gas outside of Moncton and missed my turnoff for the back road via Renous and had to double back. The gas station was right on the turnoff but I didn't realize that at the time.

I stopped for supper on the Renous - Plaster Rock road. It was a beautiful sunny clear day and the leaves are just starting to turn, the hillsides were touched with russet and bronze. I was planning to get cheaper gas in Edmunston but I missed it and ended up going back because I didn't want to pay the Quebec price just yet. And so, as a result of all that I did not get to Riviere-du-loup until 7.00pm and the last ferry across the river was at 6.00pm.

I forgot to mention that Sam had sent me email from his Quebec Katimavik posting saying how much he liked it and giving me his address and phone number in La Malbaie. I looked at a map and realized that it was just across the river from Riviere-du-loup and that there was a ferry crossing there. I thought I could visit him there on the way home. I had also phoned Beth in the Toronto area yesterday and had told her I would be in Toronto on the 8th and could visit her on the 9th. But now that I had narrowly missed the ferry my schedule was going to be all out of whack.

I found a good campground right next to the ferry dock and went to bed early. The first ferry will be at 8.00am so I need to be up early to be at the ferry dock for 6.30am.

Sunday August 2, 1998 - New Brunswick

Kouchibouquac - sunny and warm.

I left Cime Aventure around 8.00 am and drove all the way to Matapedia, then up the Matapedia Valley as far as Amqui. I like the song by the McGarrigles about this river so I wanted to see it. I turned around and came back to cross the Restiguoche to Campbellton, New Brunswick. That was around 2.00 pm Quebec time and 3.00 pm New Brunswick time.

The Matapedia

Both rivers, the Matapedia and the Restigouche, are salmon rivers and both very pretty. The Matapedia is fairly shallow, I saw salmon fishers standing in the river and several canoes going down river. The upper valley is broad with farmland and the lower valley is narrow and V-shaped.

Campbellton

In New Brunswick I took the highway to Kouchibouquac in hopes of getting there in time to get a campsite, but I arrived at 6.30 pm and it was full. So I could have taken the long way around the coast, the highway did not make a difference. At the provincial campground they recommended a nearby private campground, Evergreen Camping, where I managed to get a site. I stopped in Miramichi (Chatham and Newcastle amalgamated) to phone the Meyers, who I will be staying with in PEI. Cindy told me to call her at work tomorrow in Charlottetown before 2.00 pm. Karl was just leaving for a truck haul to New York.

The highway was pretty boring with hardly any rest stops. Quebec has so many that are spaced evenly and actually quite restful, but they have so few out-of-province tourists. It's too bad really, it's a great place to visit and I found francophone speakers very accommodating with anglophones outside of the major cities.

Saturday August 1, 1998 - Quebec

Bonaventure - sunny, warm and windy.

Today I drove from Sainte Luce to Bonaventure, through Gaspe and Perce, stopping for gas, meals and a few brief breaks and photos, but not much else. It was a warm sunny day and very windy. I've seen lots of folk art—carved boats, dolls and so forth. This is the first day I have driven by the ocean since leaving the west coast.

The scenery is very much like Cape Breton. Along the south shore of the Gaspe Peninsula the soil is brown in colour but across the water in New Brunswick it is red. I'd be interested to see a geological map of the region, it is a dramatic change.

I am camped at Cime Aventure in Bonaventure and this being the Saturday of a long weekend it is very noisy here. For a small campground (30 sites) it sure has a lot of parties going on. Earlier this evening there was a group playing tuba, accordion and guitar. There is a group of tipis here, all occupied.

Friday July 31, 1998 - Quebec

Sainte-Luce - sunny and warm

I woke up very early and was out of bed by 6.30 am, but by the time I'd packed and had breakfast it was almost 8.30. Nothing got dried out since I was in the trees, but it was sunny all day so things dried out by evening.

I went into Quebec City and spent the morning walking around the old town at the base of the cliffs and then driving around the Citadel and the Plains of Abraham. I was expecting the Citadel to be a fortress but instead it is an old quarter of the city. Narrow winding streets with old stone buildings. In the old town below the streets are blocked to cars except for delivery trucks and they are chock-a-block full of tourist shops. In the old town above streets are open to vehicles (but only just barely!) and there are more ordinary shops and office buildings.

I took Yohan for a walk but it wore him out, he could barely make it back to the truck. After that we crossed the river and drove through old Levis, the town immediately across the St Laurence from Quebec City. When I used to live in Ottawa I frequently drove to Nova Scotia and just drove past Levis on the Trans-Canada, never actually going into the town.

Levis across the river

I left Levis and continued on the old highway (#132) through a bunch of small towns right on the river. Many craft places (artisanat), especially around St Jean Port Joli, where everybody seems to be a folk wood carver. I got back on the Trans-Canada and continued on that as far as Riviere-du-Loup. The Trans-Canada turns south here to go to New Brunswick but I got off to drive through the old town and then highway 132 past Rimouski as far as Sainte-Luce.

Along the St Laurence River

Old Quebec City reminds me of France and Levis reminds me of Lunenburg. The small towns I've been passing through are typically Quebecoise: huge churches, outside spiral staircases, curved roofs.

I am staying in a small private campground right next to the highway which is noisy with trucks. The campground owners are very friendly, they told me they have a son in Chilliwack who works at the Abbotsford Airport and is married to a girl from Langley. The husband speaks English and the wife only French. I'm not fluent in French but I'm getting more comfortable with it. I find myself thinking in French which is frustrating because my vocabulary is so limited. I can only think about the things I know the words for.

I walked from the campground through the woods down the hill to the town. It is along the riverside, a long curved bay with a beach and a promenade, a couple of bistros offering beer and fried clams. I bought some clams for my supper.

It gets dark by 9.30 pm now. I stopped writing to wash up and go to bed, only to discover that it was only 9.15. This is like when I started out on this trip, going to bed very early. It's good to get up early though, makes the day seem longer.

Thursday July 30, 1998 - Quebec

Sainte-Foy - sunny then rainy.

I left Ottawa around 11.30 am. Once again I felt lonely and sad as I usually do when I part company with people I meet or am visiting with. I never get used to it. I got a bunch of touring info at the Quebec border and drove straight through to a campground just west of Quebec City.

It started out sunny and warm but turned rainy and cold. I left the back windows open and my sleeping bag got wet. The campground (Juneau) was expensive ($19.00) and the proprietor put me in a weird site in the trees on what appeared to be a road. Very dark but also very private, which was nice. It started to rain and I put up the tarp which I could stretch to cover part of the picnic table so I had space to cook supper.

Yohan kept wandering off and get soaked before I finally put him inside the truck cab. I went to bed early and spent some time catching up on my trip journal. I think it rained half the night.

Montreal rush hour, and more

Unfortunately, the three hour delay in leaving Toronto meant arriving in Montreal for the start of the afternoon rush hour. Oh joy. It was very very bad. Hot hot hot, and there was some backup or delay on the approach to the Champlain Bridge, the one I had to cross. For well over an hour I crept along with everyone else at approximately one km an hour in 28C? 30C? heat (my truck is not air conditioned) on the approach to the bridge. I know there are other routes through Montreal, but I had no idea which one was most likely to be any better and thought, better the devil I know...

So around 5.30pm I finally emerged from Montreal, it took me two hours to get through! I had hoped to make it to the New Brunswick border that night but now the chances were looking dismal. At least a 5 hour drive from Montreal to NB, not counting dinner and bathroom breaks.

The air was bad. I think every damn field from Montreal to Riviere du Loup was being ploughed, and the earth was dry and dusty. The sky was yellow in every direction, with occasional plumes of brown dust rising from this field or that one.

By evening I was north of Quebec City, so I decided I would just keep going. At 10.30pm I turned south at Riviere du Loup for the final leg to New Brunswick. At that point I really should not have been on the road, I was quite tired and my reaction time was noticeably slowed. I figured that there wouldn't be too much traffic on the road and with the stereo cranked up I would stay awake until my destination. So that's what I did and I pulled off an hour later just north of the border.

I had packed the truck so full that it took me another half hour just to clear out some space in the back of the truck to sleep. It was still pretty hot so I couldn't sleep in my sleeping bag because it was too warm, so I spread a bedsheet on top of the sleeping bag and slept under that for half the night, then after a few hours woke up cold and crawled into the bag to sleep for another couple of hours.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, I arrived at Fritz and Carolyn's place on Friday afternoon around 5.00pm. The kayak on the roof weathered the trip just fine until the last few kilometers when a strong wind picked up and started blowing the kayak around. I could see it's bow sweeping back and forth above the windshield, the rope holding the stern moving in tandem in my rearview mirror. I slowed right down, figuring I was so close to my destination that I did not want to stop unless I absolutely had to. At the exit from the highway I did pull off and check the kayak tie-downs, they were a bit loose but I thought they would hold for the last 5 km or so to the house. And they did.

And the way back

Oh one last thing, when I told Mike and Ruth about my harrowing trip through Montreal, Ruth, who is originally from Montreal, told me of an alternate route that neatly bypasses the city! So I am going to take my map over to her place some time this summer and get her to mark it on the map for me. In all the years I have been travelling between Ontario and Nova Scotia (at least thirty-five now), the only alternative I knew about was going through the States, and these days crossing the border is hardly more easy than Montreal during rush hour. So I eagerly await Ruth's revelation of an alternative Canadian route!