Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska to Granby, Québec

We left Camping le Rayon de Soliel this morning at 9:15. We continued on TC-20 still following the St. Lawrence River.

One of the road signs we saw along the way was this one warning of a rough road ahead and they were right.

From Quebec

After about 150 miles we stopped at a rest area at the Villeroy Halte    Routière (Villeroy Rest Area) at 12:30 p.m. for a 30 minute lunch break.

From Quebec

Then back on TC-20 until we reach Exit 141 were we take Rte 116 north of Sainte-Rosalie for about 4 miles. We then took Rte 224 at Sainte-Rosalie for about 2 miles to Rte 137 south of Sainte-Hyacinthe,

From Quebec

then Rte 137 for 18 miles to Rte 112 west of Granby and another 1½ miles to Camping Tropicana. We arrived here around 3 p.m.

Camping Tropicana is a Passport America campground. We're paying $19 for our 1 night stay here. We are in site #714. Yes, you read that correctly - site #714 - this place is HUGE! There are 880 RV sites here. There are a lot (I mean a LOT) of permanent RVs here. There is a lake with a nice beach, paddle boats for rent, mini golf and much more. This is definitely a destination campground for families with a lot of activities and planned events.

Site #714 is one of 25 pull-through sites. We have full hook-ups (30 amp); the electric voltage and water pressure is low. We were guided to our campsite and didn't plan on disconnecting the Vue since we're only staying for tonight. When we pulled into the site, we ended up with the Vue sticking out in the roadway. When we tried to disconnect the car, we couldn't because the hitch was at such an angle that it was impossible to get the pins out. Mike wanted to pull forward so we could straighten the hitch out, but our guide was hesitant for us to do that.

Fortunately the owner, Gilles Savoie, came by on his bicycle. He had Mike pull the RV forward so we could disconnect the car. Then Mike backed the RV into the site so it was in there at a better angle. We then hitched the car back up and it wasn't sticking out in the road. Gilles was extremely helpful and knowledgeable about straightening out (no pun intended) our situation. He was also about the only person we've met here that speaks English. Maybe I should have taken French in high school instead of Spanish!

We found out why Gilles knew so much about RVs and spoke such good English - he is a motorhome owner. Mike asked him about the amount of snow that Granby has during the winter (the campground is closed then) and Gilles said he didn't know! He said he takes his motorhome and travels south to the US during the Canadian winter. He said he not only doesn't know how much snow is there in Granby, he doesn't care since he's enjoying the warmer weather in the south. He keeps his motorhome at the north end of Lake Champlain when he's not out traveling during the winter.

Woodstock, New Brunswick to Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, Quebec

We departed Cosy Cabins Campground at 10 a.m. still driving north on Trans Canada Hwy-2. We stopped at an Ultramar gas station at Perth-Andover to get gas for the RV. We got 210.523 liters for $1.406 a liter (55.631 gallons for $5.321 a gallon US).

From Quebec

TC-2 became Trans Canada Hwy-185 when we entered Québec and we entered the Eastern Time Zone.

From Quebec

We stopped at a rest area near Dégelis, Québec for lunch. After about a 30 minute lunch break, we continued west to the St. Lawrence River and drove south on Trans Canada Hwy-20.

From Quebec

After about 8 miles we took exit 488 to Camping le Rayon de Soliel. We drove a total of 193 miles today.

Camping le Rayon de Soliel gives a 10% discount for Good Sam. We are in site #27 with full hook-ups (30 amp). The water pressure is low and the electric voltage is low also. Site 27 is a grassy pull-through site with lots of trees and the roads in the campground are narrow. We do have wifi, but no satellite TV reception. We are able to pick up local TV stations on the antenna, but they are all in French - of course! Looks like another DVD movie night.

Amherst, Nova Scotia to Woodstock, New Brunswick

We left Gateway Parklands Campground about 10:15 this morning. Just down the road from the campground we saw this firewood stacked near a house.

From Leaving the Maritimes

We crossed the border into New Brunswick less than a mile after leaving the campground. Hwy-104 becomes Trans Canada Hwy-2 in New Brunswick. We drove back through Moncton and on to Woodstock, New Brunswick on Trans Canada Hwy-2. TC-2 followed the course of the St. John River through New Brunswick. We had some great views of the St. John River at various places along the highway.

From Leaving the Maritimes

We exited TC-2 at Exit 191 and drove east to Hwy-165 and there was Cosy Cabins Campground. Cosy Cabins is a Passport America campground. We are on site #3. It is a pull-through and we have full hook-ups with 50 amp service and wifi. These are gravel sites with some grass and are pretty level. The regular fee is $30 a night and with tax we're paying $16.39 with Passport America.

From Leaving the Maritimes

But the view alone is worth staying here! We are facing the St. John River with nothing to obstruct our view. This afternoon while I was walking Tinker we startled a beaver that had come up near the campground.

From Leaving the Maritimes

Now we wish that we had allowed more time to stay here at Cosy Cabins. We've learned that Woodstock is New Brunswick's first town and was incorporated in 1856 and has many Victorian properties on a local historic register. We won't have time to see them before we leave tomorrow - another reason to come back this way another time.

Badddeck to Amherst, Nova Scotia

We left Adventures East Campground this morning around 10:15. We retraced our route along Hwy-105 to Hwy-104. We paid another $5.25 toll at the Cobequid Pass Toll Plaza. We stopped at an Irving gas station in Antigonish to fill the RV tank. We bought 208.1 liters for $1.431 a liter (54.99 gallons at $5.416 a gallon). While we were there we found a place to park the RV and fix lunch.

We continued north on Hwy-104 to Amherst. We stopped at a Sobey's grocery store there to stock up on groceries before going on to Gateway Parklands Campground which is just 5 miles north of there. The distance from Adventures East Campground to Gateway Parklands Campground was 219 miles.

We arrived here at Gateway Parklands Campground a little after 4 p.m. Gateway Parklands is a Passport America campground, but the discount is good for a minimum and maximum of a 2 night stay and we're only staying tonight. The manager gave us a discount for paying in cash which came to $25 - the discount price for Passport America would have been $14 (cash) a night. If we hadn't already made reservations up the road in New Brunswick and Quebec, we could have stayed for 2 nights.

We are on site #W5, a pull-through, with full hook-ups (30 amp). We have good electric voltage, but the water pressure is low. Some of the sites have concrete pads, but we are on a grass site and it is fairly level. We have satellite TV reception finally.

June 26

We drove into Baddeck this morning to make our last trip to the library. We exchanged US currency into Canadian at the Royal Bank of Canada while we were in town.

We stopped to buy a few groceries at the Victoria Farmers Co-Op that we need for today and tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are leaving Baddeck and will be heading into Quebec. There is a lot to see on Cape Breton Island and we really should have allowed 2 weeks for our stay here. We'll have to save the eastern portion of Cape Breton and sites like the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site for another trip.

Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada

We visited the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site at the east end of Baddeck. The entrance fee for seniors was $6.55 each.

The museum is divided into several exhibit areas. The first one we saw was "Sound & Silence" which tells of his life from birth in Scotland in 1847 up to his arrival in Baddeck in 1885. Bell's mother was deaf and his father taught the deaf to speak. Mabel Hubbard Bell developed scarlet fever at the age of five and spread to her inner ears and she became totally deaf. We learned of Alexander Graham Bell's work teaching deaf people and saw photos of him with Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.

From Alexander Graham Bell Museum

Our next stop was to the Mr. Bell theater where we watched an 18 minute showing films, photographs and artifacts to see the ideas that led Bell to create man-carrying kites, airplanes and a marine record-setting hydrofoil boat.

We then went into the "Water" exhibit which tells the story of Bell's and Casey Baldwin's experiments with hydrofoil craft. There we saw the remains of the successful HD-4 hydrofoil. There was also a full-size recreation of the hydrofoil. On September 9, 1919 his hydrofoil boat HD-4 (his fourth hydrofoil boat) set a world's marine speed record of 70.86 mph - the record stood for 10 years.

From Alexander Graham Bell Museum

Our next stop was at the "Air" exhibit told of Bell's work with man-carrying kites and airplanes. We saw some original parts from his "Silver Dart" airplane. On February 23, 1909 his "Silver Dart" made the first controlled, powered flight in Canada and the British Empire. It's engine was supplied by Glenn Curtiss. The "Silver Dart' crashed on its fifth flight and never flew again.

In the "Ideas" exhibit we saw the wide range of experiments and interest of Bell and his associates. Bell was fascinated with tetrahedral shapes and used them as the basis for his kites. He used the design for his beach cabana which was on the grounds of the museum.

From Alexander Graham Bell Museum

In the "Home" exhibit we learned the story of Bell's estate, Beinn Bhreagh; it means "beautiful mountain" in Scottish Gaelic. We saw photos of Bell and his family. We learned of their family life while living in Baddeck. The Bell home is still in possession of the Bell family and is maintained as a private residence. Alexander Graham Bell died August 2, 1922 at his home in Baddeck. Mabel Hubbard Bell was born November 25, 1857 (10 years younger than Bell) and died at home in Baddeck on January 3, 1923. They are both buried at Beinn Bhreagh.

From Alexander Graham Bell Museum

June 23

Today we went into Baddeck to the library to wifi. We caught up on our e-mails, did some online banking and researched some areas we'll be visiting.

In addition to the great view out the library's picture window, the Baddeck library also has some antique items on display in the reading room.

From Baddeck, NS

After returning to the RV I loaded up our laundry and drove up the hill to the laundromat. They have 4 washers - 3 washers that cost $2 (hot water) & 1 for $1.75 (cold water). The 4 dryers cost 75¢ for 20 minute cycles. It took 3-4 cycles to get our bath towels dry. The laundry was clean and all the machines did work. The laundry is housed in the same building as the showers and baths and they were also clean.

In the photo below you can see the building housing the laundry and showers in the background with the playground next to it.

From Baddeck, NS