Metro Trains and Canal Boats Day 6

     Today we decided to take the subway into downtown Montreal to avoid weekday traffic. Our KOA is about 10 miles from a station across the river from Montreal. Despite the annoying mono-lingual (the rest of Canada is bi-lingual) all-French all-the–time signage, we found our way through a maze of subway tunnels and ended up in Old Montreal by the cathedral – cobblestone streets and all. We walked around the old section of town and then wandered down to the waterfront.

     Montreal has done a great job of making an asset of the St. Lawrence River – there are gardens, fountains, picnic tables, benches, and biking/hiking trails all along the water. It was a perfect day to be out and about – sunny and 68. We had considered going to a museum which reviewed Montreal’s history when I spotted an ad for a canal ride. An outdoor adventure seemed like more fun than a museum. We hopped back on the Metro with our full day “tourist pass” and rode a few more stops to the Lechine Canal. (We got off at the wrong station only once).
     After some delicious soup in a little bistro, we climbed aboard a canal boat for a Parcs Canada tour. The Lechine Canal is the precursor to the Montreal section of the St. Lawrence Seaway. I remember when the Seaway opened and big boats could sail into Duluth from exotic ports. This old canal was created in the 19th century and was a huge boon to manufacturing and trade in Montreal. Our boat trip took us through one of the old locks and under several of the old turnstile bridges. We got a lot of history of old Montreal and saw the city from a completely different angle. It was a great afternoon.  Now it is time to do some laundry, dump the tanks and get ready to head back into the USA tomorrow.

Mont Royal and Saint Phillippe Day 5

     It is Sunday (no traffic) and sunny so we headed across the St. Lawrence River into Montreal to go to Parc Mont Royal which is the highest point in Montreal. Crossing the river was a bit of a challenge as it is NASCAR weekend in Montreal – just down river from our campground. Once downtown we found the park and had a great view of the city and the river.

     From Mont Royal we headed to the site of the Olympics and Montreal’s Botanical Gardens. The city is very “European” with parks, families on bicycles, little apartments with balconies, neighborhood cafés, and people out strolling. The architecture is very French – even the new houses have a French flair. Flowers and gardens are everywhere. We loved it.

     After lunch at the gardens we took another route back across the river and drove into the very old town of Saint Phillippe which is ½ mile from our campground. The town has twisty, narrow streets and old stone houses. Very pretty. We were looking for a supermarket – which we found just another mile away in a big new suburban development pushing its way into Saint Phillippe. Shopping in a French market was interesting and took a little longer. I wanted hotdog buns and some sausage for breakfast. I ended up with Canadian bacon and buns that appear to be folded slices of white bread. They should do just fine. They will taste great with a little Canadian whiskey that we picked up on our way “home.”

Montreal, Quebec - Day 4

On a misty, moisty morning when cloudy was the weather, I chanced to see an old man all dressed in leather.” My “old man” wore his rain jacket instead of his leathers, but it was “moisty” today.

     We left Mattawa in a mist and drove along the Ottawa River. The water was dark and moving fast between rocky cliffs. A thick mist drifted along the river making it look mysterious and intriguing. There were many really tall pines along the road – no logging in this area. Beautiful!
     As we moved away from the river the rains began in earnest and the landscape turned into rolling fields and dairy farms. The road was bumpy and terrible. We looked forward to reaching the freeway near Ottawa. But, by the time we hit the freeway, the traffic had become thick and the rain was just pouring. Driving through Ottawa was a real nail biter – accidents, deep puddles, no visibility, and bumpy roads. Fortunately our GPS said when we needed to change lanes to move through town – since we couldn’t see the signs for the rain. Finally we got out of town and stopped in a gas station parking lot for a hot soup lunch and welcome break.
     As we crossed from Ontario into Quebec we discovered that highway signs are NOT bi-lingual as in Ontario, but only in French. Hmm. I am going to have to look up a few common highway sign phrases. This seemed extra critical as we drove up to yellow flashing signs with undecipherable messages. Tomorrow we will take the subway into downtown from our KOA located in the far outskirts. Perhaps it will stop raining!

Mattawa, Ontario, Canada

     Quickly name all the Great Lakes! Today we drove along the north shore of Lake Huron. It was much like the North Shore of Lake Superior - very rocky with some big ridges and lots of small towns. This is country that glaciers passed over so it is covered with rivers and lakes. We drove by lots of Provincial Parks and campgrounds. There were many RVs and cars with boats, kayaks and canoes on the road. Most of the small towns had little harbors full of sailboats. It is so pretty, eh?

     The road we were on today is the Trans-Canada highway. It was mostly two-lane – but smooth with nice big shoulders. There were a bunch of way-side parks so we had lunch by the Spanish River. I just wish there were some “overlooks” so we could have stopped for pictures of Lake Huron and Lake Nippining. Just imagine Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods.
     We expected rain today and were happy that it only came in a few sprinkles. The drive was 7 hours and rain would have made it even more tiring. Tonight we are in a great little campground – Sid Turcotte. Again we are on a river with lots of big pines. There is a sandy swimming beach on the river and some canoes, but it is cloudy and about (aboot in Canadian) 58 F. (or perhaps 15 C?) so we are going to have a campfire instead. I am posting my blog from a picnic table outside the office - limited WIFI range today - with a great view of the river. It is chilly and breezy so time to head back to our campfire. Pictures tomorrow.

Day 2 Sault Saint Marie

     It was a cool and quiet night at the campground and we both slept great in our comfy bed under a warm quilt. I brought along a noise machine which makes nature sounds, so I slept through the 11 pm train that whistled at every intersection in Oconto. When it went through at 6 pm it was quite loud, so either the white noise machine is really good or I was really tired!

     Rick got up at 7 am thinking it was 8 so we got an earlier than usual start this morning. We spent the day driving along the shores of Lake Michigan. Lots of small towns and really nice lake homes. It was a tiring driving day for Rick because of the many turns and stops in all the little towns. We are now in Canada at the Sault St. Marie KOA. I want to do the Circle Tour of Lake Superior next summer and take a tour of the locks here - it looks really interesting, but we didn't get into our campground until after 4 as we lost an hour going into Eastern time.

     The line of cars crossing the bridge into the USA was really long - probably 80 or more cars and trucks. We were happy to be going INTO Canada with only 1 car ahead of us. It is cloudy tonight and cool (mid-60's) with cooler weather tomorrow. That's ok, we will just put another quilt on top of the bed. Time to open a bottle of wine to celebrate our entry into Canada!

Day 1 – Oconto, Wisconsin

     It is the end of our first day back on the road. We drove a little over 300 miles to our stop here at Holtwood Campground in Oconto, Wisconsin which is on the shores of Green Bay in Lake Michigan. Evening is falling and the temperature is dropping as we sit out on our lawn chairs and read. This has been a wonderful first day. The sun was shining and the driving was easy (except for the detour in the last 15 miles).

     I use a trip planning software to help plan our trips. It divides the trip into “driving days” and then suggests campgrounds in the vicinity of where we would need to stop. I look up the campgrounds on RV Park review sites to decide which one would suit us the best. This little city-run campground got good reviews – so here we are right on a little river which runs into the bay. Lots of trees and green grass. Go RVing!
     “If I had a day to give to you, I’d give to you a day just like today.” Who said that?

2 More Days

     Just 2 days to go and we will be on the road. I have reservations for our first few nights of camping and a full itinerary. Still can't find a map of Wisconsin except in our highway atlas. It should not be a problem. This year we have a Garmin GPS navigator to help us through the cities. It was not much of a problem going West as we often had very few roads to choose from. The East is a whole different game with many more roads and lots of traffic.
     I have been watching the weather and it looks like it will be high 60's low 70's. I saw that a bunch of people got swept off into the Atlantic Ocean in Acadia National Park yesterday and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard. They were watching the waves from the off-shore hurricane while standing behind barriers set up to keep them from getting too close. Hmm. I am hoping for better weather by the time we get there. We are prepared for just about anything though. We will see! We may NOT be going on the boat trip to a lighthouse on a little island off the coast.

Getting ready for Maine

     We are getting ready for our trip to Maine and Massachusetts which starts next week. (I will have to learn to spell Massachusetts before we get too much further). While the RV was still at the cabin we washed the rubber roof, cleaned the carpets, sorted through all the storage compartments and cleaned and refilled the water tanks.
     I refilled my pantry with non-perishable foods - the refrigerated stuff will be put on just before we leave. I try to have about a week of easy to make meals with us when we leave. I also went to the used bookstore and restocked my on board library. Many campgrounds have "leave one, take one" shelves so I can trade the books in as I read them.
     Now we just have to get a worn tire replaced, find a Wisconsin map, and fill the closets with shorts, jeans, T-shirts, fleece shirts and rain gear. The weather is likely to vary from very warm to very cool with a good chance of rainy weather.