I was a driving machine much like my beloved Equinox! Wow, what a tour! So much road behind me now! Fortified by a nice swim and good breakfast I was good to go.
I got a little turned around with some construction near Montreal and I was thanking my lucky stars that I planned to drive through this area on a Sunday. The traffic was much lighter and there were fewer trucks. It was still a little hairy and I had to think in my high school French quite a bit. It was a little tiring but it was worth it once I got past the chaos of the Champlain bridge (neat though) and the turn offs to keep heading east.
I programmed my navigation system but it got really upset when I tried to go a route it hadn't planned on. I wanted to go along the shore of the St. Lawrence until "above" the road to Miramichi New Brunswick then head south (by the map but actually still east by the compass). I then used the system and it was helpful telling me how long I had to drive. It was a long, long day with 12 hours on the road which actually ended up being 13 because it's an hour earlier here. My brain just couldn't handle that time change yet.
The roads in New Brunswick are fantastic. Okay, the Quebec roads are nice but NB ones are really lovely. I'm not thrilled with the "Danger Moose" along the roads. It seems that moose are a challenge and the province has spent millions on "moose fence" along highway 11 and 8. There are miles and miles of this fence and thankfully I didn't see a moose but I did have a black bear run across the road about 100 yards in front of me! Yikes! All was well!
The countryside of Canada always amazes me with it's changes. From the fields of corn and canola around Cornwall to the long field plots along the Quebec shores of the St. Lawrence and the hills and rolling roads of New Brunswick. There was a sweet smell to the country too, I noticed it as soon as I got out of the urban area of Montreal. I think it was from the logging that's been done in the whole area. Thousands of acres of forest are cut down, mainly pine by the look of the huge piles of logs awaiting transport (thankfully not on a Sunday). The reforested areas are doing very well to my untrained eye and the whole province looks so lush and green. At least it did from the road.
On the way towards Rimouski a storm blew through, I decided this was a good time to stop and get gas. It was quite quick but helped in lowering the humidity for a while. I thought it was safer to pull off and let what looked like a nasty storm go through (okay too many tornado shows I've watched I'm sure influenced it all).
I noticed so many motorcycle travellers and I felt for them as they soldiered on through the rain. I always thought that would be cool, to drive a bike across the country. With my Equinox and it's comfy quarters I have thought again about doing that when I saw the soggy riders.
I have to get into a new mindset with the urban areas behind me for the most part. I have to remember that life has a slower pace here and things are done on maritime time. I'm not sure what that is yet but I'm willing to check it out.
Neat signs along my journey...
Capitane Homard Camping (the sign had a giant lobster on it looking none too happy)
Night Danger...Be Alert for Moose on Road
Attention! Turtle Crossing
and my favourite...
Welcome to New Brunswick!
I had made it!
So my goals here? Eat lobster in as many ways as possible (even McDonalds and Subway have lobster items here) and go on a boat cruise around the area.
Have a shucking good day all!
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