We Think it was Quebec or New Brunswick
This post will be short (or fast
if you read it right).
We left Tobermory realizing that
if we didn't get to Newfoundland soon, it would be frozen over. So the next 1600
miles were a kind of blur. Regretfully we sped past Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec
City, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton … traveling up the St. Lawrence
River and across the Gaspe and straight to the Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Ferry Harbor
We did 1600 miles in four days
… waking up each morning in a different Province. (And violating our 330 miles or
3:30 p.m. rule for each day). First night on the road we stayed at a Walmart in
Ajax, Ontario, the 2nd night at a campground in St. Mathieu de Beloeil in Quebec,
the 3rd night at a Costco in Fredericton, New Brunswick and the 4th night on the
midnight ferry over to Newfoundland from North Sydney, Cape Breton to Port aux Basques,
Newfoundland.
What about our fifth Great Lake?
Well we did see it briefly as we raced north and away from it.
Driving hundreds of miles along the St. Lawrence River
was amazing. Taking pictures of this wondrous seaway is like taking a picture of
a comma in a sentence and trying to see the whole sentence … . It will eventually
widen into the St. Lawrence Gulf and then into the Atlantic. Roadside rest
along the St. Lawrence River. La
Pocatière is a town in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality in the
Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada.
Through Quebec we were many times
perplexed to see only French on all the road signs. Good thing I had my smart phone
translator app to find our way through there. We stopped to mail a birthday card
to our grandson and inquired to find a "Poste Canada". Either all eight
of the people we talked to spoke ONLY French … or they pretended to not have any
English. Eventually we figured it out, but it was frustrating.
We did discover this: One person we met who had lived in the U.S.
explained that there's a whole generation of young people who were not allowed to
learn English during the Separatist movement years ... 50s through the 80s. This
person explained that her children wanted to learn English but because they were
of French heritage were prohibited from doing so. They taught their children English surreptitiously.
Of all the welcome signs we've taken pictures
of, this is the most lovely. There is a geocache in that spot.
In Cape Breton Island, near a gas station we found this little
church … wished it was a Sunday; it would have been lovely to go to Mass there.
We were in Wagmatcook First Nation, a community straddles the Bras D’or Lakes and
is one of five Mi’kmaw First Nation communities of Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island,
N.S.). The church was named Blessed Kateri, Queen of the World. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (pronounced [ˈɡaderi
deɡaˈɡwita] in Mohawk), given the name Tekakwitha, baptized as Catherine and informally
known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680), is a Roman
Catholic saint who was an Algonquin–Mohawk laywoman in what was know as New France, now Montreal, Canada.
Ferry to Newfoundland
It was such entertainment watching
it load! See the large truck on the top of the ramp on the right. There were dozens
and dozens of them. We were the very last to load... as we had tickets for the next
day's trip, but were wait-listed for the midnight sailing... which we got on.
SO WE ARE HERE in Newfoundland … Already being amazed,
astonished and surprised. The next blog may be long … in two ways … long in length
because Newfoundland is a huge island and long in time … not easy finding Wi-Fi
here.
Note the tiny sign at the left of welcome sign.
Canadians are very creative in
designing their signs.
Comments
Feastday: July 14 Patron of the environment and ecology From Deb
Gillman, on Sep 14, 2016 at 02:21AM
I didn't know Kateri was patron of ecology!
Sabrina was Kateri one Halloween. She is our ecologist. From Dan & Vicki, on
Sep 14, 2016 at 10:50AM
I'm enjoying your travel blog. See my comment
on Nova Scotia. From Carolyn Forbes, on Sep 14, 2016 at 04:25PM
You know we have lots of cousins in Nova Scotia.
Forbeses, Boudreaus, and Langilles. The town that Grandma Leau was from is Digby.
From Carolyn Forbes, on Sep 14, 2016 at 04:20PM
Hi Carolyn, thanks. Will be checking out Digby
for sure. I brought all my genealogy notes. We'll be doing the rest of the Maritimes
on our way south after Newfoundland. From Dan & Vicki, on Sep 14, 2016 at 05:51PM
I'm so glad I happened on your travel blog!
I just got caught up and can't wait to read your next post! Love to you both! From
Lucie Haskins, on Sep 16, 2016 at 05:43PM
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