It’s that time of year again…to head towards the ocean breezes. And this is the post in which I share images of our journey through 4 provinces in one very long day.
The alarm is set for 3am. So…will my iPad battery stay charged long enough? Will I stay awake long enough? Will we have “excitement” with the weather or the car? It was only a few years ago that one of our wipers flew off during a rain storm and we learned that going the hwy speed limit actually does a good job of keeping the windheild clear and that the biggest hazard to driving without wipers was keeping the windshield clear of bug smears!
We’re off! Half an hour later than the fella would’ve liked, but the sun is only just beginning to lighten the sky. Fellow had to do some quick dodging to not hit the bunny that decided to see us off, we started out on empty roads, but met up with some early birds on the 401. Trucks own the night here, so not a surprise there. By the boats being pulled behind some cars, am guessing that at least some if the early traffic is made up of cottagers getting out if town to enjoy a summer weekend.
This year, iPad is charged and I’ll be alternating between iPhone and iPad, so forgive the spelling and image quality today.
And in the writing of this, as we head east, the horizon is turning orange as the sun nears the horizon.
Catch you later, when there is more light!
Sunrise!
Still seeing spots. Note to self: don’t look at sun …
I must say, it has become so much easier to publish to a blog from an iPhone inside a moving car.
Roads are pretty quiet so far. Since passing the cottage country turnoffs, traffic mostly keeps to areas around communities. Scenery is mostly pastoral, trees, rivers, marshes. Earlier, mist hung over the waking land as we passed by a river wending along the highway, a great blue heron slowly flapping its great wings over the water. Later, after the mist had long gone, we passed a marshy area with a lot of dead trees – wetland created by beavers? In each of the trees was a cormorant nest and standing in each nest was a perfectly silhouetted cormorant.
First gas stop! We missed the last along-the-hwy stop before Quebec border, so had to catch next gas station, which required getting off the hwy. However, it wasn’t far off the road, and no lineups! I think gas may have been cheaper as well.
This shot should look more momentous: we just crossed into Quebec. Both me and the phone are having some issues staring into the sun. What is exciting about this image, though, is that up ahead, to the right of the traffic cones indicating ever-present summer construction, is a gas station! Hwy 401 between Toronto and the Quebec border has gas stations/fast food stops about every 70km. Get to Quebec and about every 70km between Montreal and New Brunswick border are lovely rest stations with washrooms, picnic areas, sometimes a food wagon, but no gas. Montreal is a nightmare trying to find a gas station and one has to go off the highway to search for gas, so it’s wise to fill gas tanks before leaving Ontario. But new up ahead, is a brand new rest station, WITH gas station. And the gas is cheaper than we just paid. Awesome!
Currently crossing over St Lawrence River, in another Quebec construction zone and getting a taste of Montreal traffic.
The highway through Montreal doesn’t get points for great beauty. Exposed metal seams make for a bouncy ride, aggressive Quebec drivers keep one on one’s toes. Gas at the border was 99.9/; here, it’s running between 113.9 and 114.9/l. Another reason we avoid filling up here – it’s expensive!
This church is the prettiest/only remotely scenic thing along this roadway.
Approaching the tunnel, taking us under the St Lawrence seaway.
Approaching the maw.
I like the shadows. BTW, I will probably be horrified later, but it’s a very bright day, so actually seeing what an image looks like on my iOS device…well…
As well, I was intending on using my iPad, as it has a better camera than my iPhone 4, but it’s just easier to use my cell – now that I have a working version of WordPress on it (one of last summer’s fails).
And under we go! Trusting ancient infrastructure…
We made it safely through! I love this hill. It defies the flat terrain that pretty much defines this part of the province.
Airport for small aircraft.
And pretty much what we’ll see through to Quebec City. Lots of farmland. Flat. What you can’t see in my phone images are tall church steeples of the small towns belonging to the farmland. Very pastoral scenery. Temperature continues to climb, now 27C. Yeah for air-conditioning.
Coming and going. Traffic is pretty good. I should’ve mentioned earlier that we made record time going through Montreal. Our last trip through took ~1 1/2 hr! Combination of dense traffic and construction.
We passed Quebec City a while ago, but with the exception of a moment coming over a rise going northbound, during which one can get a glimpse of the bridges crossing the river to it, the is nothing to see but exits to the various bridges and trees. Until the picturesque Montmagny, nothing but divided hwy and trees. Then comes La Pocatiere, where the view opens up to the river and hills across the other side. This is DSLR time. Every time we go by, things look different and since I have to shoot across the fella, phone camera really wouldn’t have shown much. But here are a few images I took on past trips.
It’s the best part of the drive through Quebec.
Then trees obstruct the view again and soon the terrain begins to change. Still flat, big rocky outcroppings appear.
Then we turn inland. It’s 30 degrees! Wind was hot when we stopped to fill up. Gas was 108/l, less than Montreal, more than Ontario.
We’ve left the divided hwy portion of the Trans Canada. Passing lanes will be too far and few between, but divided part will resume again before we hit New Brunswick.
Beaver lodge!
Passing section on the non-divided hwy! The fella doesn’t enjoy being behind a string of slow-moving traffic; he *does* enjoy this car’s pickup.
Lots of hills and twists and turns. The road itself is much more interesting to drive. And now there are lots of moose warning signs. We have never seen a moose in this stretch. I often imagine, a la Far side, that there are moose lounging against trees as we pass, staying hidden until we pass, muttering something about the blasted paparazzi driving murderous vehicles.
It is now 31C!
For the past few years, this area has been a mess with construction as the Trans Canada was converted into a divided hwy. It’s finished! Divided now all the way to the end of our trip, until we leave it for back road.
Moments from crossing into the future! The border means a time zone change.
Edmunston! If you can hold off on gas, it’s cheaper to fill up on New Brunswick gas than Quebec gas. 0.99/l vs 1.08/l from one side of the border to the other.
And there’s the Presse Cafe. I always look forward to stopping here. Their ice mocha is the perfect refreshing beverage after 10 hrs in the car. Their sandwiches and muffins are excellent as well.
And, so help me, one of the servers looks a lot like Adam Sandler. He’s always smiling, provides wonderful service, apologizes, unnecessarily, for not speaking better English. This is New Brunswick, where if you’re lookng for a bilingual Canadian experience without attitude is the place to visit. Acadians are wonderful people, with a rich culture and strong pride that let you know you’re in Acadian country but make you feel welcome.
One of the fella’s favourite things about crossing into NB: 110km/hr speed limit.
Something about crossing the border, though: tons of suicidal bugs throwing themselves into our path! Our windshield is a mess! Too sticky for windshield fluid to remove.
His and her highway.
Pollock was here.
Time for another refill! Closing in on Moncton. Can’t really tell through the bug-smeared windshield, but to the right, lovely barn and cows scene; to the left, we will add to our remaining 60 km of gas.
Apparently, home of the Silver Fox, not steak.
Back to gas less than a buck/l!
Our turnoff! Those white sticks on the horizon are the windmills sitting on the isthmus of Chignecto, which joins Nova Scotia to the test of mainland Canada.
The temp dropped to 23C! AC off, windows open, the air is divine!
The Winegarden: aside from wines, they also make schnapps. But they’re German. Don’t expect the peach schnapps to taste peachy because apparently that wouldn’t be *real* schnapps.
We made it! The hour we saved on time through Montreal makes a huge difference on a long drive. Tide is going out, we opened the cottage, saw the sun set, are enjoying a well-earned glass of wine, temp is now delicious 16 with no humidity and I’m waiting for my body to stop vibrating.
I did it. After years of trying, after this and that issue, I blogged the trip! After reaching that turnoff with the windmills, publishing repeatedly failed. I had to update multiple times. Maybe problem with my phone connection? It was so easy up to that point. Another thing to note is that the WordPress app doesn’t always acknowledge spaces added to keep the images and text not be claustrophobic. I tweaked the post after the fact to aid readability. But, I did it!
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