Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec

 

Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec

Our travels in Canada next took us five hours Northeast, deep into the province of Quebec to Camping Du Quai RV park in the city of Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. (English: Wolf River)  And when I say deep into Quebec, I really mean french-speaking Canada.  We quickly realized that English is definitely way down on the totem pole as a spoken language.  Parlez vous Anglais?  The answer has been no more than yes!  So, Mr. Social Boy's (D) chatting with our fellow campers has been at a minimum this trip along with us dining out, me shopping, watching tv, or even listening to the radio.  Boohoo and double boo!


About TV here, I had thought the limited tv channels we had at the last park was bad, well right now I would give anything for CBC TV!  (Canada’s national, English Public Broadcasting Network)  In Ontario, we had seven channels and all but one were in English.  However, I do have to admit three of the channels were dedicated to kids but it left us with a couple of options.  Here there are three channels and all are in French.  So no TV because streaming isn't even on the table with the park's wifi and ours is not allowing a connection outside of the US.  On the bright side, at least we are getting a break from all the political stuff going on.  Please let me know if a war breaks out!

I think you get the picture.  We are foreigners in a foreign land here!  For the first time, I am thinking our visit to Canada has not been a good decision and have been leaning heavy on hopping down to Maine next week.  Especially when Dennis spent $15 on ONE can of tobacco.  Insane!  You would think now is a good time for him to consider kicking the habit.  We all might as well toss that thought straight out the window for it ain’t gonna happen.  Our only hope is that we can find an Indian reservation somewhere up here that sells tobacco and not get caught by the local authorities for buying it.  It seems that it's okay for them to sell it to you, but it's illegal for you to buy it.  Huh?!  Or if any of you guys would be so kind as to drive up here and meet us at the border with a stash of tobacco, we would be forever in your debt. (Kidding!)

AML Cruises

After arriving here on Saturday (Samedi), I decided to book us a VIP whale (baleines) watching cruise on the St Lawrence River for Sunday (Dimanche) since the Crosier aux Baleines was just minutes from where we were staying.

With our VIP passes, we - along with a very nice couple from Montreal, and a family of 4 plus a grandpa in tow - were able to board early.

We were escorted to the upper deck and into a special climate controlled viewing area by the captain of the boat.  We kind of felt like we were an attraction on display inside a fishbowl by the way folks would go by and stare at us.  We were provided with sodas, water, coffee, popcorn, brownies, peanuts, and cheese.

Can’t say it was worth the extra $22 per person.  Maybe if there had been wine to go along with the cheese or if it had been freezing cold and raining outside, then Oh yes!

Our fishbowl view from on deck

Yes, our sad whale sighting

Our three-hour cruise started out great!  (And yes the Gilligan's Island theme was playing in my head.)  Right off the bat, we saw several beluga whales in the water and a few grey seals.  But as quickly as they had come up, they also disappeared.  In all, we ended up seeing only one juvenile whale for a few brief seconds, tons of seals, and the belugas.  To say it was a disappointment would be an understatement.  However, I am glad we did go on the cruise for it's better to go and not see anything than to not go and wonder what you might have missed.  No regrets, I say!  We will give it one more try once we reach St.Andrews in late August.  We are on a mission to see a Humpback Whale.

Notes from Dennis
The drive up the banks of the St. Lawrence River was relatively uneventful.  We were in and out of traffic the entire way and the roads were a mix of smooth and suspension-killing awfulness. *rolling eyes*

We left a park that was full of trees and shade and a large personal space in Bainsville, Ontario to arrive at a park that was practically a parking lot with no trees near, and our neighbors are SUPER close once again.  However this park has been relatively bug-free, unlike the last one, we have a nice view, and plenty of sights to explore.

We learned that all of the construction workers in the entire Quebec province are forced to take a two-week vacation at the end of July every year!  This seems crazy as the construction season HAS to be very short up here in the North Country and yet they are going to take a holiday right in the middle of it?  Not sure I understand that mentality.  At any rate, this is creating big traffic for this park.  Lots of RVs spending just one night since this seems to be a halfway point from Montreal to Prince Edward Island.

We are nearing the cusp of another Timezone, Atlantic Timezone!  This means that the Sun is rising at like 5:10 am (ET)!  We will soon move to New Brunswick province which is in the Atlantic Timezone.

July 21- high 71