Arrived in Quebec City

The campground was quiet. There's a reason we normally choose the September/October time frame to return to Canada. The kids are back in school, the weather is perfect, and the bug season is generally over.

We did our laundry on Monday morning before leaving the campground, but we were still on the road by 10:15am or so, headed southwest along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River towards Quebec City.

Lots of nice scenery along this route, and the trees are starting to show some color.

Igor's first paid camping spot

We were in need of showers and laundry. Yes, Igor does have a shower, but it's a bit cramped. It works if you have to, but it's not ideal. So if there is somewhere else that is convenient, we prefer that.

And in the town of Tadoussac, there was a listing for showers ($1 for five minutes) and a laundry at a municipal park near the marina. Sounds good to us!

Last minute ferry ride!

We were up and on the road at 6:00am Saturday morning!

Why up so early? Well, we knew that we wanted to take the ferry from Matane that goes across to the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. We've done the south shore drive several times, but have never been on the north shore.

17 km (10.5 mile) hike in Gaspesie National Park

We drove about 30 kms (18 miles) north to get to the visitors center at Gaspesie National Park. 

Just an FYI... Quebec's "national" parks are actually provincial parks. They are NOT run by Parks Canada, and Canada's national parks passes do not work here. 

Waterfalls, and a view, and another great overnight spot!

 We got up at 6:00am, and went for a hike!

We had been parked overnight at the back entrance trailhead for the Mount Carleton hike above the town of Carleton Sur Mer. That's a fairly long hike, and I had some computer work to do yesterday morning, but we figured we had time for the shorter hike to Grand Sault Falls.

Views over Campbellton, then back into the province of Quebec

We said goodbye to Denis and Marjolaine just before 10:00am Wednesday morning. Really enjoyed our stay with them! Thanks, and hope to see you again someday!

It was looking like a really nice day, and we had a plan to climb Campbellton's Sugarloaf Mountain before heading across the border into Quebec.

Well that was a good day!

This area around Campbellton is really nice. We were really enjoying our time with Denis and Marjolaine, and they said we were welcome to stay another night so that they could take the time to properly show us around the area.

Denis has had a hobby of building hand made cedar strip canoes that are easier to navigate the shallow waters of the nearby Restigouche River. And he offered to take us for a boat ride on the river!

We met two sets of blog followers yesterday!

Ruth had been in touch with a lady from the FB group Senior Nomads. Cynthia and her husband Tom are from Arizona, and have been full time travelers for only four months. They've got a cottage rented for a month up here in Dalhousie, New Brunswick which was right along our route, so we made a plan to meet up.

Dalhousie is a town of 3,200 located very close to the border of Quebec, just below the Gaspe Peninsula.

Miramichi was okay, but unimpressed with Bathurst

The rain had stopped overnight and it was starting out to be a nice day. We hadn't had a walk around town the day before due to the rain, so we went for a walk before heading out of Miramichi.

Our new Lifesaver RV Water Filter System

Yesterday was a rain day! Before the heavy rain started, we drove about 92 kms (57 miles) from Cap Lumiere Beach to the Miramichi area where we found a library and a laundromat and just waited out the rain. 

We didn't do very much yesterday, so today I'm going to tell you about our new water filter... the Lifesaver Cube!

Canada's only bilingual province

We hung out using the winery WiFi until about 10:00am, then set off heading north along the east coast of New Brunswick.

Pretty slow going because the secondary roads aren't in great condition, but we're in no rush anyhow so quite happy to plod along.

Welcome to New Brunswick!

I had some internet work to do yesterday morning, so we got up and drove right away, at 6:30am. But we had a stop to make first! There was a nearby waterfall I wanted to see, so we got some exercise with an early morning hike to Drysdale Falls.

Another great day exploring, and another perfect overnight spot.

We slept great at our overnight spot at Tennecape Wharf. And no, we didn't float away at high tide!

I did get up to go to the bathroom at about 3:00am, an hour after high tide, and I looked out the window to see the water about 8 meters (30') away, so no problem!

But by the time we got up, it was back to low tide again, so we left Igor there and went for a morning walk along the shoreline.

Fantastic overnight spot for our first night back on the road!

We had originally tried to leave Lindsey's before lunch, but then she had to go out in the morning and wouldn't be back until 11:30am, so we hung around. And then when she did get back, we decided we might as well have lunch, and then go. 

And then, we decided I needed a haircut, so Ruth got that done as well using some of Lindsey's equipment.

We think we're ready to go!

It's been a fun and productive month here at our daughter's place in Nova Scotia. We spent a lot of time with the family, and got a lot done to Igor!

And we were sure lucky with the weather. Very little rain, and temperatures between 20C to 28C (68F to 82F). Couldn't have asked for much better.

Finished Igor's bed, and took Sadie out for some birthday treats!

There was some rain in the forecast so I didn't get the fourth and final window done in Igor the motorhome. Instead, it was time to complete the upper bed!

First, I had to install the mattress underlay which prevents condensation and potential mold growth under the mattress by providing air flow.

August Expenses

We were a little over budget for August, but only because the budget wasn't accurate to begin with. I had forgotten to include anticipated expenses to celebrate our grandchildren's birthdays. We normally aren't able to do that when the actual event occurs, so we do it at the next available time. Which was in August!

Anyhow, not a bad month, considering we're in a very expensive country.

How much did it cost to restore our Airstream B-190 motorhome? The final tally...

When we bought this motorhome at the end of June, we knew it needed some work. But, due to that fact, we got it for what we thought was a good price at the time. Given what I know now (hindsight is always 20/20!) I think we may have actually overpaid by a little bit. 

Still, I think you'll see by the end of this exercise that we actually did okay!

Heading out on Tuesday!

I spent the day on Wednesday putting the window I had removed back together. All four of Igor's RV windows needed to be refurbished. The channels and tracks were all full of 31 years worth of gunk and had never been maintained. This causes the drain outlets to become blocked, and the windows start to leak.

It doesn't appear that they have ever leaked from the actual seal around the frames themselves. 

The parts have arrived!

The last major project on Igor is the RV windows. 

When we bought him, the exterior hadn't been washed in probably two years or more, and the windows were the same. The rubber seals had shrunk over time, and the drain channels were all gunked up and there was green stuff growing in them! 

Searching for fossils and another motorhome renovation complete!

All work and no play is no good, so we decided to take Cameron and his friend Chandler to Blue Beach for some fossil hunting. 

Blue Beach is a rocky shale beach where there have been numerous fossil finds in the rock. There is even a fossil museum at the location.

Always fun to get together with fellow travelers!

At some point in time, someone had installed a cyclone rotating sewer vent on Igor's roof. And these products actually work very well. But this one was in sad condition, and the installation hadn't been done very well in the first place.

Also, since we now have a diverter toilet and no black holding tank, we didn't have the need for a fancy vent cap. 

The rest of our time here in Canada

We are going to be in Canada until November 1st. A total of four months, which is the longest we have been here since the summer of 2018 when we drove up to the Arctic Ocean. 

So, what do we have planned for the balance of our time here?

Still waiting for a couple of things

When we had Bundy and Joyce, our RV in Australia, one of the things that was a problem was the lack of air space between the mattress and the bed frame. And because we were there in cooler weather, that caused a problem with condensation caused by our body heat when sleeping.

And our first motorhome Sherman did not have any kind of spacer either.

The biggest catch of the day!

We were on the road at 6:30am yesterday morning, headed for the popular coastal tourist town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia where we had an 8:00am reservation to go deep sea fishing with Lunenburg Ocean Adventures.

Arrived at 7:30am to find it spitting with rain. And in the process of making sure grandson Cameron had everything he needed, Ruth realized that she had forgotten her own raincoat!

A frustrating problem solved...

Normally I do blog posts first thing in the morning. But on Wednesday the 21st we will be on the road very early, heading for the coastal town of Lunenburg where we are getting on a boat and going deep sea fishing for four hours or so.

This will be grandson Cameron's belated 13th birthday present from us.

Building the upper bed assembly

Our son in law Justin is a woodworker and construction guy, so he has all the necessary skills and tools to do this job. It's actually not a difficult job, and I could have done the whole thing myself. But what would take me a few hours, would probably take him thirty minutes!

And, most of his tools are in his van or at his current jobsite. So we managed to corner him on a Sunday to get this done!