Ken, Sue, Stewart & Jessie's Eastern Canada Tour

QUEBEC CITY TO New Brunswick Log

DAY 31 Quebec City to Montmagny 83.41 km June 10/02 Monday

Don, Louise and Keith up and off at 0600 for Montreal. Tyson and Keith had gone to a punk concert so tired. We got off by 0815. Crossed the bridge (Pont du Quebec) ... much nicer than the first crossing... warmer no rain and bridge surface dry. (+12C, sun shinning, mega school buses to draft us, making it a little unnerving as the side walk barely wide enough for bikes with packs)

Nice views of Chateau Frontenac from Levis.. bike path paved and running along the river.... then paved shoulder of hwy 132... views of Ile d'Orleans nice... Mont Morancey Falls pretty in the distance. Thru little towns to Montmagny camp along the St Lawrence. Lovely 26C day.. clouded over, but warm evening. Able to sit at the table and write... no bugs either! Ken's first day a long one in the saddle. Houses different more squarish and smaller. Maybe cottages... more cyclists.. even some loaded. We are the only tents once again. Bikes running well. Jessie and Louise had a good weekend too. Hope Tyson was off to airport at 10am.

Trees fully out.. lilacs in bloom... Dandylions to seed.. saw first hay being harvested. 1 month on the road..body healthy...allergies behaving finally.

Ken says day one he survived... even keeping up to us old broads!

94.44 km with about town M38.8 A 17.2 T 4h 49 min TD 1391.64 km

DAY 32 Montmagny to Riviere Ouelle 76.91 km June 11/02 Tuesday

Rain started at 4am.... still sprinkling by 8 so decided we needed to pack up anyways. Left Montmagny on rolling hills with a good shoulder. Tent packed up wet! But after a while the rain held off and the view of the St Lawrence river were great. This area main lively hood is "wood carving" both statues and plaques. Stopped for lunch at an interesting spot where the author of "le ancien canadian" lived....many moon ago....known as the Father of Canadian liturature. Will have to look for the book... in English!

Morning went slowly, but afternoon much faster. We walked on the shore....very rocky...tidal as salt water makes it to here... small cabins with gardens like parks..lots of summer residents, at the campground too... who have planted flowers and made a "cabin" like place for their trailers. Saw these neat "traps" that are for catching eels in.... don't ask me exactly how it is done, or how they get them out, but is like lobster traps, but larger...what does eel taste like? They don't look like they would taste too good!!

There are large dairy farms thru this area...kind of looks like Alberta

Met a fellow, a senior to us, who had just retired from Calgary. He cycled from Victoria to Calgary last fall, and from Medicine Hat to Halifax (April28-June 5th) 135km per day.. unloaded! His wife must have patience as she was the sagwagon driver... he said he would rather our trip at a bit slower pace and be able to see the country.

76.91 km M39.1 A 17.5 T 4h 23 min TD 1468.55 km

DAY 33 Riviere Ouelle to Riviere du Loup 71.06 km June 12/02 Wednesday

Put up with snoring all night and it was from 2 campsites down!! Unbelievable!

Mosquitos voraceous. Tan line getting really funny...ankles up to shorts, shoulders with various shirt sleeves, "racoon" face from sunglasses...

Slight rolling hills with wind at our back. Sue down to bathing suit top at lunch, but don't be fooled not too warm. Riviere du Loup biblioteque very nice... we were glad to get emails from home and send out smoke signals as to our location once more. Not many english books to brouse while there.

Surprised to see how big Riviere du Loup is...large modern shopping center...not seen so far in our travels outside of the large cities of Montreal and Quebec. Nice to be able to buy nice produce. Looks like this area is a lot of market gardens like Kelowna... advertising tomatoes, etc, but alas we are too early. No shoulder on 138 all day, but the traffic is very light so no problem (0 trucks) Camp at the Quai campsite...would definitely be Wally World if the place was full... sites really small but virtually empty. Short walk to the ferry to Saint-Simeon which we will not be taking this trip. St Lawrence is 23km across at this point. Another really nice day...not too warm. Jessie is singing a song... dosn't know the words, or the name, but it is by The Men From the Deep in Nova Scotia. We will have to get a CD so we can find out what she has been humming for days now!

Jessie is working of embrodery for Megans quilt and I am still doing my crossstitch...life is good.

71.06 km M40.7 A 16.4 T 4h 19 min TD 1539.61 km

DAY 34 Riviere du Loup to Le Bic Provincial Park 98.26 km June 13/02 Thursday

Oh Man what a day!

Started off by getting up to slight overcast sky....had been millions of stars at 4am. Packed up quickly to the biting of black flies. Retreated to a screened gazebo for breakfast. Set off on 132... was ok a little potholy and shoulder in and out, but not much traffic. The wind was coming from the east which is not usual, and we hope not happening tomorrow. It made the going a little slow... lots of 10km stops. Didn't know how good we had it until shortly after Trois Pistoles the hiways merged and we were back with the trucks and zero shoulder. Well sometimes a little shoulder or passing lane. The edge of the road was a 3 inch drop to the gravel shoulder which angled into the ditch... not much fun. Had lunch at Saint Simon in the sun. We finally got to sit on one of those glider swings that are in every yard here... they are kind of neat. We discovered a side road for 10km which brought us into Saint Fabien. There was a community theater with a comedy starting tonight, but we decided to head off for Le Bic park to camp. The road to Saint Fabian sur mer was 12% grade all the way to the Saint Lawrence which by now looks like the ocean. We missed taking a picture of the spectacular view on the way down so Jessie is going back tomorrow am. to get it!!!

You then take a gravel bike trail to the park which is a breeding ground for black flies.. we are test subjects as to how many black fly bites you can have on one neck!!

Sun came out and it was pretty warm. (+19C) The camping in the park on the river is really lovely, but we decided that we had enough fly bites so we came out to listen to the trucks and train go by at the camping by the road.... oh yes... the flies are here too!!

After a shower "colder than the ocean" as Ken put it, we found the indoor shelter and have been hiding out here. Hoping tomorrow will be as clear blue sky day as today was minus the bugs.

As we put in a very long day today, we are 1/2 a day ahead of Jessies date in Muncton.

98.26 km M 44.2 A 14.5 T 6h 45 min TD 1637.87 km

DAY 35 Le Bic Provincial Park to Saint Flavie 98.26 km June 14/02 Friday

56.87 km M 34.6 A 13.3 T 4h 16 min TD 1694.74h km

DAY 36 Saint Flavie to Parc Sirois La Baleine (Matane) 62.37 km June 15/02 Saturday

Up to cool clear at 0400. Sky pink all along the horison... Pink sky at night SAILORS DELITE Pink Sky in morning SAILORS TAKE WARNING!! We started off at 0800 into the wind( 35-45km/hr) +10C going 10km/hr. Stopped at Metis-sur Mur to visit the Teford gardens... started by Elsie Reford after her doctor told her to quit fishing as she wasn't strong enough after an illness... At 52 years old... I don't think he expected her to start a 40acre garden project! Tulips aren't even in Bloom here yet... warning #2; Very interesting house...Monseur Reford was very tall, enjoyed sports: skiing, golf, and photographie Interesting house with 7-8ft doorways and ~15ft ceilings... it had wood tongue in groove on walls, ceilings and plank floors with large nails. They each had their own room (she had fly fishing rods over her fireplace mantle) with an ajoining sitting room... this was a fishing lodge which became their home later. The flowering trees and rock gardens were very nice...there were artists all over painting.

Was a very tough day, back into the wind... some shoulder and some off hwy thru small towns. Wind Vicious. Metis sur Mur very english with street names (Beach Avenue), hedges, larger squarer homes which were each named (Sunset cottage). Stopped for lunch in Les Boules beside the church wall out of the wind. Sun quite warm in this spot. Ride is all along the St Lawrence with the waves lapping (no crashing) into shore with white caps. Very hard to get going once again. Drafting really works especially behind Ken. Got very tired.. stopped by country graveyard for a rest. Oldest markers 1907. 1923 must have been a tough year in these parts (5 children from one family) Jessie sat beside Jean Mare (whos name and birth are on the stone ?maybe hasn't died yet) and Donelda and contemplated setting up her tent along the wall! Exhaustion setting in. Looking for a B&B as very cold. Still +10C and having trouble going 12k/hr and staying upright with the wind. One cyclist mentioned this is common (east to west wind) another man mentioned this is bringing in a frontal system ???whatever that means... hope not worse weather! One other cyclist suggested we wait for a change in the weather as the mountains are coming. He was amazed we accomplished 60km into this wind loaded... and so did we. We arrived at Matane campsite before a B&B could be sited. The fellow took one look at us and suggested undercover inside a "new" activity building /storage shed. The pizza delivery boy had no problems finding us , I'm not sure what he thought of our tents set up inside. Excellent French style pizza... more like a casserol, but we could have eaten anything about then.

1930...wind gone... should have cycled in the evening! Clouds seem to be lifting. Warm shower did wonders. The road will keep us company all nite with the train on the other side. Well after such a day nothing matters!

62.37 km M38.1 A12.3 T 5h 01 min TD 1757.11 km

DAY 37 Parc Sirois La Baleine (Matane) to Matane motel 14.29 km June 16/02 Sunday

Up to pouring rain... snug in the shelter with tables, chairs, washers, driers, go carts, etc

Tried to wait out the rain... finally headed for town in drizzle. Wind still about 45k from the east. Set out to look for a motel or B&B. Frustrating to say the least. Everyone we chose seems to be too far out of town for us to get our wash done or shoping. Everything is closed here in rural Quebec on a Sunday, so decided to stay in a small motel....could have been worse the disco could have been on tonight. shopping done.. fast food disappointing once more.. did our wash. Nice to be warm...hot bath is calming. Decisions to be made go on to the mega hills, or turn back and cross at Mont Joli to New Brunswick.

14.29 km M24 A12.4 T 1h 08 min TD 1771.40 km

DAY 38 Matane to Cap Chat 79.96 km June 17/02 Monday

Up early, packed and Pow Wow...cool 8C wind ~7km from the east (tv) overcast. Decided to head east one more day and if too difficult to turn back or take the bus on. Much better without such strong winds. Hilly up up then down down. size of drought hill out of Peachland over and over again. Gravel shoulder. Constant traffic but few trucks. Houses more square. Logging (very small 8") and maybe fishing are their lively hood. Saw a navigation school in Les Michins (means wicked one) no boats seen. Thick forest. Hint: get official Touriste Guide from each region prior ( www.tourisme-gaspe.com )

Stopped so Ken could tour a windmill field generating plant. They were kind of spooky. They need at least 15k/h winds to be turned on. They are huge like airplane wings. Found a great campsite once more right on the shore of the Bay... showers were cold so only gets a 2* on my new ratings of the campsites.The view of the windmills over the town was neat.

79.96 km M42.4 A14.3 T 5h 34 min TD 1851.36 km

DAY 39 Cap Chat to Mont Saint Pierre (du pont Campsite)71.43 km June 18/02 Tuesday

Up at0530 as Ken went to bed too early!!!(he was cold after his shower) Rained thru the night once more so tent is wet. +8C Snow in the hills of the Gaspe Park!!

Up out of Cap Chat is hilly once more, but the wind was maybe 7km from the east, so tolerable. Seemed to go up over a couple of big hills then down along the shore for 4 or 5km of gorgeous down and flat riding. Still cool all day. Would be nice to get into our shorts again.

Eating constantly to try to keep warm! Wont have lost a pound!! Sun came out about 1500 and wow is it nice. We stopped in Mont Saint Pierre which is the hang gliding capital of Canada. There are only 250 residents, but when summer ever arrives the hotel rooms and campsites will double the population. I am sitting here in the evening sun typing and watching the gliders jump off the cliffs above. Guess I will pass on this attraction! Cooling off once more... sure hope we have sun tomorrow. Another couple in the camp are traveling counter clockwise... lucky them!!! We are one day behind on our plans, so will either have to pedal like crazy or thumb!

Camping du pont in Mont Saint Pierre $16.60 gets **** (4*) as the showers are free and very hot, the W/c spotless and the sun is shinning!

71.43 km M44.8 A14.9 T 4h 46 min TD 1922.79 km

Day 40 Mont Saint Pierre to Saint Yvon 87.99km June 19/02 Wednesday

Froze all nite! ??? why I don't know (high humidity or stupidity?) Must take a minute to describe the night wear....long johns with fleece top and pants...with fleece jacket about hips....with wool socks... in sleeping bag that obviously was rated to 0C by a walrus. Had a 15minute hot hot shower and finally felt warm. Might have been nice to camp at L'anse Pleurice but not open yet! They don't think summer has started yet and I think they are right!

Wow how can they make a living in 2 months of summer? Flat between towns and up into and down out back to the shore for 23km. Gorgeous ride with the wind finally at our backs maybe 7km/hr. Saw many whales surfacing all along this route. Then of course the hills had to spoil it! after Manche-d'epee.... 2km up 3.5 down 9% grade.... stopped to check our email in Madeleine-Centre where they had to power up so Ken could use the computer.... he didn't even offer to help when they couldn't get connected.... Dad would have!!

Bought hand made cards made by children in Madeleine on home made paper...really cute. Went on to start climb to Grande-Vallee.. it is incredible.... unbelievably steep 17km with a start of 1km ~15%, slight down then 2km steeper. Sharp ups and downs of 11-14%. Pushed short ways on first incline but managed the rest. Legs weary. Continued on hoping for camping as prior Riviere la Madeleine a campgd in each town. Feast or famine.... 0 to be found of Gite/motel or camp. Point a la Frigate met a neat woman who is a nurse. She and her brother (professer of computers/mathmatics) carve ships. Really beautiful works of art and not expensive. Finally at Saint Yvon was a motel... but I must mention the road work going on just prior. Dump Trucks like I've never seen before racing up and down this streach of road of 15% grade. Diggers, dust, steep and noisy. I had a race with a dump truck straight up the hill... he won I got scared and moved to side and walked with Jes. The motel was full.... of construction workers. I think when the woman saw our faces fall she went to the back and came back and offered to let us camp in their yard. Had a nice supper in the restaurant... Jes had great cod. They are not used to having vegetarians out here.... onion rings and a salad was supper... and was enjoyed! The sun was warm.... skin singed. Hills so frequent we didn't notice the heat.

The black flies were hatched out in the motel grass ....oh me oh my....off to bed early

87.99 km M46.5 A14.3 T 6h 06 min TD 2010.78 km

Day 41 Saint Yvon to Gaspe (Point Naverie) 65km June 20/02 THursday

Woke up at 0230 and thought Jes was packing as I could hear plastic bags crinkling.... It was a beast in the garbage can..... I got his picture for the garbage police!!

Back to sleep (not cold) and awake again at 0450 to the first truck driver up for his breakfast of must be pancakes as I could smell them. The sun was up as tomorrow is the "beginning of summer... longest day of the year" Got up and were off by 0645 mostly because the black flies and mosquitos were voracious.

First 21km was 10k up and then down. We had been told after 10k the hills were done... I think their definition of hill is different than mine. Next 16km more the same 9% ups and downs. I think summer has hit as it was 15C at 0700 and 25 by 1030.... no complaints Took the cut off Hwy 197 to Gaspe which was a great surprise as it followed the Renard River valley so was a gradual up up and down down but of lesser grades...maybe 6%. More duable. Leg exhaustion kicking in as the temp is now 35C and I am down to shorts and swim top. Sweat pouring down.... and the backflies chasing us big time all day.

Arrived at the campground (Fort Ramsey gets 5*) by 1400. The mosquitos are out.... what other bitie beasties have they out here! Still very hot. I sat in the sun for the first time in swim suit. Look rather strange with all the different tan lines. Jes needs bike maintenace for a stiff front shifter.... giving her wrist a work out. She and ken attempted, but too high teck so will go in the am up up into Gaspe to the shop. No shopping close so we ate in another greasy cantine.. wasn't too bad.. the veggie soup was great and Jes had a hot chicken sand .... They couldn't make me a veggie sub as all the veggies they have are tomatoes and lettuce. Very different than home.... we are definitely spoiled with our food prices and eateries. A grapefruit here is $1.39 Washing done and we are ready to hit the hay at 8pm.... real party animals I'm travelling with! My back is complaining with numb toes...maybe the hills will be more gentle tomorrow....more drugs! Jes has some numbness too. Ken is just tired ++ We will take a day off soon.

65 km M54 A13.9 T 4h 40 min TD 2075.78 km

Day 42 Gaspe to Coin du Banc 59.97 km June 21/02 Friday

Longest day of the year!

Left Fort Ramsey campground with mosquitos and blackflies chasing us up the hill. Headed in to Gaspe in search of a bike shop for Jes as her front derailleur lever needs help. Got there before the shop opened, sent Ken off to do grocery shopping (lucky we didn't get beer and chips).... 20C at 0800. Aventure Sports great guys... he stripped the cable and reinserted it ? what was wrong, but it works for her now. Headed off up up as usual now 30C at 10am . Rolling hills of 10% grade. Traffic light, gravel shoulder on 132. Views of the ocean hazy... tip of lands end eiry in the haze. Small towns with no services. Stopped at Cap Rouge where a lady sold us a raison pie which we devoured on her deck. Hot but wonderful to be warm. Wind light from the west, but the road varies between east, south and west as we wind along the coast... more cliffs here. Finally Perce Rock came into view at Barachois. We decided on a short cut on the railway crossing of the bay... interesting. A place you would kill your kids if they went!!

Trestle had walkway ... I didn't like the height, but did it. The sandy to gravel old road was a challenge to say the least. Didn't save any time, but got us off the highway. Stopped for a few minutes on the sandy shore... warm water, but lots of kelp. Campground gets a 0* as it was closed. It's for sale, so I don't think it will be open all summer. Auberge Coin du Banc gets 5*. The proprietess Lise Maloney was a wonderful kind older woman (85+) who "couldn't think to charge us to camp on the lawn, but $2 for showers" Really neat Auberge that is 160 years old... it was originally a fish processing station. One of the cabins was the ice house, another was a fish processing building. The main building was so hot I don't think I could have stayed inside. It was like a museum... full of old pictures of the place in days gone by. Set up to feed a big crowd. They accept bookings for dinner, but we hid in our tents from the mosquitos and hit the hay early, listening to the crash of the waves and the buz of the mosquitos.

59.97 km M 44 A 13.2 T 4h 30 min TD 2135.75 km

Day 43 Coin du Banc to Pabos Mills 67.10km June 22/02 Saturday

Got up very early as we, some of us were snorring at 1830! We packed up inside the tent by 0545 used the water closet by 0600 and were off. The deet mosquito repellant works maybe 2 minutes until they discover it's only smell!

We did the 9km into Perce Rock which is challenging with a large 15% up hill to start. My back is finally starting to give out... more drugs! Anyone know a doctor in New Brunswick? The 18% down into Perce is unbelievable!

We walked on the beach out to the rock. It is like small shale pieces all piled up with clay in between each piece. It is really huge. We saw a lobster fisherman checking his traps. We went over to the docks and looked at the boats which could take us out to Bonaventure Island.... it has quite a story that we will have to research to find out the real one... a artist we met today (John Wiseman) told us the federal government expropriated the land from the people who lived there at fair value, in order to preserve the birds living there and the land itself... ie there were no rules as to cutting of trees, people were poaching the eggs to be served in restaurants... since the Quebec government has taken over running the park they cut the biologist position and he feels the park is maybe not being maintained as it could be. He does some really nice paintings.... who painted the loone for the "loonie"??

As we turned west the wind which was out of the north west helped and hindered. We continued along the shore from town to town and ended the day with some hills into Pabos Mills.... if we had been daring we could have taken the rail crossing again and saved 8km... but the train was running today and we didn't know the schedule. We are camped at parc du Bourg de Pabos which is treed like campgrounds in Alberta. Spaces are large and so are the mosquitos! We did take the train crossing to go back for some "canteen food" once more Yek!! is all I can say to describe eating at one... greasy fried food! Although the toasted tomato sandwich was good. The train had just passed so we felt safe to cross! (I didn't feel safe crossing as it is very high and the boards are loose some of them) It wasn't as hot today. 20C with a nice breaze. Monday is Saint John d'baptiste day which is a big holiday here. There are large stacks of driftwood... and I mean large! For fires on the beach at midnight on Sunday nite. We will see if we can be at one of them. The locals are already setting up on the beach with tents and cars. Some towns were setting up tents for music and what looked like beer gardens.

67.10 km M 42.1 A 13.8 T 4h 50 min TD 2202.85 km

Day 44 Pabos Mills to Caplan 95.30km June 23/02 Sunday

Our 29th Anniversary!

Left Pabos Mills with gradual ups and downs. Overcast with a haze, but warm at 20C I think I may quit writting the log as it is getting depressing to read I'm sure... poor weather, grouchy remarks... I'll try to keep it more up beat!

We followed the coast today which is more rugged with red cliffs. Huge downhill (we liked!) into Gascons, then mostly down with light breeze at our backs all the way to Caplan. New Carlisle is an older town for this area, but rest of the day the homes were like from the 50's... bungalos, square 2 stories, No industry to see other than lobster fisherman. There was a campground in each town. Huge stacks of wood on the beaches in preparation for the bondfires for the celebration tonight... St John d'Baptiste Day...now called National Day. Lots of flags flying from homes both Canadian and Quebec flags. This area of Caplan has banned the midnight beach fires... much like when Kelowna stopped Regatta due to it being too big a party. Went out for pizza ... as it was the only restaurant within walking distance.. good but not like at home. Huge thick edge crust with little cheese, sauce and toppings over not crusty center crust.

We had a good day, lots of stops just to look about..... NO BUGS!

95.3 km M 42.9 A 17.2 T 5h 31 min TD 2298.15 km

Day 45 Caplan to Saint Omer 60.56km June 24/02 Monday

Rained overnight.... Windy +++ 5C No bug bites for 2 days or sunburn!!

There was no big party for our anniversary! No fireworks or fires... some places that planned fires didn't due to the high winds. some other campers who are here for the season played a game sort of like horse shoes where you throw 2 heavy ceramic balls, each taking turns... and enjoying a beer or two until maybe 2200. They were mostly older french speaking people and I couldn't get exactly how it was played. Anyways I was tired and they didn't keep me awake.

Woke up to the wind storm... tent was dry so we packed up early and headed off of course I said I'd try to be positive..... the wind was 35Km into our face! This takes talent to balance a loaded bike and make any speed. Jes needs some practise... I wonder if pedal pushers would let her enrol? Very lucky not to get hurt when the wind and a drop off onto the gravel shoulder tipped her over. Took us 2h15min to go 27km... I think I run faster! Ken was a good wind block... we may just keep feeding him. Road rolling up and down, clouds racing overhead as the wind was blowing a gale to say the least. I am able to keep up, but my physical condition is deteriorating. They may have to lift me onto the bike soon.... okay when I'm pedaling!

Forgot to mention: Ken woke up to a flat tire... Jessie says she couldn't face that in the morning! He mended it and it seems to have held all day.

Gesgapegag Indian Reserve has a neat store with really nice baskets for sale.... no room!Kept hoping the wind would be at our backs as we rounded the bay, but got to about "2oclock" so was worse than straight on. In Maria a large tree had fallen over the highway and hit a power line, so we were lucky to skirt it thru a yard and get ahead before the hiway was closed....this made traffic lighter for a while . Stopped for a long lunch in Carleton contemplating the next move. Never thought I'd say Subway has good food, but soup and a sandwich was great as we were exhausted. Started off again to Saint Omer a very long 10km.... The campsite is very quite as today is the last day of the long weekend. The wind seems to be gone... but we are very sheltered so it could be waiting for tomorrow! Dark clouds moving fast overhead, but doesn't feel like rain! Off to bed. The Lilac have been in bloom the last few days....smell wonderful. More flowers on the decks.

60.56 km M 38.3 A 13 T 4h 38 min TD 2358.71 km

Day 46 Saint Omer to Dalhousie New Brunswick 76.69km June 25/02 Tuesday

Woke up to sunny morning....but Ken's compass was off and we are in the shade! No problem....up and packed...very sheltered spot as windy on the road. Really a nice camp spot. There are yearly rentals who have gorgeous views of New Brunswick across Baie des Chaleurs.

Road construction for short distance around Nouvelle. We stopped at a portion where one way traffic and they were pulling out the railway rails to redo the road. The workers were standing watching the machine worker pull out the track which by the way was probably 30ft long. He offered to lift my bike over the moving rail... I said "it's really heavy"...he lifted it like it was a feather....unbelievably strong! We were able to jump the que of traffic and get up the hill mostly before they came along.

Wind not such a problem today... the Dalhousie ferry is not in operation this year so we had to go around to Point a la Croix adding 70km to the trip. There is a log house with young students playing the role of the owners "the Youngs" who lived in it from 1830 until 1967... about the size of a single garage.... very interesting.. they were the postal outlet for the area... we even got mail (copies of letters sent or recieved in 1830)

After great lunch in Campbellton (Soup and Sweets: like TimHortons but better) we headed (134hwy) off up hill (but not difficult) to Dalhousie. Glimpses of the bay. Lots of trees. Very hot 35C

Met a father/son cycling to Moncton. They were staying in hotels so load lighter. Good to see others travelling. Few more campers on the road today... I think school may be out now. We hear from home it has been really nice in Kelowna (+30C) for the past 2 weeks!

Much easier day for all. Interesting to see how NB deals with the bilinguilism... instantly obvious on road signs both English and French. First English magazines we have seen in the stores. In fact didn't see a French book...but must still be around as French still seems to be the language on the street. Camping really nice at Inch Aaron Campground next to the community pool which has a really nice hot tub! They get a 5* rating.... hot showers (free) clean, secure, really friendly staff.

I didn't realize how much I missed being able to communicate without effort. The people we met in Quebec were friendly, patient, accomodating and made it as easy for us as possible... but it's not the same as being able to just say what you want or know your answer is understood. I was amased how many young people we met who spoke no english or very little.

76.69 km M 45.8 A 16.7 T 4h 34 min TD 2435.4 km