7/1 -7/31/2017

I am posting this without pictures.  Most of the pictures have been posted previously on Facebook. I will work on the pictures when we return home.

July is here...on to Quebec City.  Everything is in French, even the store marquees, and the one that tickled me the most was NAPA...pieces de auto'.  Guess that makes sense.  We arrived at Camping La Relache about 1:30...rain the whole way and lots of traffic, it being Canada Day & all. We went exploring on the south side of St Lawrence where we are camped, found the ferry location and saw a festival going on.  Lots of folks out & about, Canada Day is a big deal to these people.  We ended up at a park below the main bridge that crosses the St Lawrence...talked to the fisherman trying their luck at trying to catch giant Muskie (60 lbs.), no luck today. But there was plenty of folks trying.

The next morning we drove south to the Chutes-de-la-Chaudiere (chutes=waterfalls) on the Chaudiere River.  Again, lots of folks out & about.  We spent an hour there and then made our way to the Ile d'Orleans, a 34 km (21 mi) x 8 km (5 mi) island in the St Lawrence River.  It is the oldest French settlement in Canada, so the French is really entrenched there.  We spent the rest of the day driving the 75 km (47 mi) perimeter road and stopping numerous times as we rode along. Straw berries are a huge crop on the island and they make lots of different jams, etc., to sell to the southern folks who come by (yep, we bought jam and other items, maple syrup too).  We ended our trip to the island at the Micro Brassiere La Milan Pub & Brewery ( even Wikipedia is in French) and had some of their pub fare and met a couple from Maryland (at least they spoke English).  We stopped at Chute Montmorency on the way back, closed but we were able to get some pictures...more big water.

The next morning was a ride to Old Quebec and the chore of finding a parking spot.  Second time through the city we scored a spot not far from the center of town.  We went and got tickets for the Hop-on Hop-off bus, hopped on and it started raining...oh boy. We hung in there and got to see most of the city from the bus.  It is amazing how they have preserved buildings from 1600 and added new buildings to look like they are 500 years old.  We stopped & had some lunch after we got off the bus & then went back across the river to our camper.  We are both about tired of rain.

The next morning we are moving east, Metis-sur-mer, Quebec our destination.  We went all day with no rain :). We stopped at Camping-Annie, a cool little spot along the St Lawrence River 4 hours east of Quebec City.  The St Lawrence has grown to be about 57 km wide (35 miles) and stays roughly that width until Cap-Chat where it doubles in width in about 60 km (36 mi) The head waters go all the way to Hibbing, MN (1900 mi) and is the the outflow of all 5 Great Lakes and all of the tributaries which totals 590,000 cu ft/second...lots of water.  It is an amazing body of water to look at and study.  The river from the east end of Ile d'Orleans until it passes into the Atlantic is considered the largest estuary in the world and becomes tidal east of Quebec City.  We spent the next week in this area...lots to see & do.  We are now east of Maine and on the Gaspe' Peninsula. Small towns are numerous & gas stations are scarce, so we keep a close eye on the gauge and drive on the upper half of our fuel tank.  Lighthouses are everywhere and in some pretty cool spots. The 132 highway is just a few feet above the ocean/St Lawrence.  Windmills are everywhere, using the steady breezes to make electricity for all the small towns & numerous farms.  Neither of us can imagine what the place must be like in the winter.  Look this place up on Google or your atlas...Gaspe Peninsula...great adventure.  After 2 nights at Camp Annie and several drives along the coast...time to move.

From Camp Annie, we drove south across Gaspe Peninsula to Campbellton, New Brunswick.  The camper will stay here and we will drive the rest of the Gaspe Peninsula with the car.  We had a beautiful sunset from our spot at Campbellton.  The next morning, we are headed east on the south side of Gaspe. We made numerous stops along the way which bordered Chaleur Bay the whole way to Perce, then it is the Gulf of St Lawrence the rest of the way.  If we had some super binoculars, we could maybe have seen Cape Breton & PEI.  We arrived at Gaspe about 5:30, got our room and went to dinner across the street...sitting under a canopy next to the street listening to the rain....go figure.

The next morning we drove east again, to drive through Parc National Forillon de Canada, a cool National Park on the very tip of Gaspe Peninsula. Then we finished the perimeter drive and back to Gaspe for another night.  It was a beautiful drive up and over some mountains and along rivers that began up in the mountains and got more volume as we went down.  We went back to Petit-Cap and found a place called Resto-Pub La Revolte and sat by the bar looking at the Atlantic and made a fun conversation with a couple from Ottawa while we ate a pizza...nice way to end a very fun day.  We drove back to the hotel in the rain...back to the camper tomorrow.

We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and started back to Campbellton. We didn't get back until 4, lots of small towns and one detour. We did a little exploring and drove up to Sugarloaf Provincial Park south of town.  We startled a bear cub that was upright, otherwise not much to look at.  They were serving food at the ski lodge so we ordered dinner...sitting on an outdoor deck, listening to rock & roll while eating dinner at the top of a mountain in New Brunswick, hard to beat. It has been great.

The next morning, we are headed to Pokemouche, a little town on  the Pokemouche River on another little peninsula in the Gulf of St Lawrence.  We got our site and took the rest of the day off.  The next day, we drove north to the very tip of Miscou Island and went to the top of the lighthouse.  We spent the rest of the day exploring the area, found several more lighthouses and tried & failed to find a few more...directions not the best. We stopped for dinner in Shippagan and got chased inside by rain...not the best service ever nor the best food.  We decided this town wasn't really ready for tourists.  The next morning we went lighthouse hunting again, found 2 near Grande-Anse.  On the way back to the camper, we found an ice cream stand...more ice cream than I could eat, but it was good.  We are ready to move on...pretty much covered this peninsula.

The next morning, we are off to Fredericton, NB.  We went trough there in 2013 but never really slowed down, going to do some exploring.  We went & found a steak for the grill for dinner & had dinner looking at the St John River.  It is a main attraction in Fredericton, and as we found out, a producer of a huge amount of the electricity the area needs at the Mactaquac Power Plant, just west of downtown, we even got a tour of the plant.  The next day, we drove downtown and stopped at the Visitor's Center and learned not too much.  We tried to go on a boat ride and that turned into such a hassle, we gave up. We then went looking for some dinner and found a nice outdoor restaurant (and ate dinner with no rain) and then went into a place with a live band, pretending to be Alice in Chains & Nirvana...not bad, but hard to tell the difference.  We listened to most of 2 sets and went back to the camper. The campground was pretty quiet at midnight...lol. We decided to take a day break and watch the craziness at the campground...Barb cleaned the camper, I putzed around and did some minor repairs. The next morning we drove south to the City of St John and its attractions, The Reversing Falls, the tower in the center of town, where it was so foggy, you couldn't see 10', let alone 10 mi., and the St John Harbor, which we bypassed because of the fog.  Then we headed to West Quaco on the shore of the Bay of Fundy, got some very cool pictures there.  Then we were off to Moncton to try to catch the Tidal Bore.  We made it with about 3-4 mins to spare...yea, we know how to do that?  Just lucky.  We found the Pump House restaurant where we had been in 2013 and had some dinner.  And guess what?  Yep, had to drive home in the rain, in the dark.  Time to move on.

We packed up pretty early and started our trek back to the US, taking a different route than we took in 2013.  This route took us on a lot of 2 lane roads and through a very small Port of Entry in Vanceboro, Maine...tiny place.  The border patrol was very nice, but for the very first time, the BP came inside the motor home and searched cabinets (even the medicine cabinet) and the pantry.  He found nothing of a problem and sent us on our way.  The road between Vanceboro & I-95 is in serious need of some work, but we took our time, even stopping a couple of times to enjoy the scenery.  We had also changed back from Atlantic to Eastern time zone, where we will be all the way home.  We arrived in Palmyra, ME about 3 pm and got set up...time to relax a bit.  We called everyone and let them know we were in the US and our phone calls would be included in our plan ($.20/min in Canada).

The next morning it was raining, again.  So we got some bill paying stuff done and waited.  About 11 am, we started south, Owls Head our destination.  We visited the Owls Head Transportation Museum (at the suggestion of our friend Helge Hagen from Norway) We took 3 hours walking through, looking at a lot of old cars, airplanes, motorcycles & firetrucks, etc.  Lots to see. We then drove to the Owls Head Lighthouse, walked to the base of the lighthouse and it was so foggy we couldn't even see the water, so we figured it was not worth the trouble to climb to the top.  We walked back to the car and headed to Bucksport. We were headed to Harbor View Grille only to discover they are closed on Tuesdays...so we went to Carrier's Mainely Lobster and I had a lobster for dinner...darn, I hate when that happens.  We headed back to the camper and stopped and got some groceries to replenish what we didn't buy in Canada.  It turned into a long day. We had spent almost a month in Maine in 2013 and had visited most of the state then, so we are on our way to Vermont tomorrow.

The trek to Randolph Center, Vermont & Lake Champagne Resort took 6 hours because of the route placing us on a lot of 2 lane roads and a LOT of little towns...need to slow down to 25 in a lot of them, then by the times you get back up to 50, time to slow down for the next town...pretty driving, just time consuming.  We had reserved the same site we had in 2013, beautiful Site 8A.  Upon arrival we had both agreed we would just stay put and enjoy the beauty of our site.  We had bought a steak and a roast and we did the steak on the grill the first night and put the roast in the Crock Pot the second night and just chilled.  Barb did a little laundry and I worked on pictures...we had great internet.  We never even talked to anybody but each other for 36 hours...very relaxing.

The next morning, time to move on, Carlisle, NY our next destination.  Our friend Dana Rudgers had married a very nice lady named Cindi Shelly last Sept and they had a party planned on their farm for 7/22, which we had planned for since Jan. About 75-85 people showed up and we spent the next 3 days, visiting, having bonfires, eating homegrown meals, listening to great music and enjoying life on the farm.  Nick Kody & the Creek Road Band along with Hannah Jo Lally, Jamie Lee & others spent about 4 hours playing new & old favorites for us. Dana had us parked in a pasture and some of us even had electricity...we had a great time.  On Monday, most everybody had gone home, but we wanted to do some exploring. So we drove to Hyde Park, NY to tour the FDR Library, home & grounds of the place FDR was born & grew up and where he & Eleanor are buried.  They are the longest serving President & First Lady in US History, so there is a lot to see & do there.  We drove back through Albany and also walked through some of the NY Capitol, which was getting ready to close when we arrived, but we got to see some of it.  We stopped at Outback for some dinner on our way back to Carlisle.  It was a fun day.  Tuesday was more exploring, first to Secret Cavern just a few miles from Dana & Cindi's farm and a tour all the way to the end, where there is a 150' waterfall, underground.  It is pretty unusual. Then about 330, we loaded up and Chris Chlumsky drove the 5 of us to Saratoga Springs, NY, where we enjoyed a concert of Chicago & The Doobie Bros.  The venue was nice (once we got parked and inside, which turned into a hassle) and the music was great.  I hadn't seen Chicago for almost 50 years and none of the rest had ever seen them, so it was a fun time.

Wed turned into a nightmare day pretty quickly.  We got up early to get a jump on our 7 hour drive to our next stop, 7 Points Campground in Hesston, PA.  It had been raining overnight, so the grass was wet and the ground soft.  As I tried to maneuver up a hill to exit the pasture, I would lose momentum just as I had to slow to turn through a gate and the tires would spin...with the drive wheels directly below the engine & transmission, well, it wasn't good.  I tried several different things and nothing worked.  Finally, I got almost to the top and we hooked a tractor to the the front of the MH and Dana was able to tow me just enough for me to make an exit...2 hours to go about 1/8 of a mile.  So I backed up close to the house and used a hose to rinse the huge amount of mud packed into our wheel-wells.  We got hooked up, said more goodbyes and were on our way.  We still had a 7 hour drive ahead, so we forged ahead.  Barb drove for about 1.5 hours, thank you.  I took a 20 min nap, needed. We stopped for fuel and kept going.  As we drove past a golf course in Huntingdon, PA, Barb was commenting about the golf course and I see a golf ball, in flight, just before it hit our motor home.  I kept going and never stopped until it was time to register at the campground 8 miles later.  We walked around the front of our MH and Barb noticed a broken clearance light, which is part of the headlight assembly and will be a project to replace on a 17 year old MH...finding the replacement may not be easy either.  Then we go to our assigned site and some knucklehead is parked in our site.  The part about him not being there made it even more fun.  So we parked the MH in a vacant spot and drove back to the office in the car.  We ended up spending the night in the vacant site.  Then our friends from Roaring Spring stopped by and we went to Huntingdon to get some dinner.  The first place had closed their kitchen, the second place served us awful pizza.  Then it was back to the camper, where our squatter had returned but still had not moved.  We went to sleep and when we got up, the guy and his wife? had moved to the correct site sometime overnight...weird.  So we moved to our site, got all settled in and as I was walking around the MH, I see this birdbrain watching me like a hawk...he didn't say I'm sorry, kiss my butt, nothing...it has been a crazy, crazy 24 hours...we are glad it is over.

Soon after we got our rig settled in, we are off to Grove City to see our brother-in-law and our nephew & his family. It is a 3+ hour drive in the car.  We get there about 2 and spend the afternoon doing some catch-up.  Larry's life is a lot different since my sister died and it is good to see him moving on.  He had surgery on a hernia, which at 75 can be serious. But we had a nice chat.  Then Scott & his bride and their 5 kids came by...constant motion.  We had pizza again & salad and spent the evening with them.  We slept at Larry's and the next morning we drove out to Scott's to visit & help their son Matthew celebrate his 5th birthday.  They had built a huge 'tree house' for the kids, sleeps 10...lol. Their daughter had cancer at 3 and spent 3 years fighting it.  She is now 13 and doing so well, it is great to see.  They still have to monitor her very closely, but she seems pretty well.  She was having 3 friends for a sleep over in the tree house, stuff normal kids do.  After lunch, we started back to our camper.  We stopped for a drive through Punxsatawney and a visit to Gobbler's Knob to see if we could get a glimpse of Punxsatawney Phil...maybe if he sees his shadow, we will get 6 more weeks of good luck, or something.  We got back late afternoon and relaxed and got ready for the next adventure...a 3 day trip to New York City for 2 days of Rock & Roll...Classic East.

It is 5 hours from Hesston, PA to Flushing, NY, our destination.  It is Saturday, so we are expecting lots of traffic...we were so right.  We pass through the Holland Tunnel, which puts us right in Chinatown in Manhattan...holy cow the traffic was thick,  But we get to the Williamsburg Bridge and escape to Long Island, drive a few miles and get trapped in Flushing Chinatown...twice in one afternoon.  We finally get to the hotel and there is a line out the door to register.  It takes over an hour to get to our room.  So we left at 830 to drive 5 hours and we get to our room at 4 pm...great.  The concert starts at 5.  So we get changed and call Uber for a ride of .7 mile...simple.  We missed the first 2 songs, get to our seat about 5:15.  But our seats are great, we are in the shade and the music is great & we are at Citi Field for 2 days.  The Doobie Bros finish up and we go pee & get a burger and spend $47 at the concession stand...yikes!  Steely Dan is next, haven't heard them in a while.  They have Larry Carlton playing with them...nice sound.  Then The Eagles come on...not sure how they will sound minus Glenn Frey.  Glenn Frey's son Deacon was great!  Vince Gill killed it.  What a cool show. We really enjoyed the day.  Then the fun started again, an hour plus to get back to our hotel...time to get some sleep.  Been a long day...glad it is over.

We both slept in and we just hung out in the room until about 2 pm.  We walked a few blocks and found a Chinese place that looked interesting.  We had a Chinese lunch and went back to the hotel and called Uber for a ride to Citi Field.  We got to our seats about 15 mins before Earth Wind & Fire started their set.  We had never seen them before in concert, but their set just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the groups assembled.  They rank #6 with no fault of theirs, someone has to be last.  We enjoyed the set, just not as much as the rest.  Next up was Journey, #5 in my list.  Their new lead guy is OK, but the sound is different.  Not bad, just different.  Next up was Fleetwood Mac, starring Stevie Nicks, who is still mostly on top of her game.  Their setlist included most of the old favorites as well as some new stuff...very enjoyable.  So our cool 2 day music fest is over: Eagles # 1, Fleetwood Mac #2, Steely Dan #3, Doobie Bros #4, Journey $5 & Earth. Wind & Fire...my list.

We walked back to the hotel instead of even trying to find a ride.  It was an interesting walk, rather have been in a car.  But we made it back OK, went to our room and got some sleep.  In the morning, it was a little breakfast and we are on the road.  We took a different route, across George Washington Bridge and south on I-95 to I-78 and headed west. We stopped in Harrisburg, PA and toured the capitol and the very nice park across the street dedicated to our veterans...it was a nice stop.  Then we finished our trip back to Hesston & Seven Points Campground...it was deserted, it is a work week day.  We enjoyed the peaceful evening and went to bed, it has been an amazing week.

August is up next, so we have a lot more on our agenda, so stay tuned.

Steve & Barb Larson