Sturgeon Falls to Quebec City

We slept late Tuesday. Our drive from Sturgeon Falls to Pembroke was short, so there was no need to get on the road too early. After breakfast we packed up and were driving by 9am. After a short stop for groceries at Sobeys in North Bay, we took our time enjoying (or enduring, depending on your point of view) the scenery.

At around 1pm we arrived in Pembroke, the heart of the Ottawa River Valley, and pulled into an Irving Big Stop and fuelled up. It was the first Irving gas station we’d come across in Ontario but not the last. Some say the Irving family own pretty much everything in the Maritimes but it appears they are branching into Ontario also. Fortunately, our Harvest Host stop was right across the road and after topping up the fuel we pulled in, parked and set up.

After a quick bite of lunch, we went to see our host at O’Kenny Distillery. When we walked up and tried the doors they were locked and the store hours sign indicated they were only open Saturday to Monday. I thought oh, oh! Fortunately, our host Andrew was inside and opened the door for us. I asked “are you closed?” He told us that he’d informed Harvest Hosts that he was closed for guests for all of July and August. Then he said, not a problem tho, you can stay as my main summer business (the tubing rental business) is not busy today. I thought his story was off because my understanding and experience from other hosts is that they must approve your stay. Ours was approved a couple months ago. Hmmm.

Andrew offered us a taste test of his spirits – he only had 3 available – Whiskey, Vodka and Rhiskey, a blend of Rum and Whiskey. I tasted but Connie declined. She hates the stuff. We bought a couple of items from the store and Andrew encouraged us to rent tubes and float down the Muskrat River to the Ottawa River. I had an earlier look at that dirty river and suspect he read my facial expression, no thanks! He then suggested if we had bikes, we should bike to the downtown of Pembroke and ride the Algonquin Trail, a bike, walk, ATV, snowmobile, dog sled and horse riding path along the east bank of Ottawa River. With time to kill, we hopped on the bikes and rode to town.

The trip downtown was less than ideal as there are no official bike lanes and the traffic was heavy. However, the Algonquin Trail and the City’s River Front Park were lovely. After a relaxing ride along the trail, we stopped to snack on ice cream before riding through the downtown streets and snapping a few photos.

It was warm and hot when we returned to the RV, so I plugged in to the truck generator power and turned on the air conditioning. It’s pretty handy having this hybrid truck when you are in a spot without AC power.

After dinner it began to cool down and a slight breeze began to blow. Connie checked the reviews on our Harvest Host spot and six days prior another guest mentioned that an unwanted visitor arrived late in the night and was checking them out. The visitor eventually left but I thought oh joy, here we go again! Another North Battleford experience.

We went to bed early as we planned an early start for our trip to Quebec City. We expected it to be 6 to 7 hours, our longest drive yet. I slept poorly the entire night, likely due to the prospect of an unexpected guest. Fortunately, the night was quiet and uneventful. We rose early and were on the road by 620am.

At Casselman, we stopped and treated ourselves to a Tim Horton’s Coffee and breakfast sandwich. I definitely like our home brewed Starbucks coffee better but breakfast out was a nice change. The lady serving us was senior to us, very abrupt and French Canadian. I asked her how her day was going and she completely ignored the question. I suspect she thought: “What a stupid question! I’m serving people like you at Tim Horton’s at 645am, how do you think I’m doing?” I kept smiling and she did friendly up a bit when she handed us our coffees. I watched and listened as she served the two gentlemen behind us and concluded this was just her usual happy demeanour.

As we continued down the highway approaching Renfrew, we passed by a sign that read, Yonder Hill Trail. I love these road names and picture in my mind an old timer saying “it’s the trail down by the yonder hill.”

If you’ve been reading my previous blog posts, you may recall me mentioning my maternal grandmother being born in Dauphin Manitoba. Her parents moved there from Renfrew Ontario prior to her birth. My mom recorded all the details of this somewhere in the midst of approximately nine boxes that are currently stacked in my home office. I do need to go through them at some point as I know my kids don’t want to do it!

You may also recall me mentioning that my grandparents home in Delia Alberta was built from an Eaton’s Catalog home plan. My sister Pauline texted me this morning to correct me. It wasn’t only a house plan but the entire supply of materials needed to build the house, including windows and doors. If you are interested you can read more here https://share.google/sww7W1iI1iZAg9K9G.

While we are on the topic of corrections, my former work colleague Madelene informed me that Canada’s national bird is not the Canada Goose rather it’s the Gray Jay also known as the Whiskey Jack. For the record, I love it when I’m corrected. It lets me know people are reading my stuff!

The drive from Pembroke to Renfrew was quite foggy, despite the temperature being warm. I’m not used to this being from the Okanagan Valley, where it is only foggy from November to February. I’m exaggerating a bit but it is typically grey for those months, unless you go skiing on the hills above the clouds or get in your car or on a plane and head south.

It wasn’t long before we reached Ottawa and our first rush hour. It was slow going for about 45 minutes but we finally made it through and headed toward Montreal. We stopped for gas at Dépanneur, Ontario and it was $1.25 per litre. This was the lowest gas price we’ve seen to date.

We stopped for a bathroom break and a stretch at the Quebec Tourist Information 12 kilometres inside the provincial boundary. Shortly after, Sam texted us and suggested if we weren’t going to stop in Montreal, it would be best to take the canal bi-pass highway which is tolled but much quicker. He was correct and it was worth it despite the $13.80 toll. We did hit a few stop and go spots but we got through and were on our way to Quebec City shortly after noon.

At 1230pm we turned into a rest stop near St Bruno De Montarville. I got a kick out of the warning sign below right.

While making our way to Quebec City KOA, a string of classic cars merged on to the freeway. Below are a couple of photos we captured on the GoPro.

We wondered if they were on the way to Moncton for this weekend’s Atlantic Nationals Automobile Extravaganza (https://atlanticnationals.com/).

At 245pm we arrived at the Quebec City KOA. The temperature was 29 celsius but it felt hotter given the humidity. The last time we stayed here, we were with Zach and spent 2 nights and a day and an evening exploring old Quebec City on our bikes and on foot. Since we are leaving early tomorrow morning, we won’t visit this time but when we come this way again, we will stay longer and do some touring.

Until next time, thanks for reading.