High Fuel? Don't care!: Lancaster to Shediac

We left Guelph at about 8:30 in the morning, thinking by the time we hit the 401 rush hour down to Toronto would be almost finished at our end. I had wanted to wait until about 9:00 or 9:30 to leave, but Ray won out. So as we came onto the 401 overpass you could see stopped vehicles for miles heading into Toronto. Ugh! And so many semi trucks!! One kind semi driver let us in and we slowly merged into the non-moving stream of vehicles. I am not sure how far the "stop and go " traffic went on for, as it seemed like miles! We slowly approached a very "wide" load which was causing the traffic to swing out to go around it and then traffic picked up a bit but was still somewhat slow. The cause was finally revealed when we came upon the last remnants of an accident being cleared away. Once passing that we were able to speed up to the normal speed of 100 kph. What started out in Guelph as a simple three lane highway in each direction quickly turned into a five and then eight lane highway, that is 16 lanes total!! Thankfully there were no more accidents and the traffic moved slowly through Toronto and points east. One thing that I really liked are the Ontario Service Centers on the Trans Canada. They are massive with very large parking lots, service stations, rest rooms and a very nice restaurant area where you can get fast food and Starbucks (Yay!) or Tim Horton's. These service stations are spaced out very well for the traveller. The drive from Toronto down to Kingston is very beautiful with green lush rolling hills. East of Kingston brought a lot more trees and less view of the nearby hills. Our goal was to get to Lancaster as it is just a few kilometres from the Quebec border. It meant a 5 hour drive, if no mishaps on the 401. We arrived around 3:30 to a campground we have previously stayed in. Lancaster is in the Township of South Glengarry and is on the Saint Lawrence River. Our campground was in fact right on the river, however our site was up by the road in the mosquito riddled bushes!! If we were spending more then a night we would have liked to be by the river, instead of being chewed alive!

We unhooked the truck and went in search of fuel. We met the nicest lady at the gas pumps who told us that we should go and shop at the local store called "Henderson's" as it had a great bakery and competitive prices. She also told us that if we needed beer that we should drive over to Quebec as they had the cheapest prices. We did go to both Henderson's (which were very nigh prices) and to Quebec so Ray could get some cheap beer. The beer was bought in a little corner store. I remember in the 70's you could always get beer in the corner store, and I still find this odd. The corner store had more booze in it then groceries!!!

The next morning we left fairly early and headed into Quebec. Our plan was to get to Edmunston New Brunswick for that evening. As Lancaster is very close to the border, we found ourselves heading into Montreal within an hour. Thankfully for us we missed the rush hour. Now the last time we went through Montreal in 2012, we had noticed how the overpasses were in need of some major repair work as there was visible rebar on the sides and underneath parts of the passes. This time there was some pretty major roadwork being done. We were on Highway 20 and had planned on staying on this highway as it should take us just south of the city. BUT,,,,,,we were in the middle lane with two semi's beside us and missed the turn off to take us out of the city. The next thing we knew, we were heading down into the longest tunnel that I have ever seen and on coming out of the tunnel we were in the downtown core (or that is what it looked like!!!). Once again the navigator failed to do her proper duty! I almost cried!!! Downtown we go 5th wheel and all,,,but fortunately I had punched Edmunston NB into the GPS before we left in the morning. So being the not so popular navigator, I hit the previous locations on the GPS and brought up the entry. Thankfully the GPS once again directed us out of a downtown area. I am sure by the time we get to the end of this trip Ray is going to fire me as the official navigator. But honestly,,,, it was the fault of the two semi's blocking my view of the signage. Part of my excuse is there are no signs in English. Only in French, which I have to read backwards to understand. This is my excuse and I am sticking to it!!!

The rest of our drive through Quebec was very uneventful and beautiful. We do live a fantastic country with so much to see and so many different landscapes. Tiny towns with white churches dotted the rolling green hillsides. The highway itself was perfect and along the way there was signs referencing Upper Canada, as there had also been in some areas of southern Ontario. Without getting into a long and convoluted history lesson and with the help of Wikipedia,,,,,,,,Upper Canada was created in 1791, to "govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees of the United States after the American Revolution". On Feb 10, 1841 it was united with adjacent Lower Canada (Quebec was referred to as Lower Canada) to form the Province of Canada."

Ray has promised that on our return trip we will camp outside of Quebec City and spend a day there. I really do want to see the city even if I can barely make out the signage!! Continuing east we stopped in St Basile New Brunswick for our first night and then the next morning continued down to Shediac (Home of the World's Largest Lobster) to spend one more night before heading into PEI to see the Kirkwoods. The campground in St Basile was probably the nicest so far. The owner was very friendly, the sites large and clean. They even had a pool but it was a bit chilly for that.

Both of these are taken in the St Basile campsite we stayed in. That is Kilkenny in my Starbucks mug!

I am not sure really why I like Shediac New Brunswick so much, because small towns don't always appeal to me. Maybe it is because it is right on the Saint Lawrence River, which is another very large body of water that appears to be the size of a small ocean. This town hosts an annual Lobster Festival every July, which would be something to see. The people in the town are so very friendly and so eager to help you and ask where you are from. Ray is a Legion member and what better place to go to learn about the town and its locals. After touring Parlee Beach Provincial park and the town itself, we went into Legion Branch 33. When we came into the Legion, everyone said hello to us. We asked where we were to sign in and was told that is not required. Some of the things we learned from this nice small crowd, were the following. Shediac is an English and French speaking Acadian community and proudly fly not only the Canadian and New Brunswick flag but also the Acadian flag. As told to us by these fellows, the Acadian people first settled in the area in the early 1600's and they believe that Shediac is one of the oldest Acadian settlements in Canada. We were told that when the British came to the area in the mid 1700's and mistrusting the Acadians, separated some of the Acadian families and deported them south of the border as far down as Louisianna. I am sure their could be a lot of bitterness with this group, but none was noted. One of the fellows we spoke with was born in Shediac but moved to North Vancouver where he lived until he retired. At which time he moved back to Shediac. He said the young move away for work but always seem to return to live at some point in their lives.

When we were leaving the legion, the lady managing the bar very happily gave us two of their Legion Pins.