20020516

May 16, 2002

Day 7

Start: Brattleboro North KOA, Brattleboro VT
End: Camping Transit, St Joseph-de-la-Pointe-Levy, QU
Miles: approx 330

We woke up to a nice day (51f, sunny) in Vermont. We ate, unhooked everything, and hit the road before 9am.

The drive to the Canadian border was almost boring. There wasn’t much traffic and we were all doing about the same speed. The cloud cover increased as we went north.

I decided to fuel up before crossing the border. The last city in Vermont is Newport. We wandered all over the place before we found a station with diesel.

The Canadian Customs agent keyed our vehicle license number into a computer and asked a few questions, mainly about any weapons we might have with us (none, of course). He asked how long we’d be in Canada and where we were going (he looked a little startled at the Newfoundland answer). Then he bid us a good trip and on we went.

Just past the border, it started misting, with a little light rain now and then. We went up 55 North, then 20 East. By the time we got to Quebec City, it was raining. But it let up as we hooked up the trailer in this big campground just off the TCH (Trans-Canada Highway).

We asked the campground owner questions, then we dashed off and found an ATM so we have Canadian dollars. Then we visited the grocery store for breakfast goodies. On returning to the campground, we asked about tours for tomorrow. We couldn’t get a satisfactory answer regarding the times of the tours, so we’ll just go over to the city and join one if we wish.

We’ve camped on the south side of the St Lawrence River, across from Quebec City. We’re close to the ferry service between Levis & Quebec. We decided to take the ferry over, have dinner, and come back. 

We had a good view of Chateau Frontenac (the big fort-looking building that dominates old Quebec) from the river. The lower part of the city, on the waterfront, had plenty of interesting places to examine. Dolores bought a funky little tuque (hat). 

Dinner was done at the Lapin Saute, #52 Petit Champlain. The complimentary piece from the chef was a spread of finely chopped olives (black and green) and garlic. It tasted very nice on the croutons, with a French chardonnay.

Dolores had Lapin Romarin – three pieces of rabbit in sauce, with roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables. I had Gratin Savoyard – a casserole of chicken, potatoes, leeks & cheese with a salad on the side. Both dishes were quite good, although my bite of Dolores’ bunny seemed a little tough.

The rain started again while we were at table, but didn’t get much beyond the mist stage until we got back to the campground. Then it rained on and off while Dolores watched TV and I typed this journal. I do hope this rain goes away for tomorrow. ‘nuff already.

Later, just as I was about to put the laptop away, along came a full-bore thunderstorm mit donder und blitzen and heavy rain. If this keeps up, we’ll drown right here.

If it lets up a little, we’ll go back over to Quebec City and look around.