Portneuf Sur Mer Quebec to Edmondston New Brunswick 180 miles
Last night at least three other guests arrived. So the house that was all ours became more crowded. That presented another problem when Rob took suitcases out to the car. We were blocked in. Everyone is still asleep so we ate a couple of granola bars for breakfast and tried to stay quiet. By 9 am no one was up so Rob started knocking on doors to get the owner of the Mazda to move it. She really hadn’t had much choice. The driveway is very small due to the new construction going on next door and the road is not wide enough to park a car. It’s probably against the rules anyway. She apologized and moved the vehicle. Then as usual the woodie would not start. The guy across the street had a four wheeler. They tried that but it wasn’t strong enough. So the other neighbor got his truck. Still no start. So they parked it in front of his house and the two neighbors and Rob went to work. These gentlemen only spoke French and Rob doesn’t speak French so communicating was rather difficult. Over time other members of the community showed up. One finally did speak English. In total at least six different people worked on it and finally got it started. We headed out of town to the ferry location. We stopped at the gas station from last night to call the ferry company. The lady who answered spoked very good English. Their ferries are completely full for at least another month. We could come to the ferry and wait to see if a no show opened up but the odds are not good. Her best suggestion was to head south and take the ferries that operate on a first come first serve basis. So we went back some of the way from yesterday. Still along the St Lawrence River. The tide must be out or they are in a drought because the water does not come all the way to the shore. We can see big barges out in the main stream. The highway dead ends at the first ferry which crosses the Saguenay River. On the map the river looks small but it takes about ten minutes to cross by ferry. Two lines form going down a rather steep hill. They use two ferries here so they do come more often. There is no charge for this ferry because it connects a major highway. Uneventful crossing. Now a drive up and down hills still along the St Lawrence River to the next ferry. Many of the houses along the way have metal siding. Sometimes they use multiple colors to make the house different. There are also many houses that are the size and shape of a single wide modular home. They are placed on concrete foundations. The other houses often have basements so they sit up higher off the ground. Most still have porches. We soon arrived at St Simeon where the second ferry crosses the St Lawrence River. They only run one ferry and it takes 1-1.25 hours to cross. We got there about 2:30 and the next ferry leaves at 5:30. They gave us a paper that indicates number and category of passengers and the vehicle. We are to be back to the car by 4:15. So we headed for the information building and to walk along the river. We picked a destination based on the time of arrival. Then we took a short walk out to the observation area. At least three barges are navigating the river. We were also lucky enough to see glimpses of a small whale. It passed about three times but our timing was never good to photograph it. We talked to a lady who lived on the other side. She had just missed the earlier ferry. She said just because you have a slip of paper does not guarantee you a spot on the ferry. Oh dear. This is the last ferry of the day. While waiting, the car in front of us had a tire going low. The decision was made to change the tire. They were four tourists from France. I don’t think they had ever changed a tire. Rob went right out to help and so did another motorist nearby. After some effort the tire came off and a large screw was imbedded in the tire. That was pulled out with pliers and the other motorist had the tools to repair the hole. Then the tire went back on and all appeared to be good. One of the four French tourists spoke good English which really helped. Yeah the ferry has arrived. The loading process begins. The leftover cars from earlier go on first, then some campers and small trucks. The newcomers are the last to go on. The row to our left gets on and then our row. Only a very few cars from the third row make it on. We are at the back but we are on. A row of cars are above the outer row. Sure glad we were not up there. Seating is available in several areas both inside and outside. The river is more narrow here than down stream. The ride cost us about $88 Canadian. We ate sandwiches while on board to save a stop later. On the other side we drove through a larger community of interesting shops and houses. No time to stop and we really had to pay attention to the GPS. Lots of twists and turns. Finally we are on the side road to the freeway. Almost no other cars were on the road and it was in good condition. Unfortunately all good things come to a close. We were forced onto the freeway. It is undergoing expansion so there is lots of major construction. The sign says to be finished in December but I doubt it. Our travel distance is further than we thought so it is getting dark. Those of you who have Model As know the lights are not all that bright. For those of you that don’t know, imagine driving at night in a strange location with one dim flashlight. We are often following the tail lights of cars in front. Finally we get to the town. Now to find the hotel. By now it is quite dark. Thank goodness for lines on the road. We wandered through all residential areas. The roads are narrow and heavily patched. We came to the spot the GPS sent us and no motel. A second GPS sent us back somewhere nearly 8 miles. Oh yes we are nearly out of gas. We missed one turn completely because we could not see the road. Then the road had no lines. They are not straight either. Finally we got to this location and the motel was there. Still in a residential area. We arrived about 10:15 pm. We were both tired and ready for bed.
Spoffords Travel 