Our adventure so far, by Sue

A very brief summary, wifi in this park La Maurice

The Adventures of Dick & Sue Summer 2014

New Hope to Canadian Provinces and back  Aug 2 to Sept 13th

Day 1: Aug 2nd

We left New Hope around 9:30 am and headed north to pick up US 8 in Forest Lake MN.   (The GPS wanted us to go a different way and we were well into WI before it finally gave up and switched to the route we were taking.)  Saw a crazy WI woman driver who almost got herself killed several times by passing when it was not safe to do so.  She finally lost us and then we saw a car that had just had a deer run into the side of it.  Side view mirror knocked off and a big dent in the driver's door.  The rest of the trip was uneventful, until we reached the turn off for Indian Lake State Park and the road was closed.  We had to go back and read the sign that we passed too quickly.  The detour was short and we arrived around 6 (we had lost an hour by going into the Eastern time zone.)  The park was very crowded, the lanes narrow and people parked everywhere.  We dined on steak, baked potato and corn on the cob.   Our site was right on the lake and the breeze coming off the lake was almost cold.  Needed a heavy sweat shirt. 

Day 2: Aug 3rd

Slept in a little as neither one of us slept very well after the long drive.  We left MI and headed to Canada.  We had to cross a really high bridge over the St Mary's River.  We stopped at the Welcome center for maps, brochures, etc.  We finally arrived at Chutes Province Park.  We arrived around 4:30, parked the camper and realized that the park only puts in 1 power pole for 2 campsites and our power cords would not reach, so we had to go down to 20 amps which meant no a/c or microwave.  we survived.  Decided to take a walk before dinner.  This park has many rapids, waterfalls on the river.  We hiked to many of them but the terrain became rather difficult so we turned back.  Dick spent about 15 minutes at one spot trying to capture the water going over the rocks.  We came back ate dinner and then took a short walk around the campground and down to the beach.  Ran into a teenager from MN.  Small world.  The mosquitoes are bad.  I was ready for bed.

Day 3: Aug 4th

The day began with rain around 1:30.  Just some gentle showers.  It was cloudy and humid when we got up.  At noon stopped at a McDonald's so we could log on to their WiFi.  Dick uploaded some pictures to his blog.  On to Algonquin Provincial Park.  It was a long and winding road to this park.  We finally made it to our campsite.  The park is way off the beaten path, but beautiful, reminds us of the BWAC.  No electric and no showers.  We almost put our suits on and got in the lake to clean up a little but didn't.  Again we have a beautiful site right on the lake.  Heard the loons at night.  We ended up with just hot dogs for dinner.  (Dick's favorite meal.)  There were not any trails as most people come here to canoe or kayak.  It was really quiet until it started to rain about 9:30.  It didn't rain for long but the trees dripping on the camper went on and on and on.  Dick had trouble sleeping as he was not sure how he was going to get the camper out of the site.  Had trouble getting it in. 

Day 4: Aug 5th.

Dick had no problem getting the camper out.  Worried all night for nothing.  We packed up and hit the road to Fitzroy State Park.  It was a somewhat short day in the car, but had lots of road construction.  We stopped at a chip stand for lunch, French fries with vinegar, Dick had a Coney dog and I had a shaved beef sandwich.  Pretty tasty.  Arrived at Fitzroy, another beautiful park.  Reminds us of St. Croix.  We have electric (once again only one pole between two sites, but this time we parked closer to the pole.)  We found out the Tim Horton's restaurants have free WiFi and there are many more of them than McDonald's.  (Their parking lots are usually very small though.)  The first thing we did was take a shower.  It sure felt good.  Then we drove around the park a little, lots of campsites, then off to a Tim Horton's where we spent an hour catching up on email and trying to update the blog.  Unfortunately the battery on the computer ran out, so it was a short post. Back at the camper, Dick working on pictures and I am updating our journey.  Tomorrow we are off to the province of Quebec and will run into our first French speaking citizens.  We are staying two nights at our next stop which will be rather nice.

Day 5: Aug 6th

We cross over into Quebec province and just like that everyone speaks French and all the signs are in French only.  Most of the service people are bi-lingual.  On the advice of the young woman in the Welcome center we took a ferry ride across the Ottawa River.  A short  ride to a very picturesque city, which also seemed to be a tourist trap.  Then off to La Mauricie National Park.  We almost wish we could spend more time here.  Lots of trails, lots of canoeing and beautiful scenery.  We set up camp and then headed out for a short hike.  Then sat by the campfire until dark.  A very pleasant end to the day made better by knowing we don't need to get up and leave in the morning.

Day 6: Aug 7th

I woke up with a stuffy nose and sore throat.  (I was sneezing a lot yesterday so I wasn't too surprised to wake up with a cold.)  Made a real breakfast, blueberry pancakes with the wild blueberries we bought at a road side stand.  We set off to do some easy hikes in the park.  Dick took some great pictures and I finally remembered to bring my camera also.  The park rangers all are glad to practice their English with us.  Some of my high school French is coming back, but not good enough to try and converse.  Just helps with the signs.  We did several short trails, most to scenic overlooks.  Then found a picnic area by a beach on Lac Wapizagonke.  We enjoyed people watching, especially the canoeist who didn't really know how to canoe.  We went back to the camper as I was feeling worse.  We had great timing as it started to rain as soon as we got back.  We have really had great weather, the only rain has been at night except for today.  We will be going up to the wifi hot spot to upload more pictures to the blog.  Tomorrow it is off to Bic, which brings us closer to PEI.