Our first stop was Quebec City where we spent my birthday exploring the old town.
I have a similar picture of Addison taken in the same spot 6 years ago. He was a little smaller then.
From Quebec we headed east up the St Lawrence River to Baie Comeau; we turned north there towards Labrador. Along the St Lawrence we crossed the Saguenay River by ferry and got to see our first belugas in the wild.
Northern Quebec is a vast area of wilderness broken only occasionally by industry. One of the largest dams in the world is along this highway and at the Labrador border they’re literally taking apart a mountain for its ore.
Northern Quebec and Labrador have the most beautiful rivers I’ve ever seen. I can only imagine that they get more and more gorgeous the farther north one goes.
Gagnon, QC was a company town until the houses were dismantled and used elsewhere. The sewers still run under the road and sidewalks still line the highway.
Our home away from home was our trusty Maggiolina. Addison’s too big to share it now so in situations where we couldn’t erect his small tent he sprawled out across the back seat of the Jeep. That was the plus side of limiting our gear. The down side was that we didn’t get much outside time because we weren’t prepared for the cold/wet conditions we encountered.
At 6 am on the 14th we crossed into Labrador. By 9 pm we were on the other side and camped with (I’m not kidding you) hundreds upon hundreds of blackflies. I still have holes from their bites.
The saying that there are only two seasons in Canada– roadwork and winter– is 100% true in Labrador.
We met with icebergs and minke whales at Battle Harbour on the Labrador coast. Here Addison is tinkering with his new road tripping instrument, a Merlin.
At L’Anse Aux Meadows viking settlement on Newfoundland’s northern peninsula we ran into a family we know from London Ontario. The world isn’t so large as we might think.
The southern community of Port aux Basques, NL was our jumping off point to mainland Canada. One of our favourite trip moments came when during our drive down island we stopped to check out the Captain Cook Historic Site (he learned the art of surveying over several years in Newfoundland). The weather had been blustery and cold for days and up above Corner Brook we found the lee of a hill and picnicked and sipped espresso and the boy plucked his Merlin.
Newfoundland wins hands down for provincial campgrounds. The staff are the best, the sites are excellent and the washrooms & outhouses are always spotless.
While driving the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia we veered off to find the spot where Cabot landed.
At River Denys in Cape Breton, along a gravel road more used by ATV’s and snowmobiles than cars, we found an abandoned settlement. Some Scottish families made a home here after they were dispatched from their homeland by ruthless lairds. It was a piece of history that was new to me.
Part way through our trip we decided to include Prince Edward Island in our circuit. Now Kevin’s been to all the provinces.
We drove off PEI on the Confederation bridge and checked out Fort Beausejour/Fort Cumberland, NB before pointing the Jeep west towards home. The fort became obsolete and dropped out of use once the British decidedly defeated the French at Quebec in 1759.
Hours on the road with nothing but books, a musical instrument and pens and paper left the boy with no choice but to be creative. He drew his own coat of arms on the last day.
We made it home at 12:30 Saturday morning after 18 hours on the road. After sleeping in and feasting on pancakes we kept the vacation going with a hike in Algonquin. It somehow seemed like a fitting end to our less-than-stellar- weatherwise road trip when we got caught in a downpour with thunder crashing over our heads.
Scattered Dreams Gathered 