Quick update: Québec – Boston – Bennington

Québec city was great. The chateau Frontenac is beautiful as is the whole (walled) city with it’s old buildings and lovely restaurants. The weather was great for the time of the year. Before heading off to Boston the engine oil had to be changed, so after having that done we were ready for the USA. We crossed the border in Vermont, one of the most beautiful states in the US.

Vieux Québec

Chocolat Museum in Vieux Québec

Chateau Frontenac

When arriving in Boston we first wanted to visit Harvard University, leave the RV there on a parking lot and then explore the whole city. For our navigation in Canada we trusted on our smart phones with a Canadian 3G account. We couldn’t do that in USA but we figured we would find Harvard easily. That didn’t turn out so easy since apparently there are two different Harvard Streets within 5 miles distance so we got horribly confused and lost. The streets in Boston are, just like in Europe, not straight avenues and streets. So after three hours and a free Starbucks wifi spot we found Harvard. We loved it. They have sort of a small university village there and while we were there there was a game going on against Yale.

We looked for a decent parking spot for the RV but never really found one where we could stay overnight for free. It was causing some stress with all the narrow roads and the lack of direction signals so we decided to leave Boston before getting a nervous breakdown. We definitely have to come back to visit downtown Boston in the future.

We drove on to the Auburn (Massachusetts) Mall to spend a quiet day. At this moment it’s incredibly cheap to buy stuff in the US. The American dollar and Canadian dollar have nearly the same rate at the moment. Normally the Canadian dollar is weaker than the American one so they make the prices in Canada higher. So now with the same rates and the lower prices in the US we did some hardcore shopping. Most stuff was 25% cheaper than in Canada.

After spending a day in the mall we drove on to Bennington in Vermont. A friend of ours grew up here and his sister now runs the family motel. It’s a really cosy place called the Knotty Pine Motel. We went to an Italian restaurant called Allegro where we had some great pasta and wine.

Next on our menu is Kingston, the first capital of Canada.

Change of route

We have been on the road for two weeks already and so far we’re loving every bit of it. But due to some weather changes we had to rethink our route. We planned to visit Lac Saint Jean, but only showers and snow were predicted for that area. There is no point in driving all the way there to stay in our RV the whole day. Same problem with the East coast and Halifax. Therefor we decided to look up the sun more south. That is why now we just crossed the border of the United States and are on our way to Boston to do the Heritage Walk.

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Montreal

A lot of people are very positive about Montreal so we looked forward to getting there. The first thing we noticed were the roads that are in aweful condition. Bumps, construction works, narrow roads,… It’s not fun to drive around with an RV there. We felt like we were in a blender sometimes. But once we found a decent spot to park, at the casino in the middle of the Formula 1 track, we were ready to give Montreal a shot.

Ottawa

We parked our RV on a Walmart parking lot somewhere in the suburbs of Ottawa and took public transportation to go downtown. When we arrived there we were in the middle of the memorial of Rememberance Day. Cameras, soldiers, veterans, police, mounties and cadets everywhere. It was very touching to see how involved Canadiens are in this memorial.

Wildlife

Ever since we left Toronto we have been seeing warnings for wildlife in the parks and along the roads. Also in information centres people warned us mainly for black bears, grizzly bears, moose and coyotes.

Wildlife can be dangerous

Caution: moose and deer crossing

So far we have’nt seen a lot of that wildlife. Just a few animals like a fox at our campfire, a skunk close to our RV and some way too domestic squirrels in parks.

Domestic squirrel

Skunk at night

Arrived in Ottawa

Today we arrived in Ottawa, after spending three nights in Algonquin National Park. We slept on a camping side, where we enjoyed long hot showers. There is no water in the RV, because the pipes would freeze and burst during the winter period. Although it’s cold, the weather is really nice. We had one day of rain and snow, but now we’re enjoying the sun very much. Pic-nics along the road side for example.

The park itself was really nice! We loved the beautiful lakes next to our camping spot and all along the road. We also visited the Logging Museum. It’s a 1.5km walk where the history of logging is shown with examples. But there are no words to describe what we witnessed. Photo’s tell so much more..

Bruce Peninsula

Here we are on the road. We’re depending on our 3G mobile phone connection to update our blog (since blogging and using mobile phones are essential while being in nature, of course). Pictures will be added later.

We left our apartment and Toronto yesterday evening and left for Bruce Peninsula. At midnight we stopped at the parking of a Walmart supermarket to spend the night. Today we arrived at the Bruce Peninsula National Park.

We’re on a campground that’s totally desolate, next to a lake (Lake Cyprus). It’s extremely quiet and dark. Without any artificial light you cannot see anything nowhere. It has been snowing the whole day and it’s pretty cold. But we really enjoy our comfortable RV and the whole adventure.