July 27th to 30th - to Quebec

July 27th - Sun - to Nipigon, Ontario
Left at 8 this morning and arrived at Nipigon in Northern Ontario about 5:30. We crossed another time zone and lost another hour so now I really have to think about the time difference when I want to call anyone in B.C.
It was nice to leave the rough roads that we encountered in much of Winnipeg. It seems as if there are expansion joints or something that the truck and the 5th wheel hit at different times. It did not feel as rough with just the truck.
We had wifi at the RV site so were able to contact friends Claude & Val about the upcoming trip through Montreal.

July 28th - Mon - to Val d’Or, Quebec
Got an earlier start at 7 today. The roads continue to be good with very little traffic - mostly semis. Most drivers obey the 90 km (55 mph) speed limit. The scenery does not vary much - mostly forested but smaller trees than we are used to in BC and Washington.
We were surprised when we entered Quebec to see road signs only in French when signs in Sask & Manitoba had both English & French. Luckily, Wanda still speaks to us in English! And my ancient high school French helps some. We lucked out and found diesel at $1.34 per liter but then got into Quebec and paid $1.50. We have been paying about $1.43.
When we approached Val d’Or just before 6, some very black clouds started moving in. We spotted a Wal Mart and decided that was our spot for the night. There were some other rigs in the parking lot so we pulled up beside them and got into the 5th wheel just as the heavy rain started. Dinner and early to bed.

July 29th- Tues - to Drummondville, QC
REALLY early start this morning (4:45) as Terry was wide awake and we wanted to get through Montreal between rush hours. We hit a stretch of rough road that Claude had warned us about but slowing down a bit helped. Quebec drivers do not obey the speed limit like their Ontario neighbors.
There are a lot of pretty lakes here, both large & small. They were totally calm in the early morning with wonderful reflections.
We saw an interesting piece of equipment working on a busy highway north of Montreal. There was a concrete divider with 3 lanes going south and 2 lanes going north. The divider was made of sections about 4 feet long. The piece of equipment drove along the lane beside the divider, lifted each concrete section barely off the ground, sent them around a turntable device and set them down on the other side of the lane, thereby changing the highway to 2 lanes south and 3 lanes north. I think this might be a reversible lane mechanism while the highway is under construction.
A section of highway through Montreal was nerve-wracking with 3 very narrow lanes. A tunnel takes you under the St. Lawrence river and then it is another hour or so to Drummond Ville (arrived about 12:30) where Claude & Val are staying in Claude‘s brother‘s yard. We are staying in an RV park right across the street from them so we can ride our bikes a couple blocks around to get there.
Claude’s brother, Gilles, lives on a small man-made lake so we sat in the yard, enjoyed the sun and caught up with each other before a lovely dinner prepared by Val.

July 30th - Wed - Drummondville
We had a lovely day today. Claude & Val came over on their bicycles just before noon and we went for an 8.5 mile roundtrip ride along the St. Francoise River. A lot of streets in Quebec have wide bicycle paths on one side so it is very nice to ride. After we returned, cooled off and Claude & Val had some lunch (we had a late breakfast), we all went to downtown Drummondville for some grocery shopping and sightseeing. Claude grew up in Drummondville so he gave us a tour of the area including the house where he grew up, the schools he attended, churches, the old “main drag” and areas where he played but was not supposed to be.
I did some dinner prep while Claude & Val put away their groceries and then they returned to have dinner with us. The weather was getting cool and cloudy so we just sat outside until Val & I came in to make dinner and Terry finished cooking some corn outside. We were supposed to return to Gilles’ place for a fire but it started to rain so we stayed here, watched a little TV and chatted until nearly 11.
Val introduced us to an interesting cheese. There is a dish served here (and elsewhere in Canada) called “Poutine” which is French fries, cheese pieces and gravy. The cheese used here is made by a company called LaMere and apparently is unique to this town. It is uncured, white curds that are very firm, kind of salty and squeak on your teeth when you chew it. Very good.
I was supposed to use Claude’s internet connection to post my blog today but we just ran out of time so must do it tomorrow.