2024 Bigger Truck across Canada, days 12 & 13

Decided to combine days 12 & 13, as they were pretty much both travel days, and we really did nothing but drive. I will shout out a few spots to potentially avoid, and another that was an oasis for weary travelers.

Day 12 started with a reasonable start from the Montreal KOA, with a target of reaching somewhere close to the border by the end of the day. The initial drive was pretty uneventful, until we got within 100 kilometres (I know, now I'm abusing the French) of Toronto. That's when this started.

and continued, to well beyond Guelph. While we are on the subject of something as Canadian as the town Guelph, allow me to wish the great Geddy Lee a belated 71st birthday. Rush's songs shaped some of my college years, with one of the most meaningful lyrics being from The Spirit of Radio -

"Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive... off on your way, hit the open road, there is magic at your fingers"

That and "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice" have stuck with me for a long time. They are also great thoughts to distract you from the excruciating 100km/h speed limits that you can only hope to achieve while stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for 2+ hours even though you are at least a half hour outside of Toronto.

Once traffic seemed to open up, we chose a destination, Pinery Provincial Park just outside Grand Bend, ON.

Of course there was a detour, near a town that has to be a prank name. No way a group of people agreed to name a town Punkeydoodles Corners, but however successful this prank was, it successfully delayed our arrival. We drove for about an hour through canadian farmland, only to eventually arrive at Grand Bend to grab some dinner. There are very few places to park a rig like ours, so we ended up finding a public parking lot a few blocks away from some of the restaurants and improvising.

Once in town, we grabbed a quick bite at Big Kahuna Riverbar. In the interest of being constructive, they have a great location on the river.

Once we finished our dinner, it was off to Pinery Provincial Park. We had delusions of hitting the sunset here, but a lengthy check in process resulted in us just finding our site and burning what was left of our firewood so we wouldn't be bringing contraband across the border. It was a pretty shortlived fire, since it was 89% humidity and still almost 30deg C (trust me, that's warm).

We packed it in and resigned ourselves to leaving in the morning and putting a bow on this trip.

After a pretty quiet morning, we headed toward the border, somewhat excited to be home. Once we reached the Bluewater Bridge, we ran into pretty typical border traffic.

In a surprising twist, we snagged the RV only lane at customs, answered a few questions after presenting our passports, and were waved through. I've had plenty of border experiences that have involved searches, inspections, and lengthy delays, but on this trip they treated us like model citizens. I give all the credit to Kimberly for appearing responsible.

After clearing the border, there was nothing but a gas stop between us and home. It was refreshing to spend under $200 on a fillup for once, and also experience America's most significant technological advantage over our neighbors to the north - the gas pump hold open latch.

We also noticed that the Jeep was still proudly wearing the red PEI mud as a badge of honor.

Now that we have reached home base, it's time to be reunited with the zoo and collect all of the animals. Here is the time where we thank those that make trips like this possible. Thank you to the Takas family for watching big boy Cru, thank you to Hayley for watching Jordan's bird Rio, thank you both Cento Anni and Auxo for holding down the fort while we were away from work, and thank you to all of you who followed along with the blog and gave us messages of encouragement along the way.

A few quick stats before we sign off. Miles (km) traveled on this trip: 3270m (5232km) via the Bigger Truck, 478m (765km) via the Jeep. Petrol prices were ludicrous, with our total fuel expenses coming in at $1751, so $0.47 per mile. Probably not the most fuel efficient way to travel through Canada, but the experiences were well worth it.

We certainly encountered some challenges along the way (snapped towbar in downtown Montreal comes to mind), but we rolled with the situation and made the best of it. While Kimberly was chasing the motorhome until we could resolve the towbar issue, she captured an image that is the perfect signoff for this particular trip.

Cheers!

2024 Bigger Truck across Canada day 11

THis one will be brief - we decided today would be a full travel day, and set a goal to make it to Montreal. This was a bit ambitious, as we have done more kilomters in a day before, but usually on straight, flat sections like Chicago to Denver, etc. Today we'll be tackling the hills and mountains of New Brunswick and eastern Quebec.

First we had to make it across the Confederation Bridge one more time. The toll is only collected as you exit PEI, and it is $50 Canadian. Once we paid that, we ran into construction in the center of the bridge. It was a bit nerve wracking driving a big sail in the winds on the bridge, so stopping wasn't very high on our list of things to do.

We started the day at a half tank of gas, and with all the hills/mountains, our mileage was pretty brutal, somewhere in the 8mpg range compared to the typical 9.5 or even 10 on major highways. That prompted 3 separate pay at the pump transactions at our gas stop, and even with those (each $100 Canadian!) we still weren't 100% full.

The further north and east we are, the more expensive fuel has been. For reference, this stop worked out to be roughly $4.70/gal US. These guys had the right idea for travel mode up here.

The best summation of today - 13+ hours and 1193km of this.

We achieved our goal, rolling into the very same Montreal KOA South as the outbound trip, right around 8pm. For these 1 night pull through sites, we've gotten to the point where we can get leveled, hooked up to power/water, & slides out in under 5 minutes, so there isn't much to it. We were pretty beat, so we ended up calling it a day and shutting it down.

Tomorrow, another big travel day with the goal of reaching home sometime weds.

Cheers!

2024 Bigger Truck across Canada day 10

Day 10 - last night it started to set in that this would be our last full day of actual vacation, as the next 3 days will just be driving back home. We (royal we) were determined to make this day worthwhile. I got up and headed out early to get in a bike ride. The PEI National Park has a decent trail system, no real singletrack to speak of near us, but at least some non-paved trails which fit the bill for me just fine.

These trails are all along the shoreline, woods, or beaches, so it was a really enjoyable ride. It's been quite humid up here, and today was no exception. Highs have been right around 27deg C (I'm learning), but today was supposed to get up to 32C (!). We needed to get back into the park before noon based on our pass from the previous day, so I squeezed in as much of a ride as I could, hitting the Homestead, Cavendish Beach, Dunelands trails.

We had considered a beach day, but decided to scrap that to do a little more exploring and find some rocky coastline that was recommended by a local. We swung into the park to check out the beach and it looked like we had made the right decision. Zero waves (the main requirement to keep Jordan and I interested), and herds of tourists.

On our way back to the Jeep, I snagged a shot of the trails as Canada does a very nice job with their signage, symbols, etc. Even the signs seem like they are being polite.

From there we headed to the Green Gables Heritage Place, part of the National Park and the number one thing on Jordan's list for today. I received a crash course in all things Anne of Green Gables, and although I didn't know much about it, I could appreciated how into it Kimberly and Jordan were. We checked out the exhibits that seemed to be quite true to the book, including the Haunted Wood trail.

When we finally made it back inside (need the AC badly, the humidity was making me look like I just ran a marathon), I was struck by this photo.

I believe this gentleman was the author's grandfather, but the details of his life are quite inconsequential. His hair/beard/facial hair combo is immaculate and needs more attention. I need to add this to my look sometime in the not so distant future, but I fear it may create some marital challenges.

After we had been fully Green Gabled, we were on to Seacow Head Lighthouse to hopefully scramble on some rocks. On the way, we were all jonesing for some food, so we ended up finding the Breakwater Bar & Grill and scored some rooftop seating right along the marina & waterfront.

Those swings were so cool, and when the server saw me taking pics of Jordan and Kimberly, she graciously offered to get photos of all 3 of us on the swings. She even went to great lengths to pose us, had us looking back at the camera, it was very nice. Until I saw the pics.

That's my forearm on the right. Definitely one for the Christmas card.

We made our way to the lighthouse, and although there were some rocks to climb on, it wasn't exactly what we were hoping for.

We typically don't get that many pics of Kimberly and I, so we asked Jordan to oblige. Beggars can't be choosers.

Moments like this help me realize why we do these trips. As an added bonus, if you zoom way in on the horizon to the left, you can see the Confederation Bridge we crossed to reach the island.

In search of more rocks, we headed next to a nearby pier, and although we couldn't do much climbing, this one was unique enough to scratch the itch.

We started to find different names & messages carved into the rocks, finding one dating back to 1974. This particular area reminded us a lot of the Upper Penisula, with a 2 track leading directly out to the beach - no development, no nothing.

It was about a 45 minute drive back to the campsite, and again, not a straight road to be found, and you're either descending or climbing nearly at all times. Can't wait to drive the Loaf on these tomorrow. After a bit of downtime to prep for departure, we decided to head into Cavendish to catch the sunset. We found a roadside trail leading to the beach, and were rewarded with our very own private beach - one person wandering picking up shells, otherwise it was all ours. The backdrop?

I can never see a sun like this without it immediately conjuring up Star Wars imagery (I know, the nerd thing).

I don't know if it was the time of night, the fact that we've been going nonstop for 10 straight days, or the fact that we all knew we're heading back in the morning, but everyone was slaphappy and it was great.

We ruled the beach with all manner of shenanigans, until we finally decided to pack it in and head back.

Tomorrow - reality sets in as we turn it around and start heading for home. No set destination yet, just as far as we can make it.

Prince Edward Island, you have been a wonderful host. Cheers!

2024 Bigger Truck across Canada day 9

Day 9 started with some reluctance - we needed to pack up, quick Cousin Eddie (onsite this time due to the only available site being a 50amp full hookup), and get rolling to our next destination. There was a bit of resistance, and some pent up resentment from last night's dryer #3 debacle. This ranks up there in our long list of KOA lore.

Kimberly had decided to do a quick load of laundry, and then since she was doing one anyway, why not make it a full one? After not having the correct quantity of Canadian beer tokens, them not having a change machine, and Kimberly making a late night run to the petrol station, we finally had enough change for the dryer. After 40 minutes, the dryer cycle was complete. The dryer had run for 40 minutes, it just hadn't done any drying during that time. It was now close to midnight, we didn't have enough change for another non-drying cycle, so the entire inside of the RV became a clothesline.

Waking up 7 hours later, with the humid night the clothes may have been more damp than they were going into the not dryer. On our way out, we dropped off the 50/30amp adapter they had lent us, and Kimberly let Joe know that dryer #3 was a lying thief. He nodded, chalking up another $2.50 canadian in fraudulent earnings. I'm certain the repair of dryer #3 is a high priority on the list today.

On to our final destination (not that one) before turning toward home.

The drive was pretty uneventful, until we reached this behemoth

Known as the Confederation Bridge, this thing took us over 10 minutes to cross.

Once on the island, we found ourselves tooling through the countryside on very narrow roads through potato fields and gigantic hills.

The Loaf was not feeling it, frequently crossing the 4k rpm threshold, conjuring up images of this (DANGER TO MANIFOLD!!)

After a pretty intense drive through the back hills of PEI, we arrived at Red Rock Retreat Campground, conveniently located on a gravel road at the top of a massive hill. The couple running this place couldn't be nicer, and have the thickest canadian accents we've encountered so far. It took a few tries to find level enough ground for the Loaf to be happy, but we were pretty quickly set up and ready for adventure. We were starving, so we looked up some places in Cavendish and settled on this joint.

I'm sure most of you know this by now, but I was not aware before this trip that Prince Edward Island is home to all things Anne of Green Gables. ALL things. We stopped at the first (I'm certain of many) gift shop, and Jordan was quite excited.

I did enjoy one of the quotes displayed in the shop - this resonated quite strongly (strong to quite strong?) with me

From there it was on to the Prince Edward Island National Park, a bit of a scouting run for tomorrow.

Given that it was a July Saturday, late afternoon, we were pretty stunned to find out that we had this section of the central coastal drive all to ourselves.

On the recommendation from the woman at the information center (centre?), we stopped by North Rustico Harbor, walked a defunct pier that we may or may not have been allowed to explore,

Her other recommendation was to hit up 'her favorite ice cream spot' called Cricker's Creamery. We were unaware that a 'Cricker' is what North Rustico residents are known as, but regardless, they had great ice cream.

Our last order of business was to catch the sunset from the Oceanview lookout in the PEI National Park. We parked, set up our chairs in a nice grassy area, and then watched everyone hop the barriers, ignoring all the signs, and hike or bike down to the cliffs.

It mattered not, as we were treated to another beautiful sunset.

I would like you to see a bit of behind the scenes of what goes on when trying to capture some of these shots. Would not have it any other way with these clowns...

On our way out, we learned that the civility we see back home in political discourse has spread north

and Jordan found her next vehicle.

That's a wrap for tonight - tomorrow, more Green Gables, possibly a beach day, and then it's time to head home. Cheers!