WEDNESDAY, 22 June 2022
Today was a travel day as we relocated from the Cardinal/Ottawa South KOA Holiday to the Montreal South KOA Journey (W3W=Shell.defeated.flicked), a distance of ~196 KM (~121 mi). Most of the drive was again on the 401, paralleling the St. Lawrence River and eventually the St. Lawrence Seaway, with light to moderate traffic ad excellent weather. At roughly the midpoint of our trip we crossed into Quebec for real. (We were in Quebec briefly as part of our bus tour of Ottawa.) We had numerous views of the water and crossed rivers and a canal as we approached the Montreal area. Importantly (for us) the GPS in our F-150, as well as the Google Maps app on our phones, continued to work correctly and speak to us in English.
We ended up on a site next to Paul and Nancy, which was convenient. “Making camp” went smoothly again, thanks to our arrival list. Most of the sites here are “30A RV” electrical service, with only the outlet available at the site, with the circuit breakers are located elsewhere, a different arrangement than in the States or Ontario. In a nod to their French heritage, the campground has a small Eiffel Tower.
Eiffel Tower at Montreal South KOA Journey
After a snack, we walked the campground, which we almost always do after making camp. It’s nice but does not have as many amenities as the KOA Holiday we just left. And that’s fine. Most of those extra amenities are for families with children, or provide “luxury” appointments at the sites, such as a patio with furniture. We will be staying at a KOA Resort for a few nights when we get to the Gaspe Peninsula, the top of the 3-tier KOA system, and the only one in all of Canada. Ooh, fancy.
We did not have any specific plans for sight-seeing today but noticed on the campground map of the area that there was a shopping plaza nearby with a Walmart Supercenter, a Costco, and other businesses. I wanted to get fuel while unhooked from the trailer and, being Costco members, we decided to check there first.
When I finally got to the pump, the initial screen was all in French. We knew that was going to happen eventually. There was an attendant, so I asked for assistance. I had my Costco Membership Card, which is also a VISA card, but the signs (and the attendant) said they only took MasterCard (and a couple of other local cards), so it appeared that I was not going to be able to buy fuel here. He suggested that I scan (tap) my membership card to get started. I did, and not only was it accepted/approved, everything else on the screen after that was in English! I filled the tank and we returned to the campground.
Nancy was the chef for tonight’s dinner, with Linda as Sous-chef. Together they prepared an absolutely delicious ramen noodle dish with vegetables, mushrooms, and miso. Linda also managed to do two smaller loads of laundry in their rig, which has a residential washer and dryer.
Rain was forecast to begin later in the evening and then continue overnight and all the next day. I took this as an opportunity to process photos and start created blog posts. The only “ding” on this campground is the Wi-Fi, a “ding” I am likely to report for almost every place we stop forte rest of our time in Canada. Someone in the office explained how to use it. It’s an open system (no password, ugh) that you can use for free for 30 minutes at a time. You can reconnect, but you have to pay attention to the time so it doesn’t cut you off in the middle of doing something. On the plus side, it’s fast enough to be useful when not overloaded with users.
THURSDAY, 23 June 2022
As forecast, the rain came and the rain stayed. All. Day. There was a chance of thunderstorms, but they did not materialize. In the time we’ve had the Airstream, we have had very few weather days that made staying inside the preferred option, so we were pleased to find that we were quite comfortable doing so. We both have a variety of games and puzzle we can play on our iPads to pass the time, as well as social media (me, should I so choose). Linda is keeping up with our expenditures (charges, mostly) on a daily basis, made more interesting by the exchange rate adjustments.
By mid-afternoon the rain was just an intermittent drizzle and we decided to find a winery with a tasting room to visit. We (Linda and Nancy) decided on Le Vignoble Du Domaine St-Jacques. It turned out to be a good choice.
Winery & Tasting Room at Le Vignoble Du Domaine St-Jacques
The winery is modern (started in 2002) and the tasting room is contemporary but elegant. All of their wines are made from grapes grown on the 23 acres adjacent to the winery and tasting room on 120,000 vines and yielding about 160,000 bottles per year. I only mention this because it’s the first place we have been that gave us an understanding of the relationship between these parameters.
The 23 acre vineyard
We tasted 6 of the 9 wines on offer, a mix of whites, rose’ and reds. All of them were delicate, done to a dry finish, and distinctive. I was intrigued by this refrigerated wine dispenser, a first in our experience.
Refrigerated wine dispenser
We bought a bottle of Pinot Rose’. We use our American Express credit card wherever possible as they do not charge an exchange fee. It’s been hit or miss, and the winery was a miss. Ditto for Discover. Quebec likes MasterCard (apparently) but it turned out the VISA was also accepted here. Whew. We had enough Canadian currency to cover the bill, but decided we should carry a bit more of it going forward.
Linda was this evening’s dinner chef, with Nancy as sous chef. She made black bean and butternut squash burritos. Just like at home, our meals are tasty and healthy when we travel. I think wine and/or cider was also involved in this meal.