Rimouski Saturday July 31

Pointe-au-Pere  Maritime Museum Rimouski

The red building on the right houses the empress of Ireland, a sunken ship that was retrieved from the St Lawrence

The Onondaga was commissioned in 1967 and retired in 2000.  It was 295 feet long and displaced 2370 tons of water when submerged

90 crew members lived on this sub. The hallways were about 24 inches wide.
 No room for fat guys here

Sleeping quarters, 3 bunks high, 9 people slept in this tiny area. Orange suit was a safety escape suit. Once you put it on you had to be hooked up to oxygen.

The sub was divided into 7 compartments. Each compartment completely sealed from the others. You had to request to move from one to the other,  when a person moved the ballasts had to be rebalanced with water to keep the weight distribution perfect.

Control room

sonar room

Torpedo in the holing area

Torpedoes were launched through these tubes 

Open this link for more information

Complete history of the Onondaga

Before leaving Rimouski we bought a pound of scallops from this fish store. Rose doesn't normally like seafood but she ate her share this time. Cooked on the BBQ grill at our campsite along the Matapedia river,

This guy was fishing about 100 feet from our campsite

Riviere du Loop July 29

Village-des-Aulnais

Along highway 132 just before the town Village-des-Aulnais, is a stop off point with a lookout. This marble fixture was put in place so you could identify all of the communities around Baie St Paul on the other side of the river. Engraved in the marble was the name of the town with a line under it. You stood on the opposite side of the table and looked along the line. It would point at the town on the other side of the river. Very neat idea. Last year when we visited Baie St Paul it was one of our favorite  stops.

Kamouraska

We stopped to visit a pretty little town called Kamouraska. At the entrance is a park where we stopped for lunch and then climbed the lookout tower overlooking the St Lawrence, 

In this area there are mega dairy farms that would have hundreds of cows. There are mountains running parallel to the river , a few miles back so the land would be very fertile, at one time I am sure it was flooded.

This was a very busy seafood restaurant and seafood store

The bakery had line ups

The line ups were worth every minute. Warm multigrain bread

Riviere du Loop

We camped on the pier right beside the water. What a perfect spot, on one side the river and the other the harbor. Best of all it was free camping. 8 days on the road and we have enjoyed free camping all along the way.

The harbor

The ferry arriving

This will definitely be one of the highlights of our trip

Shortly after we set up camp for the evening this camper pulled up across the road.  The owner a retired sailor was not only a very proud owner but a great story teller. This complete set up is all 1975. The truck, motorcycle, and trailer. The truck is one of only 600 built. Quebec hydro ordered this long box flair side for the construction of the hydro electric project in James Bay. Flair side pickups all have short boxes. According to the owner 40 of the 600 built were sold to the public. He has what he thinks is the only remaining one. It is immaculately restored. The 13 foot trillium trailer is also a 1975 , perfectly restored. Its interior still has the original padded vinyl ceiling. 

The 1975 honda motorcyle was a rust bucket when he got it but it is perfect now. Since it is a 49,5 cc , less than 50cc you do not require a helmet or a license to ride it.  The throttle doesn't have a spring in it so it you take your hand of the throttle it doesn't slow down, That is the way it was made.

He even has a matching helmet for when he rides the bike

The best part of this is this is not just for show, He uses it to go camping  on a regular bases. When we met him he was waiting for the ferry to cross over to the north shore for a few weeks of camping. When he arrives the Honda comes out of the truck and that becomes his local transportation.

Isle-aux-Grues Wednesday Jul 28

Isle-aux -grues is a small island in the archipelago of islands in the St Lawrence near Montmagny. It is the largest of the islands and is inhabited by only 130 residents in the winter plus more summer residents. They farm, have a cheese factory, and cater to tourism. They are totally isolated in the spring and fall, when boats cannot cross, but the river is not frozen over yet. Students are taken by plane to school during this period. Residents stock up for this period but any other supplies are brought over on this same plane.  

 It is a 30 minute ferry ride, which holds 20 cars, walk-ons and cyclists ride free. Most people cycle but we chose to walk . It is a 20 minute walk across the island and about 40 minutes more  to the Gros-Pin reserve. After we arrived at  Le Gros-Pin  it took us about an hour and half to do the hike through the forest.  We then walked back to the village and then on to the ferry. Lots of walking for one day.

Isle -aux - Grues is one of the islands that is very close to Grosse Ile where  the 3000 Irish immigrants were quarantined when they came to Canada during the potato famine.

Leaving on the ferry

Typical scenery as we walked around the island

Rose enjoyed the sweet smell of a cow barn as we walked by.

Lunch time 

 

Rose posing for a picture at the corner of the church.  Angel or snow goose ?????

Munching on some raspberries along the way.

This young fire fighter was waiting to board the ferry

Link for more information

Isle-aux-grues information 

Montmagny Tues July 27

 We are travelling along highway 132 , the scenic route , with lots of stops along the way. We picked a couple of baskets of blue berries from a pick your own operation along the way. 

We walked around the down town of Montmagny for a while and then ended up at this water fall flowing into the St Lawrence.  The water is extremely low . This is right next to the dock where the ferry departs from