2018-08-01 Day 3 – Quebec City to Camping Manic 2
Last night and today went well! Cooking on the Coleman stove went super-smooth – and both supper and breakfast were yummy! Smokies, eggs, sauerkraut, and jerk sauce for dinner – with an apple for desert. Eggs, bacon, and strong black freshly perked coffee for breakfast. The bottom half of the coffee pot went into the travel cup – and served me well until about 1PM – when I hit the mouth full of grounds in the bottom – hmm –I may have bought the wrong ground – but it sure tasted good (ignoring that last mouthful)!
As far as KOA Quebec City – washrooms and showers, as well the little outdoor sink area for cleanup – all great. As far as being about 200 – 300 meters from Hw 20 (the 401-like part of the Trans-Canada) – not so great! Road noise was a factor in getting to sleep – but it all worked out well.
So, I was up and at it early – but by the time I cooked breakfast, broke camp and hit the road – it was 9AM. Not bad – but I was worried about Quebec City traffic. Turned out to not be an issue. But the GPS in the Ford reminds me of the Garmin – ya gotta figure out when to trust and when not to. A good clue for “when not to” is when you have not already looked at a map and thought about where you want to go! Those of you familiar with some of the motorcycle trip stories will recall references to the “Garmin Bob” – head up to look at the road – head down to look at the Garmin – and general body language saying “where the frick is this thing taking me!!?” Well, I will continue to call it the Garmin Bob – but the Ford GPS does it too! I plugged in the address for “Camping Manic 2”, and off I went.
Turned out the GPS wanted to take me down the south shore – and use a ferry about 200 km down the river. My experience last year on the bike was that it was expensive and – you had to book ahead! So – plugged in a waypoint on the north shore – and that worked much better! So – after a short detour on the south shore – across the bridge to Quebec City – and over to Hw 138. Wow – Hw 138 in a really – really pretty drive. All the way to the short Hw ferry across the Saguenay River – you climb and descend. Because I wanted to get to my destination early enough to make camp in the daylight – I did not stop and take all the pictures that could have been safely taken. Here are a couple from around the Saguenay.
I am glad I was watching my time – because I ended up doing the Garmin Bob a couple of more times!
Finally I get on to 138and head north. I am not trusting the GPS – so I reset a trip meter – because I know that the camping place is at “Mile 23”. Wow – what a fantastic pretty road. I forgot to mention – back on 138 – you go right past the “Manic 1” dam – and it is cool to see that. But 138 really sets you up for Manic 2 – twisting and turning and posted at 90 km – and I am keeping the 2 guys in front of me in sight – but just barely – what a fantastic road. Would be very cool to do this piece of it again – on the bike – especially now that I know where the turns are! (humor - you would never remember them all.) So, the road crosses a bridge right at the bottom of the “Manic 2” dam – wow – very cool – on future trip – or advice to others – looks like it would be worth booking the tour!
The dam is at about Km 21 (because I reset the trip meter – remember?) – and the GPS was telling me that the camping place was at about KM 27 – so – even though the address specifically mentions Km 23 –I am busy watching / driving this cool road – and have fallen back in to trusting the GPS. I follow it in to this little cottage subdivision at KM 27 – and there is no campground. Frick – another case of the Garmin Bob! Well, I note the kilometerage and think – “head back to Km23 – and see if you missed it – if not – back to Baie-Comeau – find a place to stay and drink heavily!” Back I go – and boom – right where it should be – signs for the campground – clearly marked for both southbound and (ahem) northbound traffic! Arrg – pardon my language – fucking GPSs seem to trigger some sort of trust belief in me! Hope that taught me a lesson! Look for the signs!
Anyway – this looks like it is going to be perfect! The only noise I have heard is a couple of kids swimming / snorkeling in the lake. If I had a fricking swimming suit – I think I would join them! I might go in my underwear!
I am writing this post offline on Wed evening. I expect that it will be Saturday before I get back to a place where I can post –look for a deluge of picture and text when that happens!
TTFN
Sandy, Camp 2, On the Shores of “Some Lake just North and West of Manic 2”! (No Data, no details - OK - turns out it is “Lac du Phoque”) )
As far as KOA Quebec City – washrooms and showers, as well the little outdoor sink area for cleanup – all great. As far as being about 200 – 300 meters from Hw 20 (the 401-like part of the Trans-Canada) – not so great! Road noise was a factor in getting to sleep – but it all worked out well.
So, I was up and at it early – but by the time I cooked breakfast, broke camp and hit the road – it was 9AM. Not bad – but I was worried about Quebec City traffic. Turned out to not be an issue. But the GPS in the Ford reminds me of the Garmin – ya gotta figure out when to trust and when not to. A good clue for “when not to” is when you have not already looked at a map and thought about where you want to go! Those of you familiar with some of the motorcycle trip stories will recall references to the “Garmin Bob” – head up to look at the road – head down to look at the Garmin – and general body language saying “where the frick is this thing taking me!!?” Well, I will continue to call it the Garmin Bob – but the Ford GPS does it too! I plugged in the address for “Camping Manic 2”, and off I went.
Turned out the GPS wanted to take me down the south shore – and use a ferry about 200 km down the river. My experience last year on the bike was that it was expensive and – you had to book ahead! So – plugged in a waypoint on the north shore – and that worked much better! So – after a short detour on the south shore – across the bridge to Quebec City – and over to Hw 138. Wow – Hw 138 in a really – really pretty drive. All the way to the short Hw ferry across the Saguenay River – you climb and descend. Because I wanted to get to my destination early enough to make camp in the daylight – I did not stop and take all the pictures that could have been safely taken. Here are a couple from around the Saguenay.
I am glad I was watching my time – because I ended up doing the Garmin Bob a couple of more times!
- Just before you get to Baie-Comeau – which is where my map shows Hw 389 heading north from Hw 138 – at a traffic circle – I ended up turning north on something called “Avenue Labrador”. As soon as I figured it out –back on the 138 for about another 7 km –BUT – I did do a nasty little 10 km side trip! Frankly – would need to review “the tape” to tell if it was driver error or GPS looking for a shortcut – there might have been a shortcut –but on shitty – shitty gravel – and I expect to hit enough gravel – that I did not want to add to it!
- So – now I am not trusting the GPS – I come into Baie-Comeau – it says turn left on “avenue something” – I say “frick that” and go straight – then zoom out the GPS and figure out “avenue something” was 138 – sigh – pull in to a parking lot and turn around
Finally I get on to 138and head north. I am not trusting the GPS – so I reset a trip meter – because I know that the camping place is at “Mile 23”. Wow – what a fantastic pretty road. I forgot to mention – back on 138 – you go right past the “Manic 1” dam – and it is cool to see that. But 138 really sets you up for Manic 2 – twisting and turning and posted at 90 km – and I am keeping the 2 guys in front of me in sight – but just barely – what a fantastic road. Would be very cool to do this piece of it again – on the bike – especially now that I know where the turns are! (humor - you would never remember them all.) So, the road crosses a bridge right at the bottom of the “Manic 2” dam – wow – very cool – on future trip – or advice to others – looks like it would be worth booking the tour!
The dam is at about Km 21 (because I reset the trip meter – remember?) – and the GPS was telling me that the camping place was at about KM 27 – so – even though the address specifically mentions Km 23 –I am busy watching / driving this cool road – and have fallen back in to trusting the GPS. I follow it in to this little cottage subdivision at KM 27 – and there is no campground. Frick – another case of the Garmin Bob! Well, I note the kilometerage and think – “head back to Km23 – and see if you missed it – if not – back to Baie-Comeau – find a place to stay and drink heavily!” Back I go – and boom – right where it should be – signs for the campground – clearly marked for both southbound and (ahem) northbound traffic! Arrg – pardon my language – fucking GPSs seem to trigger some sort of trust belief in me! Hope that taught me a lesson! Look for the signs!
Anyway – this looks like it is going to be perfect! The only noise I have heard is a couple of kids swimming / snorkeling in the lake. If I had a fricking swimming suit – I think I would join them! I might go in my underwear!
I am writing this post offline on Wed evening. I expect that it will be Saturday before I get back to a place where I can post –look for a deluge of picture and text when that happens!
TTFN
Sandy, Camp 2, On the Shores of “Some Lake just North and West of Manic 2”! (No Data, no details - OK - turns out it is “Lac du Phoque”) )
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