SUNDAY, 03 July
Caution – long blog post ahead without pictures.
Due to our experience trying to visit Parc national du Bic (provincial park) yesterday, Linda decided to try and make a reservation last night for Parc national de la Gaspésie (provincial park). She was able to book entry for all day Monday for four adults. Admission was 9.50$ per person, paid in advance by credit card. (The $ following the amount indicates that this is Canadian dollars.)
Today was a travel day, and our destination was Camping Ancre Jaune in Saint-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec. We were looking forward to the drive as most of it would be on QC-132 (RTE-132) along the coast of the St. Lawrence River. We targeted a 2 PM arrival at Camping Ancre Jaune and planned an 11 AM departure from the Bas St-Laurent KOA.
Juniper (our cat) was in a bratty mood this morning. First light was around 04:00 with sunrise around 04:50. With the arrival of morning light, she started her routine of pawing at window shades and walking on and around us in bed. I managed to hold out until 6:30 AM and finally got up, but I didn’t mind. Being up early means a quite campground and coffee, with time to work on this blog or a few puzzles, have a light breakfast, and still prepare for departure at a leisurely pace. Until something changes that.
While taking care of outside tasks, specifically dumping the waste tanks, I noticed that the bracket which holds the handle and shaft for the Main (black) Tank dump valve had lost two of its four mounting rivets. Going down the road in that condition did not seem like a good idea so we set to fixing it. We came up with a decent, albeit temporary, solution involving 3M VHB (Very High Bond) double-sided tape and a 12” cable (zip) tie. That little repair took at least 20 minutes out of leisurely prep time. We took care of most everything else and then set about hooking up the truck to the trailer.
This hitching process has mostly gone smoothly since we wrote down the steps and follow them, but not today. Try as I might, I simply could not get the stinger aligned with the hitch. Part of the problem was that the truck was casting a shadow directly behind itself. The shadow obscured the stinger and then the hitch opening just when I needed to see them the most clearly. I got out and looked (G.O.A.L) repeatedly and finally got it lined up. The rest of the process and departure was smooth from there, but we had used up another 20 minutes of prep time. We were still shy of the required noon check-out time, and did not have to be at our destination at any specific time, so we were not under any real pressure, but I was frustrated by having to make the unexpected last-minute repair and then struggling with the hookup.
Based on our previous relocation, we decided to put the center console up and put Juniper’s carrier between us on the front seat. She seemed to do better there, but ultimately Linda put the carrier on her lap. It was easier for her to reach inside the carrier and allowed Juniper to see outside and have some sun on her face (which she likes). We set the destination in the on-board GPS and pulled out.
The drive made up for the delays and frustration. We were on QC-132 Est and then the A-20 Est, through woodlands and farm fields, until it ended somewhere past Rimouski. A left turn via a roundabout took us north a short distance back to QC-132 Est. For the rest of the way we were usually in sight of the St. Lawrence River. It was very wide by this point, but the far shore was still visible. In some places the road was flat and next to the water. In other places it rolled up and down and twisted left and right through large hills or along bluffs near the river. This is beautiful country that reminded us a bit of the Maine coast, but not exactly the same.
The weather was near perfect, with temperatures in the upper 60s F and mostly sunny skies. The numerous small coastal towns were generally neat and tidy and picturesque, although we did not get any photos. The road surface was another matter. Smooth in a few places, but very rough in many more. The speed limit was usually 90 KPH (~56 MPH), but occasionally dropped to 80 KPH (~50 MPH), and anywhere from 70 to 50 KPH going through towns. Somewhere along the way we left the Bas St. Laurent Tourist Region and entered the Gaspésie Tourist Region.
We found our campground without difficulty. This was the place where we were “in the book” via a phone call, with no other confirmation of our stay. When making the reservation Linda originally had a less than wonderful interaction with a male you couldn’t, or wouldn’t, speak English. In a subsequent phone call, she spoke to a woman who was able and willing to speak English. We knew we had sites 46 and 47, both full-hookup (3-way, or 3-service) 30A, but did not know the daily rate. The same woman was in the registration office and as both sweet and helpful. The daily rate was 40$ + tax, cash only. She did not require payment before parking us, and said we could “go to town and get cash and pay her sometime while we were there.” That’s the second time on this trip we got something before paying for it. The first time was the day we visited Domaine Acer when I stopped at a remote fueling station where I filled first and the went inside and paid.
We were in our site 47 with Paul and Nancy in site 46, both parallel to the river with us one site closer. That worked well as we had a view of the river and they could see past us in front and over the top. Once the trailer was level, we went about “setting up camp.” That’s when Linda found that the upper hinge on one of the under-sink cabinet doors had come loose. This happened once before with a different cabinet door, and was easy to reattach. No so this time. I looked at it but could not see what was wrong. I left it for later as Paul was working on a bay door latch problem and I wanted to assist with a possible fix. The door had come unlatched while driving today, twice.
I also wanted to better secure the Main Tank dump valve handle support bracket. A drill, drill bit, pop rivet, rivet gun, and a half hour to find and use this stuff, is all that was required.
I then returned to the cabinet door hinge but was not able to diagnose and resolve the problem. There was a curved piece that was supposed to hook around a pin, but it wouldn’t hold. Clearly it had not held up to the rough roads but I could not see anything that was broken. The hinges are adjustable, and a bit complex, to allow the doors to be installed and then perfectly adjusted for fit. They have locking tabs, and I could not get the bottom hinge loose, which would have allowed me to remove the door and examine them from a better angle or take them apart. In the end, I snapped the hinge back together and wrapped it in tape while Linda held it in position.
We walked down to the water but the breeze was strong and cold. Campfires are allowed on the beach, but not at the RV sites. A lovely idea, but too windy for tonight. We sat outside with Paul and Nancy, our backs to the wind and setting sun until the sun was no longer warming and went into their rig for a bit. I brought over the bottle of Emilio Lustau Los Arcos Amontillado Dry Sherry that Linda bought for me at the LCBO in Ottawa. Unfortunately, it was not to my taste, so the bottle was donated to future cooking projects. What I like, but can rarely find, is Lustau East India Solera, which is a sweetened Oloroso.
When we returned to our rig, we both noticed an odor but could not identify it. We had a few cookies while I worked on the blog and Linda played an online game. We forgot to manage our meager 30A electrical supply, and I was running one of the heat pumps while the electric heating element for the hot water heater was also on. The heat pump had cycled fine, but then tried to start and quit. What? A quick glance and I saw that the microwave clock was dark, as was the plug in volt meter. I looked outside and the Hughes Power Watchdog EPO was dark. We had tripped the circuit breaker and had no AC power to the rig. It was also not at the location of our connection, but somewhere else in the park. It was after 10 PM.
The overnight low was forecast to be 50 F, so we would have survived without power, but not been able to charge our various devices. I walked up to the little registration office to see if they had an emergency phone number. There were several names and phone numbers, but everything was in French. I picked the first one listed and called Caroline. She answered, and spoke enough English to be helpful, so I guessed that I had reached the same woman who registered us and us parked. She patiently explained where the circuit breaker was located but I would need a flashlight. Lucky for me I have one built into my phone.
I found the circuit breaker box in question on site 24 across for our site (46). It had a lot of circuit breakers, but none labeled “46.” As I was about to call Caroline back, she walked down and said it was a different box by site 48, just on the other side of the Class B parked next to us. Yup, that was the one. I apologized profusely for bothering her at this late hour, but she seemed to indicate that it was genuinely OK. I left the hot water heater off, made sure the HVAC equipment was off, and went to bed. If you have an RV and use it, things will have to be fixed. If you have a “50A” RV (lots of electrical loads) plugged into a marginal 30A service, you will have to actively manage your electricity usage. We knew this, of course, but forgot to pay attention.