WEDNESDAY, 29 June
No photos from today; just words.
Not every day is an epic adventure. We had good weather on tap for today up until around dinner time, but we had various chores and errands to attend to in advance of a travel day tomorrow and decided not to venture back into Quebec City. We had also planned to go out to dinner to celebrate Linda’s birthday, albeit a day ahead of time, to try and take advantage of restaurant offerings in the greater Quebec metropolitan area.
The main chore was laundry and the main errands were grocery shopping and fuel for our pickup truck. We have been making use of Paul & Nancy’s washer/dryer, so no need for campground laundromats yet. Errands necessitated that I drive all of us in the truck (which everyone likes). Everything was close by, less than a mile (1.2 Km) from the KOA, and close together, so very convenient.
Our first stop was Costco and it was crazy busy, with the parking lot almost full and people up and down all of the aisles. After experiencing this, we understood better how folks here drive; it’s a cultural thing, apparently. Individually, everyone we have interacted with has been pleasant and accommodating of our lack of French language. Collectively, there seems to be a certain “me first/only” rudeness.
The next stop was Home Depot for a short fresh water hose, but they did not have any. We then stopped at a Shell station for fuel. I did not notice the button on the touch pad for “Language” selection, so I bluffed my way through the French. But the sticker said they accepted AMEX. It worked, and the screen switched to English, so voila.
Next up was the IGA Extra for our main/fresh groceries. Although it did not say Super Marche, it was a very nice supermarket and we found everything we needed except for some first aid supplies. A search using the GPS in the truck showed a pharmacy (pharmacies) close by, so we went there. Our shopping done, we returned to camp where we spent a quiet afternoon before going to dinner.
Paul and Nancy wanted to treat Linda to a birthday dinner out, so she and Linda had researched vegan restaurants in the area. One was closed on Wednesday and another one said it was open but didn’t answer the phone. The best one in the area appeared to be Don Vegan, but it was back in Old Quebec by the Frontenac Hotel and required a reservation with a credit card deposit. We opted instead to go to Boston Pizza nearby. It was fine, they had a vegan pizza offering, and none of us had to cook or clean up. Back at camp we all had a little wine, and then turned in for the evening.
It started raining, off and on, while we were at dinner and then steadily for awhile starting around 10 PM, but was forecast to be done by morning.