Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

We were one of the few, if only, people leaving Quebec City today. Us uneducated types didn’t realize that we had lucked into being in Quebec on June 24th, a public holiday in Quebec: Saint-John-Baptiste Day, a holiday to celebrate Quebec’s culture, language, and heritage.  I’m not a fireworks fan but if I’d known our lucky timing, I would have planned to stay an extra day. So that’s why the campground was packed. I had unwittingly reaped the unexpected rewards of advance planning.

However, it turns out that the campground couldn’t handle the power demands of all its customers last night, which, along with the severe thunderstorms knocking out all power to the campground until 2 am, made for a bad time to experiment with a new air conditioning system.

But, the power was on in the morning, the sun was shining, and we lived to call Airstream another day. This time, to learn how to turn on just one air conditioner if we only have 30 amps. For all of you who’ve spent half your lives on the phone with tech support of any kind, you’ll know that 90 percent or more of the time, tech issues are solved by rebooting or resetting. That’s kind of the bottom line give or take a few more steps. So, if we need AC and only have 30 amps, I’ll try their solution.

In the meantime, we were on the road by 8:30 am and it was already a sweltering 80+ degrees and humid. Even the up-for-anything Lily wilted within a few chuck it throws and was down for the count all day. Which was a good thing since we had about a six hour total drive time day in front of us. The dogs were knocked out and happy to be in the truck’s AC after a ruff night, between the thunder, lightning and heat.

We began our journey westward in earnest, driving past Montreal and Ottawa hardly skipping a beat. As we passed from Quebec into Ontario, the signs turned bilingual or mostly English, the land stretched out into a traditional agricultural farmland flat, with red barns, silver silos, bales of rolled hay wrapped in white plastic, and rows and rows growing some kind of vegetables other than potatoes. It was all much more familiar to me.

Just outside of Montreal, it was time to get gas, give the dogs a stretch break and maybe find a place for lunch in the small town of Chateauguay, Quebec. Gas. Check. Cross busy road to find a shady spot that’s easy in and out with a trailer. Check. Lunch spot? How about “Chateau de Bagels”? I kid you not. Located in a small storefront with a neon “overt” sign, it was the only place open given the national/Quebec holiday. I opened the door and much to my shock, there was a man shoving bagels in to a huge oven that I’ve seen used for pizzas, and pulling them out, throwing the bad ones away and the rest into a huge pile. Fresh made bagels? Huh?

I had to support their business. Peter got a bagel sandwich and sadly but purposefully, I got a sandwich with a lettuce wrap vs. a bagel. (Yes, you can feel sorry for me.) I just thought the coincidence was awesome, especially since there’s a House of Bagels near where we live. It was a fun twist to the day.

The thermometer flashed 101 just outside of Ottawa and as we were heading to the Harvest Home farm where we were set to spend the night (and watch them milk the cows that afternoon), we began to have great trepidation about sleeping without AC once again. The easy solution for now is to have a 50 amp campsite. Clearly this farm wasn’t set up for that.

Traveling 15 miles off the freeway onto country roads, passing picturesque, sweet farms, one after another, and down a gravel road to the Gully Farm, it was clear we were in a remote location. Hannah emerged from her home. She was a woman probably in her 60s with a matronly apron over her ample bust and flowered summer dress, long grey hair pulled back in a practical ponytail and a decidedly Scandinavian look. Her blue eyes sparkled and broad face flushed with the heat. When she heard about our need for a 50 amp hook up, she efficiently and in a pragmatic but friendly tone said, “You must go to the KOA down the street. You need to get out of this heat.” She pulled out her hand and I noticed her wide thumbs, like mine, and grabbing my hand , she gave me a handshake that would have broken in two a more fragile, petite hand. Clearly, she milked cows for a living.

Relieved, we researched hotels as we headed to the next town over, Pembroke. It seemed like the right thing to do to escape the heat. We hadn’t been in a hotel since Cheyenne, WY almost two months ago. But all of a sudden, a sign for a KOA popped up and at the last minute, we took a quick right, down the road, right onto a long gravel road and there we were, open fields stretching in Lily-fantasy fashion. It was truly unlike most KOAs we’ve known that pack ’em in cheek by jowl. Turns out, Lily has a God. This place had one 50 amp space left on the edge of the open field and Crystal, the receptionist said, “Hell yeah, let her run!” No dog police, no reprimands. Open fields. 50 amps. AC. Heaven.

The minute we were plugged into power, I turned on the AC and within ten minutes, we were cool. I swear. It was the perfect place for Lily, Cali, me and Peter. Cali even rallied and trotted all over the fields as the cooling began outside. It’s actually quite pleasant and after all that, as the sun was setting, we turned off the AC and opened up all the windows. From what I can tell, the heat wave is over for us for the immediate future.

What an amazing day of doors opening and lovely experiences.