We were worried about entering Canada with all those bottles of wine. But it was not a problem. We were asked if we had any alcohol or tobacco and we said “no tobacco, but we have some wine”. They waved us through. Whew. But we will have problems coming back into the US. You only need a driver’s license to get into Canada, but you do need a passport to get back into the US. And Homeland Security will ask a lot more questions. We will have to dig out all the receipts to prove we purchased the wine in the states, or we have to drink up all the wine in Canada. I like the second idea better.
Canadian Border
The First Nations would bury food and other supplies out in the wilderness for others who may need it and mark it with this symbol. It is meant to keep their journey safe. You see these symbols along the roadside throughout Canada.
DAY 51 & 52: AUG 29 & AUG 30 ~ ONTARIO
We are not spending any time exploring Ontario. We spent a lot of time visiting this province on our Canada cross country trip in 2008. Since we lost a week with our delay in Minnesota, we will quickly go through Ontario on this trip. Some facts about Ontario: in 1763, the treaty of Paris gives England ownership of the region. In 1857 Queen Victoria decrees Ottawa the national capital. In 1867 the Canadian Federation is formed and Upper Canada becomes Ontario. In 1959 the St Lawrence Seaway opens. In 1976 the CN Tower opens to become the tallest free-standing structure of its time. We went to the top of this tower during our 2008 visit. In 2003 a massive power outage darkens northeastern North America, including most of Ontario. Ontario has a population of 12,160,282 and is 1,076,395 square miles. The capital of Ontario is Toronto. Ontario’s motto is “Loyal She Began and Loyal She Remains”. License Plate motto is “Yours to Discover”. The Province Flower is White Trillium, Tree; Eastern White Pine, and Gemstone; Amethyst.
Ontario has the best rest stops. The restrooms are super clean and there is a food court that includes Tim Hortons (they are all over Canada and serve coffee and donuts), and Starbucks. There is also a small market and of course a gas station. These rest stops are all along the trans Canada highway and so far we have only seen them in Ontario.
After 6 hours and 237 miles we arrived at Milton Heights Campground in Milton, Ontario; our first stop in Canada.
MILTON
Milton was the first village established in the new frontier in 1806. Due to their economic bases, these early towns were called gristmill communities. Originally called Martin’s Mills, the town later adopted the name of Milton.
MILTON HEIGHTS
This is a fairly nice campground. It is under the trees with lots of shade. The sites are a dirt pad in a grassy area with a picnic table and fire pit. We have a pull through site that is long and we are not too close to the neighbors. The place is not too crowded or noisy with kids running around. The showers are free, but the WiFi cost $4 for 24 hours. There was no cable TV, but we were able to get several channels on our antenna and were quite pleased to turn on the TV and there was “Little Mosque on the Prairie”. This is a Canadian sitcom and a favorite of ours that we watched quite often during our Canadian cross country trip in 2008.
This was an overnight stay so we did not unhitch the car. We stayed at the campground.
The next day we got on the road again and drove for 5 hours sometimes on the highway, sometimes on country roads. We passed a lot of corn fields. After 213 miles we arrived at Ivy Lea KOA in the small town of Ivy Lea, or next and last stop in Ontario.
IVY LEA KOA
Ivy Lea KOA is a fairly nice RV park. It is large with more than 100 sites. Many sites have permanent residents; other sites have summer homes (trailers) on it; the owners come on weekends and during the summer. The sites are shady with grass. The area has a nice atmosphere and it is very comfortable.
GANANOQUE, THOUSAND ISLANDS
Ivy Lea is a small town along the St. Lawrence River. This town is so small that it isn’t even in the AAA book. About 5 miles away as a larger town called Gananoque (Gan-an-OCK-way). Both towns are in a resort area and the gateway to the Thousand Islands. Twenty-one of these islands form the St. Lawrence Islands National Park. There are tons of these small islands in this river. Some of them just patches of dirt, big enough to hold one house. Many of the islands are privately owned and have private homes on them.
We are only staying overnight here. But we did unhitch the car and drove into Gananoque to have lunch. We found a Hungarian place called Maple Leaf. We thought we would try it out and the food was delicious. We drove a bit on the Thousand Island Parkway along the St. Lawrence River and saw some views of the islands.
On Day 53 we head into Quebec for five days.
DAY 53 - 57: AUG 31 – SEPT 4 ~ QUEBEC
In Quebec we will spend 2 nights in Montreal and 3 nights in Quebec City. We have been through Quebec in 2008 and we wanted to revisit some of our favorite places. Quebec is not a bilingual province. Only French is spoken here and all the signs are in French. Most people do know English and when you are greeted, all you need to do is say “Hi” and they start speaking English.
Some facts on Quebec: In 1534 Jacques Cartier claims the area around the Gulf of St. Lawrence for King Francois I of France. In 1608 Samuel de Champlain establishes the first European settlement near present day Quebec City. In 1759 Great Britain gains control of New France, formalized under the 1763 Treaty of Paris. In 1943 Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt attend a top-secret World War II military conference in Quebec City. In 2000 the multipurpose recreational Trans Canada Trail, which will span 13,670 miles when completed, opens. Quebec has a population of 7,546,131 and is 1,356,367 square miles. Quebec City is the capital of Quebec. Quebec’s Motto is “I Remember”. The Province Flower is Blue Flag Iris, and Tree; Yellow Birch.
After 2.75 hours and 174 miles we arrived at Camping Alouette in Montreal.
MONTREAL
Montreal is, of course, all French. However, there is an English neighborhood in this city and all the street signs are in English. The city takes its name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the city is located. Montreal started out as a French outpost for fur trading in the 1600’s. It was incorporated as a city in 1832. As of 2006, Montreal has a population of 1,620,693 and is an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, culture and tourism.
CAMPING ALOUETTE
The RV Park we are staying at is in Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil, about 10 miles outside of Montreal. This is a very large park with 350+ sites. There are a lot of permanent residents and seasonal residents. This area is open with little or no trees. There is no cable TV. You can get about 5 local stations, only 2 or 3 that are English. There is wireless internet for a fee. It is a fairly nice park, but can feel crowded as there are a lot of people here.
MONTREAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
This Botanical Garden is the best! I think these gardens are equal to the Butchart Gardens on Victoria, Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The grounds are huge and we spent five hours walking around the 180 acre garden. Jardin Botanique (French translation) gardens were founded in 1931 by botanist Frere Marie-Victorin. The garden contains more than 22,000 varieties of plants within 30 theme gardens, 10 exhibition greenhouses and a 96 acre arboretum. Some of the gardens are: Japanese Garden, Chinese Garden, First Nations Garden, Rose Garden, Ornamental Vegetable Patch, Peace Garden, etc. The Tree House has a Bonsai Courtyard where some of the Bonsai trees are over 400 years old. The Chinese Garden had a special display of life size lanterns that will be lit up at night from Sept 9 thru Oct 31.
Artichoke
365 years old Bonsai tree 
Lanterns in Chinese Garden
Artichoke
365 years old Bonsai tree 
Lanterns in Chinese Garden
QUEBEC CITY
Sometimes called Quebec, sometimes called Quebec City; is the capital of the Province of Quebec. The city is carved into the bluffs overlooking the St. Lawrence River by the forces of time and history. It is the only walled city north of Mexico. The wall divides the Old City from the New City.
The wall surrounds the winding streets and the 17th century buildins of
Upper and Lower Town. The wall was built 400 years ago to protect
Quebec City from British invasion. But the British did get through. When
they took control of the city they improved the wall to protect Quebec City from American invasion. During the last of the 18th and most of the 19th century, Quebec was a shipbuilding, wheat and lumber trading center.
center. By 1880 most English-speaking settlers had moved to Montreal, the US or elsewhere, leaving Quebec the predominantly French-speaking city it is today.
We will be staying in a small town called Levis on the other side of St. Lawrence River. From there you can take a ferry that leaves every half hour over to the walled city. That way you do not have to deal with driving and parking.
It was a short drive from Montreal to Quebec City. After 3.5 hours and 142 miles we arrived at Camping Transit in Levis. Notice how the words are transposed; instead of Transit Camping it’s Camping Transit. Camping Alouette, instead of Alouette Camping. The English translation does that. We have noticed that on signs that include the English version.
CAMPING TRANSIT
This RV park is nicely laid out. Permanent residents have the best sites that are in the shade with lots of trees and landscaping. The visitor’s area is out in the open with no trees. Some sites are crowed, depending on the size of the rig and where they park it in their site. There is no cable TV. You can get about 5 local channels of which only 2 are in English. They have wireless internet for a fee.
HISTORICAL QUEBEC CITY – The Walled City
We did not attempt to drive to Quebec City. It was easier to take the Levis-Quebec Ferry across the St. Lawrence River to Lower Town of Historic Quebec City.
This area is like being in old time Europe. It is divided into two parts; Lower Town and Upper Town. The Lower Town has two narrow cobblestone streets of shops and restaurants below the bluffs, along the water front. The shops have local crafts and fine art. Some of the shops had some very nice hand woven clothing and some beautiful hand woven and hand painted sick scarves. We had dinner in our favorite place “Le Lapin Sauté”. We ate at this place twice the last time we were here in 2008. It’s a quaint little café with outdoor seating that specializes in rabbit and duck. We both had a salmon salad for dinner that was delicious. We came back on Sunday morning and had breakfast.
A few doors up from the café we got on the Old Quebec Funicular (cog rail) to go up the bluff to the Upper Town. The Funicular was built in 1879 and ran on a water ballast system. In 1907 it was converted to electricity. It was a short trip, but so much easier than taking several flights of stairs. There are many shops in the Upper Town, but not as quaint as what is in the Lower Town. The streets in the upper part are open to traffic and are wider, unlike the narrow (open to foot traffic only) cobblestone streets in the Lower Town.
In the Upper Town, just outside of the wall on the northwest corner was a courtyard with a stage. There was a group of people (very good dancers) that was leading ZUMBA dancing to anyone who wanted to join in. This is high energy aerobics that include hip hop, samba, salsa, meringue, mambo, etc. It was fun watching and the music had a great beat to it.
AQUARIUM DU QUEBEC
This is a 40 acre outdoor park. There are habitats for polar bears, and tanks for walruses and seals. The main pavilion houses 10,000 fish, 3,000 of which surround visitors as they walk in an acrylic tunnel surrounded by 92,470 gallons of saltwater. Displayed in several places on the grounds were sand sculptures. Unfortunately, the night before, we had a severe thunder storm. Even though the sand sculptures were under a canopy, we saw a lot of water damage on them.
We will now be heading into the Atlantic Provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. We have never been into this part of Canada and we are looking forward to exploring new territory!
...really enjoying the travel log! Wish I was there with you all. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteWe miss you here - lots going on at FFSC.
xo Taylor.