This blog is about part 1 of my 20,000+ mile car-camping trip with my dogs from DC to Alaska via Labrador. Part 1, in 2011, was to the end of the road in northeastern North America in Labrador and then on to Quebec and Ontario, 7609 miles. Part 2, which took place in 2012, picked up where Part 1 left off in Ontario and was supposed to extend to Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Canadian Rockies, but Leben, my male German shepherd, became paralyzed on the trip so we cut it short. We will finish the journey in 2013, when we will return to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

Day 19, Wednesday, September 7, campsite de la mer, Pointe Lebel, Quebec

Day 19, Wednesday, September 7, campsite de la mer, Pointe Lebel, Quebec

That noise Erde and I heard outside our town last night turned out to be nothing, but shortly around 10, I heard this goose-bump giving scream  of a young girl perhaps 100 feet from our tent.  My guess is that it was some of the local kids trying to stir up the anxieties of the campers or maybe is was some young girl who fell into the water chute that same distance from our tent and then got pulled over the  raging falls there.  Whatever.  I ignored it and rolled over and went to sleep, my hunting knife and pepper spray tucked into my sleeping bag with me.

I took my time breakng  camp this morning and I'm glad I did.  It gave my tent enough time to dry completely in the morning sun.  And oh what a joy it is t be sleeping in a bone dry tent tonight. It almost feels like a new tent.

My plan today was to drive to Baie Comeau 130 miles down the road and then find someplace to get my  Defender serviced and washed and then make it to my next campsite no later than 6:30.  As ambitious as that plan was, we rolled into this campsite at precisely 6:30.  And oh how mice it was to be driving in a clean car again.  At the car wash,  I had to unload everything from inside to hose down the inside of the Defender.   I had to make at least 40 trips back and forth to unload everything and then the same number to reload the stuff.  After 18 days on the road, I knew where everything  went.    But as I was reloading the car, I realized that those homeless people you see pushing those grocery carts with all kinds of  stuff hanging off them, those people know where everything is on those carts, too. And the truth is, every one of us is like those homeless people. Some of us just have more stuff or a larger place to store it.  

This  campsite I am in now is located right on the sea.  This is my 18th campsite in 19 days, with many more  come.  They aren't  quite blurring together yet as each has been unique, but I think that happen soon.  Tomorrow we had further down the seaway to a place called Tadoussac, and then head north in Quebec to Lak St Jean.  After that,  I will  decide the fate of the rest of this trip. I wish I had brushed up on  my French before left, though,   as few people up there speak English.

By the way,  I have to say that I am enormously impressed with the people in Labrador and Quebec for their hospitality and help when needed.  It is quite remarkable. What some people will do to help you.  But there's one big change from my last trip here 9 years ago.  No one seems interested in America any more.  

Ed
 
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