We just got back from our ~5000km road trip out east.
We drove through Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York before landing back home in Ontario.
Let me tell you all about the good, the bad, and the ugly!
This is part 1 of a 3 part series. Find part 2 and part 3 below.
Day 1 - London to St. Hyacinth
The first day started out in London, Ontario. Our goal was to drive to Edmunston, New Brunswick. It's about a 12 hour drive, so with rest stops and traffic, it should've been about 14 hours or so.
We left at 4am and drove for about 13 hours only to get one province over since we ended up stopping a lot more than we intended to. Our first stop was bright and early at a Tim Hortons to get breakfast, then we made out way to Oshawa to visit my God father. We were picking up a gift for his parents, whom we'd be visiting in Cape Breton. This was 1 of 2 scheduled stops.
Next was our stop in Colborne to see the Big Apple - definitely recommend visiting the next time you're out that way. The big appeal, no surprise, is apples. They have apple everything; apple bread, their famous apple pie, apple crumble, apple taffy, apple cider, etc.
They also had a variety of vendors, a farmers market, a giant candy section with a variety of foreign candies, and the stereotypical Canadian things such as an entire section dedicated to maple syrup.
In the candy section, there was a statue of the Planters peanut butter mascot. Apparently, in 1926, the company held a mascot contest and someone from Colborne won. They consider the mascot a part of their heritage and a gem of the past.
The Big Apple also had a petting zoo, mini golf, lots of photo ops, and more. We didn't play mini golf, but we did quickly pass through the petting zoo on our way back to the car. In the market, you could buy food to feed the animals with. It was cute.
Here, at the Big Apple, is where we first saw this specific tour bus full of Chinese tourists. We continued to accidentally cross paths them as we ran into them again at a rest stop further up the highway.
There were a few instances of this while driving; seeing the same trucks or busses along the road. It felt like we had travel buddies along for the drive.
From there, we stopped at a Starbucks in Brossard, Quebec, then a handful more times for bathroom breaks and to refuel. These ended up eating up a ton of time since we seemed to need to stop every 2 hours and whenever we'd stop, the breaks would last 20 minutes or so.
We were going to camp in Edmunston, New Brunswick at a campsite we pre-booked, but we didn't account for the time zone difference (ATD being 1 hour ahead of EDT), so the campground would be closed an hour earlier than we expected.
We were going back and forth for a while on whether we should call to see if they would wait for us, if we should cancel and book a hotel, or just find a campground closer to where we were.
I was very against finding a hotel, not just in this moment, but any other time it came up during the trip. We bought the trailer for a reason, a late night or some rough weather shouldn't stop us. Plus, at the worst of the worst, we sleep in the car, a vehicle that doesn't have canvas walls.
Eventually, we decided to find the closest campground, which ended up being Camp Kamay in St. Hyacinth, Quebec. We literally just drove up to their gates and asked if they had space. Thankfully, they did. We got a 20 amp, 2 service site, with a fire pit and picnic table, for the night for only $58 CAD; much cheaper than a last minute hotel.
Because we stopped when we did, we managed to make a proper dinner and get the camper set up before dark. Spoiler, this is not the case for the rest of the trip.
It was a good night! The campground was quite nice. They had lots of great amenities such as an in-ground heated pool, a playground with seesaws and swings, as well as a tennis court and bonfire pit. They also had communal showers, washrooms, and a laundry room.
Mom was the first to give the washrooms a try and as soon as she left, she came right back to ask which one was which. F or H? Since we were in Quebec, there was a language barrier. Many think everyone in Quebec can speak English or that there is English everywhere, but that is just not the case.
I told her Femme meant woman and Homme meant man, and to think of it as German. H would be Herren, and F could be Frauen, though they use Damen. It was a cute little language moment.
Being in Quebec, I think I enjoyed the language barrier the most. As a multilingual and language teacher, I find the struggle of having to read and communicate in French fun. I enjoy the nervous feeling and using my brain in this way.
That said though, anytime I had to communicate with someone, I felt like I had failed as a Canadian for not being to speak more French. The fam and I ended up speaking in half English and half German while we were there.
It somehow felt more natural and less othering to use German than English, even though we are Canadian and were technically still in Canada. I think it took off the responsibility in a sense, being seen as German, meant I wasn't expected to speak French. Being English Canadian though, I've studied French all my life and still can't speak it. I can read it however.
When we stopped in Bossard, we went to Starbucks to pick up a Quebec mug for my ever growing collection. While there, I had a option to try my French, but as soon as the barista said Bonjour, I chickened out and said Hello. From there we just spoke in English.
No one was rude or anything with us speaking English, it was just my own inner shame of being Canadian and multilingual, but not in French.
Day 2 - Quebec to Nova Scotia
We started our day at 4:30am. We got up, made some breakfast, packed some lunch for the road, then got to closing up the trailer. We were ready to leave St. Hyacinth by 7am.
We got up so early because we still had an 11 hour drive ahead of us. The goal was to stop a lot less this time, so that we wouldn't arrive so late. That said, we did have to stop about every 2 hours, like the day before, or so for pee breaks and the occasional refuel.
We faced some rain when we were getting to Fredericton, New Brunswick, but the rocky cliffs on the highway helped block the 30km wind. There are some seriously beautiful waterways along the highway. I honestly didn't know how rocky it was in Quebec and New Brunswick. If I didn't know better, I would've thought we were in BC.
Most of this day consisted of driving, but we still only ended up getting to my uncles in Enfeild, Nova Scotia by 10pm ADT. Thankfully, we weren't camping this night, so no late night opening of the camper.
We spent some time chatting and catching up before crawling in for the night.
Day 3 - Peggy's Cove
Day 3 started out by having some breakfast out at a restaurant called Crossings. It was at a truck stop, which made it perfect for parking the camper. I ate before going, thanks to my uncle, so I ended up just having a coffee and some orange juice at the restaurant.
Before leaving however, we made sure everyone showered. It's a luxury on the road to have a nice and free shower. Nothing makes me feel more like a traveler than showering in different locations; my uncles place, the camp grounds, a truck stop, the camper, etc. It makes me feel like I'm truly back in the lifestyle of traveling endlessly.
At breakfast we were back to debating whether or not we should camp tonight since it was supposed to rain pretty hard. We have a tent trailer, meaning our walls are made out of an canvas material, so rough weather could be a struggle. That said though, I still wanted to try.
If it's really bad, we can sleep always in the car for an evening, and it'll make for a fun travel story. In the end, we did decided to give it a go at the campground we booked. I'm glad we did as the weather ended up being really good to us.
After breakfast, we had a few errands to run. We went to Canadian Tire to pick up a hose for the drains. A hose did actually come with the trailer when we bought it, but we found out the hard way that it was only 2 feet long, definitely not long enough to reach the campsite drain.
From there we grabbed a few things from Dollarama:
WD 40 for the squeaky feet on the trailer (remember this, it's important later on)
Sponge and wash cloths
A bucket
Outlet extension cord
Then we popped over to Sobeys to grab a few groceries too. We picked up some luncheon meat and bread, as well as some dinners for the campgrounds.
I'm amazed at how expensive groceries are in Nova Scotia! I really thought that since it's a smaller part of the country, things would be cheaper, but it's quite the opposite. Gluten free bread is expensive in Ontario for sure - about $6/7 CAD for bread - but in Nova Scotia, my bread was over $10 CAD!
Another culture shock was that it's not common to have bagged milk here. They have cartons and jugs like in the US. It's interesting that, even though we're in the same country, places such as Quebec and Nova Scotia definitely still offer culture shocks. I wonder if Americans feel this when they go to other states.
After our errands, we said out goodbyes to my uncle and headed off towards Peggy's Cove. We'd been here a few times over the years, but my sister wanted to go see it again. The drive there was pretty windy and foggy, but that's to be expected when you're on the east coast.
Peggy's cove is really a sight to see. It doesn't look real in pictures; it looks like a scene straight out of a movie, especially since it was so foggy the day we went.
It looked as though you had stepped into a fishing village from back in the day. They had fishing traps stacked up on the docks, and a broken boat on display, along with some more seaside equipment.
Some of it seemed as if it was actually used, and some seemed staged. Both make for great photos though. The foggy was absolutely a paid actor in our visit. It really helped set the mood and added to the overall esthetic.
If you come to visit Peggy's Cove, wear pants and bring a jacket with a hood or wear a hat. Mittens might also be a good idea, especially for whoever is taking photos. It is really chilly by the water, even on sunny days. The breeze can be really strong and the mist from the waves will get you and you glasses wet.
I don't recommend bring an umbrella because the strong wind will ruin it. It's better to wear a rain poncho or water-proof wind breaker. Hand warmers may be good too.
If you go wearing shorts, you will stick out like a sore thumb. It will be painful obvious you're a tourist.
We explored a little before stopping at the restaurant there, Sou'Wester, to get some dinner. As we were chatting away with our waitress, we discovered she was also form Ontario. She ended up moving out here because of a job and has been her ever since. It's always nice finding other Ontarians while traveling.
Later on, when we were checking out the gift shop, we were chatting away with the cashier and found out he moved from Toronto to the Peggy's Cove area a year ago. He's out here taking care of his grandmother, who has property out on the cove. Seems a lot of Ontarians move out east.
Anyway, back to the restaurant. My mom and sister shared a seafood platter that had haddock, shrimp, bacon wrapped scallops, muscles, and they added a lobster. I, on the other hand, being the picky eater that I am (hate seafood), had some rice and bacon, which I enjoyed.
Mom really didn't want to crack the lobster herself, so someone came to our table and showed us how. Watching the waitress crack the lobster was simultaneously an interesting and disgusting experience. They way she so easily ripped it apart with her hands was amazing, but seeing the inside and hearing the shell crack was so gross.
My mom seemed equally as grossed out and found out the hard way that she doesn't like lobster. Besides the lobster, my mom and sister seemed to enjoy their meal.
Once we finished our meal, we went to explore Peggy's Cove a little more before headed off to the campground, Oakhill Pines. We were a bit rushed as the restaurant took longer than we expected, so we had to scurry back to the car and race to the campground before they closed. We did end up being about 10 minutes late, but we warned them we might be a little late and they agreed to wait for us.
Once we got to the campground, we started setting up. We had to back the trailer into the lot, which is never an easy feat, but managed it with no fiascos. We had just barely parked the trailer, hadn't even gotten the feet down yet, before my dad's family showed up.
My nana, who I hadn't seen in almost a year (9 years before that), and my cousins, who I hadn't seen in over 10 years, showed up. I really wanted the trailer set up before getting locked into a conversation, especially since we were due for a thunderstorm that night, so I didn't chat much.
In the chaos of trying to set up the trailer and socialize, I forgot to get the water inlet hose out from the front compartment. When the beds are set up, there's not access to this. So, instead of undoing everything - put everything back down and slide the bed in - like we should've done, we stupidly decided to undo it piece by piece.
We took down the bars, slid the bed in, and when it wouldn't go in far enough, I put down the sink. We slid it in more and it still wasn't enough. We kept doing this and did eventually get it in enough to open the compartment, however, during this process, I overlooked everything that had already been set out on the counters.
As a result, we managed to push one of the bed tracks into a can of WD40 (remember?), piercing the side and causing it to spray every where. It got all over the floor, the front cupboards, everything that was on the counter, the bed sheets, and more.
We didn't pack a mop (yay), and the only bucket we had was covered in WD40. Thankfully, we did have Lysol wipes and paper towel. It was a temporary solution, but worked for the time being.
I was definitely not happy after this though, especially since my hands ended up coated in WD40 by the end of the clean up. Since we hadn't set up the water yet, I couldn't wash my hands, and being the germaphobe I am, I hate having anything on my hands.
The night did get better though. We had some time to chat with everyone before locking in for the night. We watched a bit of an old British show called Are You Being Served - you can find all the episodes on YouTube - and had some snacks.
Before calling it a night, my mom taught me a old clapping game she played when she was little. If you follow me on Insta, you've already seen it, but if not, you can check it out here. There was a lot of squeal-laughing and failed attempts before we finally got it. Definitely a core memory for me now.
To be continued...
Comments