We realized that we had perhaps stumbled upon a unique place in Riviere Du-Loup because of the number of RVs at Walmart, and because we haven’t seen a Tesla Supercharger station at a town/city entrance until we arrived here. It turns out that Riviere Du-Loup is a famous spot for whale watching along the St. Lawrence River and that you can sometimes see the whales from shore.
Video to come!
Morning
We wanted to get an early start to the day because we wanted to visit a couple of spots where we could possibly see some whales. Apparently, all sorts of whales come through the area at different times of the year, such as beluga (of course), minke, and even blue whales.
Ethan helped get things packed up and ready for breakfast, then sat down to continue reading Harry Potter. I think he’s on book five now, but we’re just glad he found something other than Big Nate and Minecraft that he enjoys. He’s read all the Roald Dahl books, along with Charlotte’s Web and some other classic kid’s books, and we wanted him to get back to those. Harry will hopefully be a good segue.
Breakfast was not poutine today, but more of what we would normally have: scrambled eggs, veggies and toast, along with some blackstrap molasses (with hot milk today!). Ethan isn’t a blackstrap molasses fan, so he gets hot milk. It’s chilly in the mornings now, so the hot drinks are most welcome.
As we were cleaning up after breakfast, we asked Ethan to get rid of a bunch of sticks he’s been keeping in the van. One of them is a walking stick, but he never used it, so it was time to go.
We’re trying to be minimalist on this trip, too, so we’d like Ethan to not horde things that he really doesn’t need or use. So, one photo with the stick before saying bye to it.
Another one of our “neighbours” came to say hi. He used to live in BC, but now lives in southern Ontario and has been sort of criss-crossing the country in his van. He stopped to ask about Juju Jr. because he used to have a ’69 Westfalia.
Ethan liked it that he had a dog, so that was fun for all of us. We’d love to get a dog one day, especially for road trips, as it would be a lot of fun for Ethan to have one as a companion. But for now, we enjoy them when we can.
One thing Ethan is observing is how we talk to new people. We had a chat with the neighbour from Fort Saint John again, this time with the wife, and we think it’s good for Ethan to hear how we have conversations and engage new people.
Time for whale spotting!
We drove to Parc de la Pointe, as Trip Advisor reviews said it was nice and a possible spot to view whales. The tide was out so it was a good chance to check out the beach area, too. Unfortunately, no whale sighting.
There was a playground and also a lot of leaves for a couple fun GIFs.
So, we drove along the Routes des Navigateurs to find a lighthouse lookout point. We drove for a while but couldn’t find the lighthouse. We did see a lot of charming little houses and another VW Westfalia, though. Unfortunately, no whale sighting.
We went back the other way and got to the ferry terminal. This was a cool spot with big rocks to walk on, so we checked out the view from here. Unfortunately, no whale sighting.
I guess whales don’t like coming out on cloudy, windy days.
Afternoon – Scenic drive to Fredericton
Since the whale watching was a fail, we hit the road for Fredericton, New Brunswick. Dong Eun heard about a scenic route along the St. John River so we found it and loved the beautiful views along this road through the valley.
It was past lunchtime and we needed food, so we pulled into a Walmart (what else!) to buy some more fruit. But we went to one of the Walmart stores without fresh fruit and veggies, so it was scrambled eggs and toast with cucumber, peaches and strawberries, instead.
Sometimes, Ethan wants other food that we don’t have at that time, so he’s learning to accept what we have. Hopefully, he’s also learning to be grateful for it, too.
The scenic route goes all the way to Fredericton, which was around 270km (best guess from my shaky memory), so we needed to stop for a snack. This time, it was a way too sweet Tim Hortons donut that Ethan was definitely grateful for.
Once filled with sugar, we kept going and came across the world’s longest covered bridge. It was pretty cool, but we didn’t go through because it would have meant finding a way to come back through it again.
By now, the sun was setting and it was a beautiful sight. A little trippy at times because we were heading southwest, instead of due east, like we have been.
We arrived at the Walmart in Fredericton and picked up a few things to make dinner. While Dong Eun was cooking, Ethan made her an origami pot holder and an extra pot cover to keep the steam from going everywhere.
He also had time to make a new heart design that can change from a heart, to double hearts, and finally, to a tower.
And then it was time for some pasta! We’re trying to balance out having meat with more vegetarian dishes to find what works for us. For Ethan and I, it seems the meat has been good, but for Dong Eun, she needs something leaner, such as fish or skinless chicken. Now that we’re getting closer to the Atlantic, we’ll likely start having more fish again, like we did back home.
But for tonight, another yummy pasta dinner by Dong Eun. She’s gotten very good at making one pot pastas for us. We’re lucky and grateful that she’s been working so hard to ensure we’re eating well on this trip.
Tomorrow, it’s off to explore Fredericton.
If you’re just reading this blog for the first time, we are a family of three traveling across Canada (and likely beyond) in a 1994 VW Westfalia camper van called Juju Jr. Our son Ethan, age 9, is unschooling and so we want him to learn from being on the road and traveling. So he’s also now a roadschooler and we are documenting the trip and his learning on this blog.
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