Our View From Here: August 2018

Friday, August 31, 2018

An ocean view

Sunday, August 26
Neither of us were too ambitious this morning, although I did manage to get out to get some early morning pictures. Cheryl has been fighting a cold the last few days and she has graciously passed it along to me. We got away from the campground (Camping Nature Ocean) here in Perce about 10AM or so and drove back on the road we came in on yesterday (Hwy 132). We took the tourist roads around the Gaspe area and then drove down toward Forillon National Park. We weren't up for long hikes today so much of our sightseeing was through the windshield.

Sunrise

About 6AM. Sun is just rising. That is Ile Bonaventure on the right. This island is home to some huge Gannet bird populations. You can take a boat to the Island and walk it's perimeter.

From a viewpoint just off Hwy 132 outside of Perce

Reddish cliff s on this side...

...white coloured on this side

We enjoyed the views on the drive through Forrilon National Park.

The Mascot of the Park. Sorry, don't know why they call him 'Parka'.

We made or way across the peninsula to Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse. This is a beauty. The tallest lighthouse structure in Canada. Built in 1854 - 58. I paid my $10 for the guided tour that the volunteer preservation group provides. As luck would have it I was the only person on the tour so my French guide and I had an interesting tour. Actually she spoke quite good English albeit a very thick accent so I had to listen closely. You can read the story of the lighthouse here.

Beautiful marble covers the exterior. Apparently imported from Massachusetts.

The mechanical building. There was a residence attached at one time but was destroyed by fire years ago.

After they stopped using whale oil they used this container for kerosene to light the lamp.

These are 'modern' fog horns. They replaced the compressed air coronet and have since been retired as well. They sounded like a wolf's howl.

This is the original air powered coronet. It replaced the cannon. It had a low moaning sound.

Originally the lighthouse keepers used a cannon to warn ships in a fog. It was a lot of work and was dangerous.

The valve that allowed air into the coronet. The actual horn was controlled by a timing disc. Each lighthouse had it own timing. This one was 45 seconds on, 20 seconds off, repeat.

The diesel engines that powered the compressor that filled the huge tanks with compressed air. (The lawn tractor is just stored here!)

Inside the lighthouse. The base walls were eight feet thick of stone and mortar.

They used block and tackle to hoist drums full of whale oil from the ground up to the sixth floor!

The walls at the sixth floor are three feet thick.

The base of the light assembly. There was a wick that ran through the center from the floor below.

The piston pumps they used to pump oil from the barrels. The lighthouse keepers were definitely in shape!

The lamp today is a 400 watt electrical bulb that is replaced every five years. Way less maintenance than in the early days.

The fresnal lens and the lamp assembly was made in France and shipped to Canada.

The view from the top of the lighthouse. You can see a long way. In fact the lighthouse keeper spotted a German U-boat from this spot in WW2.

View from the top!

This was a weekend and certainly a lot of traffic on the roads. You just have to be patient. Even if you managed to pass someone slower you would just come up to another slow moving vehicle in short order. What's the rush? Enjoy the scenery!

We made our way back toward Perce and enjoyed the view from the campground.

......and that was Our View From Here!

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Headin' to .....Gaspe

Friday, August 24
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Montreal and Quebec City areas. So much history, such nice scenery, and great people. But there is more to see!

We left the Camping Transit campground about 11 AM on Friday. I was taking advantage of the internet to get as many pictures uploaded to Blogger as I could as I'm not sure where our next connection may be.

It was an easy exit onto Hwy 20 East. Lots of traffic though and tons of RV's. It was a Friday so I suspect lots of locals heading out for one last weekend before school starts. We did lose a lot of the traffic where the road turned toward New Brunswick, but still pretty heavy all through Rimouski and only slightly less all the way to Matane where we will spend the night.

Our site at Camping Transit

Is this barn sticking its tongue out at us or is the farmer using a big thermometer to take its temperature??

St Lawrence River views. (bug smear in the center of the picture).

The road hugs the shoreline

Artistic flair with a nautical theme. Very nice.

Wow, now this is a BIG house!

Our stop for the night.

Saturday, August 25
We had a restful sleep in the Walmart lot at Mantane. A sign in the parking lot states no RV parking between 11PM and 6AM. Well, that isn't good. So I spoke with the Walmart Manager and he said as long as we park off the paved parking lot we are welcome to spend the night. There is a huge grass and gravel area so we parked there and were soon joined by a number of other RV's.

Our spot for the night. Well away from traffic.

The Matane lighthouse. No room to park the rig so a quick photo out the window would have to do.

A quick Tim Horton's coffee and we are on the way toward the Gaspe region. Now I suspected this would be a pretty drive.....but WOW! It is spectacular! Village after village, each one vying for the title as the prettiest! I'm not sure I could pick a winner. In places we literally hung on the shoreline. Up hills and just as quickly descend to the next village. Mile after mile it was a wonderful drive.

Fishing heritage

Beautiful old homes.

Barns of all sizes.

Down close to the water......

.......and high, away from the water.

Always a pretty village of the next hill it seemed.

A rest stop beside the water. Parking was a challenge at most rest stops. This one had lots of room.

Big churches in every village.

You can't get much closer to the water. This road reminded me so much of the Pacific Coast Highway in Oregon.

Some steep descents, and climbs too!

The lighthouse at La Martre. No room to park here.

More beautiful coast.

There was room to park here...barely. This is Cap-de-la-Madeleine

Beautifully restored.

Still active

Just enough room to make the turn.

Steep descent....with a turn at the bottom!

Rolling hills

We stopped here for a quick lunch break. After finally getting turned around I see a sign that says 'no trailers'. Now wouldn't it make more sense to put that sign on the highway BEFORE you turn in??

Another 'Wow' moment. There were lots of those.

Some big cliffs.

Perce Rock. Note the hole is on the left. See other pictures below. Hmmm, why would that be?

17% grade! Are you kidding?!

The 'Rock'.

The town of Perce. So pretty!

Now some of these hills were pretty steep. This is the first time I've had the truck downshift all the way into first gear to maintain 50 kmh. The descents were also interesting with 10, 12, 15 even 17% grades! Yikes! The tow/haul mode and engine exhaust brake on the Chevy Duramax work so well all I have to do is keep the truck on the road!

We chose to cut out some of the scenery around Forillon National Park as we'll disconnect the trailer at the campground and head back that way on Sunday. So we arrived late afternoon at Camping Nature Ocean campground in Perce. We got set up and took a short walk over the hill and this is what we saw........