Monday, August 13, 2018 (Travel to Camping Griffon, Gaspe, Quebec)

We were really surprised at how mild it had been last night...and early this morning, it had already reached the expected daytime high! We're melting here as we pack up!

We said goodbye to this little piece of paradise...hitting the road east just after 9:30.
Look how hazy and smokey it is this morning...
Gros-Morne...
There were many warning signs along this stretch about waves crashing across the highway...
That's quite the slope!
Manche-d'Épée...
Presbyteres Madeleine as we enter Madeleine-Centre...
Madeleine River...

Some very hilly, rugged coastline...










With some of the steepest inclines/declines we've ever experienced...11%...
And down we go...14%...


The patchwork didn't make the road any smoother as we approach Grande Valley...











Grande Valley in the distance...
The obstacle course begins...
We got delayed in some road construction through the town....waiting for our turn to take the single lane...We can't count how many times we've been stopped for road construction and single lane traffic on our trip across Canada and only once have we been the first to go!
Grande Valley River...


It was a very long stretch of road construction with raised castings making it a slow and rough go right through the heart of town....

10% decline as we approach Petite-Vallee...
Cloridorme....


And up we go again...
A nice little rest stop but not big rig friendly...
Grand-Étang...


15%...
L'Anse-à-Valleau...

Petit-Cap...



Rivière-au-Renard...this is where we turned left to continue on highway 132, which follows the coast around Forillon National Park...
Almost at our destination...

We arrived at Camping Griffon at about 12:30. I had managed to reserve one of the few long pull-through sites. After registering, we headed to site #6...the directions given to us by the girl in the office had us following a road that looped around and then making a sharp left turn into our site. However, there was a road which we could turn onto that would give us a "straight in" approach...so we did that. As another RV came in next to us later, they followed the other route and had a heck of a time making the turn into their site...can't figure out why they were directing them to go that way.

The sites are tight...and we certainly don't have the view that we had the last few nights, but we have full hook-ups (30 amp) and fairly good WiFi. After getting levelled and set up, Steve tried to snag a satellite signal but had no luck...unfortunately too many trees blocking the signal.
After all of the work was done, we decided to get out for a walk around the campground. Great views from the cliff-top sites. Most of the waterfront sites were for smaller rigs...

Tent sites...
We found the trail that goes down to the beach...
Ummmm....that's far enough for me! I'll wait for you up here, Steve...
Waterfall beside the stairway...
Looking right from the stairway...
That's me way up top. The waterfall disappears into the beach and reappears before running into the ocean...

Back at our site, we discussed our next stop and decided on Perce, a short distance away. After researching campgrounds in the area, we picked Camping du Phare à Percé but I had a hellava time trying to make reservations because the woman answering the phone did not speak much English. This is the first time we have experienced this and it was very frustrating. Why would they have someone in a popular tourist destination taking reservations that doesn't speak English...or the very least pass the phone over to someone else who does?! Either our phone connection dropped or she hung up on me.  I called back and got a husband this time that did speak English and was told they had sites available. Their website said they accepted Passport America after the 15th and we wanted to book on the 17th. He said no P/A, so when I questioned him about what his website said once again either the connection dropped or he hung up on me. I called back again and was told they were fully booked. I finally gave up! (I tried again the next morning and spoke again to the non-English speaking woman who booked a site for us but when I tried to explain how big we were, she didn't understand and again, either the call dropped or she hung up. Not comfortable that we would be getting a site that we would fit into or be able to maneuver into, I gave up.) We will try another place.

After dinner, we did some on-line research...and then went to bed and streamed a program on the iPad. It was a little choppy but with no TV, it was nice the campground's wifi was fairly good!


5 comments:

  1. That is a lot of up and down driving on that highway. I hope your engine brake was not squealing! Too bad about trying to book a campsite without them speaking English and when they did they were kind of rude. Chin up, not everyone is like that thankfully.

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    1. The engine brake did do some squealing...it was probably the most downhill braking I’ve ever had to do. After seeing what that campground was like we much preferred where we were and the owner and staff were great!

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  2. 15% has got to be pretty intense! I would have never thought that you would have run into such troubles trying to book a campsite up there but I guess I can see it happening. Those owners sounded a little grumpy and did not really want your business.

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    1. Actually we forgot to mention that one grade was 17%! Thankfully some were short. You would think that anyone involved in tourism in North America would be able to speak English.

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  3. I thought 15% was bad and now you mention 17! That's a hill alright. Sounds like you have only run into a couple places that won't speak English when asked, just proves that there are d&%ks across the whole country sometimes.Keep smilin and find the good ones :)

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