We decided to try a different route to PEI this time and chose to go through Quebec. This turned out to be a bad idea.
The drivers in Quebec are very aggressive, nobody does the speed limit ( you might as well not even put up speed zone signs) and the construction … oh the construction!! There had to be thousands and thousands of cones that lined the streets and highways in Quebec. They were the tall, heavy cones with black rings around them. They were not always lined up correctly making the streets very narrow with just barely enough room to drive the RV through.
The drivers of Quebec are not very courteous drivers either, at least the ones we met on the road. I swear if it wasn’t for this grandmother (yes grandmother) truck driver, we would still be sitting on the bridge in Montreal waiting to change lanes! I’m sure she was from Ontario.
Traffic in Montreal was horrendous!! Stop and go traffic all the way through Montreal. Why did we take this route!! Six years ago we went through Montreal and the roads were under construction back then. We thought for sure it would done by now! But we were wrong … it was worse than ever!! The drivers have no respect for speed zones or construction zones. People were driving 100 kms plus through construction zones! They were nuts!! ... and not one cop around either!
Like I said before … there were thousands of construction cones making the roads very narrow at times. While driving through one of those tight construction zones, all of a sudden there was a BIG BANG! It scared the crap out of us, then there was another bang and we saw the arm of our awning flying in the wind!! Ron had caught the tip of the awning arm on one of those damm cones! (Not his fault ... the cone was not properly placed on the side of the road.) The cone flew into the motor home and banged the door, making some of the rubber trim come away and then flew into rear wheel rim. Thank goodness Ron is an excellent driver and quickly maneuvered the moho between 2 cones into a lane that was closed to traffic, and managed to stop the moho just 2 cones before we ran out of road! Needless to say, the language became quite colorful with ... Quebec being named often!! With all the cars whizzing by, not one car stopped to see if we were all right or if we needed any help. Nice eh?
Ron got out and assessed the damage. He then got his tools out to secure the arm of the awning (thank goodness he brings them with us). He is so cleaver when it comes to things like this. The piece that secures the arm had broken off but Ron had some metal strapping and he managed to wrap it around the arm and secure it so it wouldn’t move. He had it secured in no time. We kept asking ourselves … why did we come this way? Never again!!!
We couldn’t wait to get out of Quebec!! None of the street signs were in English and there was so much congestion, we kept thinking … in PEI there isn’t going to be hardly any traffic compared to this! It reminded ourselves why we were going there … and we finally had something to smile about.
Now for those of you who are from Quebec ( including my mother) you may think that I am a little harsh in my comments regarding our visit through your Province. All I can say is … you have your opinions and I have mine … I was there and MINE are RIGHT!!!
We have finally settled in Palmyra Maine tonight … just outside of Newport Maine. It’s a Walmart we have stayed at a few times. We like it here because there is a motel across from us that has generously given us internet for free.
It was a very long and stressful drive today so I think instead of trying to make it to PEI by tomorrow (we know we can do it … we’ve done it before from here) I think the smartest thing to do is to go back into Canada through St. John New Brunswick, go to Costco to stock up on groceries, then go to a Walmart in Moncton New Brunswick and spend the night. Then the next day carry on to PEI. It will be a much shorter drive for both days leaving us better relaxed for when we arrive. Now it’s time for bed!!
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