Lac Embarras, Quebec, Canada
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
The weather forecast was right — today was a very soggy day. We woke up this morning at Kettle Lakes Campground, about 20 minutes outside Timmons, Ontario. It rained all night long, and the area around our RV was a muddy mess this morning. Andi took one for the team and packed away the Starlink satellite internet in the rain while Tory, Aden, and I did school work. Then, Andi and I hooked the Jeep to the back of the RV and hit the road again.
Before we left the Timmons area, Andi pulled into a small gas station to refuel. In Canada, a station attendant comes out to your vehicle to pump fuel for you. Most of the time, it’s an older gentleman who’s happy as a clam to hold the gas pump while shooting the breeze with customers. This particular gas station attendant was an interesting man. He asked where we were heading next and when we answered “Quebec,” he asked if we spoke any French. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t speak French,” he said. “I come from a long line of fur trappers. My family has lived around here for over 300 years.” That’s pretty cool.
“Will we have any trouble getting around in Quebec if we don’t speak French?” Andi asked the attendant. “Nah,” he replied. “You’ll do alright.”
We thanked the man, paid for our fuel, and then drove east on Canadian Highway 101 toward the Ontario/Quebec border. It was pouring rain which made it difficult to take in much of our surroundings as we went. Since we couldn’t be fishing or hiking outside in the rain, at least we were making miles.
Once we crossed into the province of Quebec, all the road signage changed to French. Neither Andi or I remembered much of anything we learned in our high school French classes, but we were still able to find our way around with Google Maps. Yesterday, the man working at the battery supply store gave us a bit of a scare regarding this route because he said it was isolated. Val-d’Or was the last established town we saw before a long span of the Trans-Canada Highway without any civilization.
In all, we drove for about 5 hours today. The highway wasn’t as scary as the battery guy made it sound though. Andi and I commented how people’s opinions regarding travel (or anything, really) are all relative. Driving five hours through the wilderness might be nerve-wracking to some, but that’s nothing for anyone who’s ever driven across the state of North Dakota. Some people love big cities; other people have a terrible experience in busy areas. A good reminder to listen to the advice of others, and to always be prepared going into a situation, but ultimately filter those suggestions with an understanding of what we enjoy doing and our ultimate travel goals.
There were tons of well-maintained remote camping sites along Highway 117 in southeastern Quebec. Andi selected one at random when we were done driving for the day. Tomorrow morning, we’d only have an hour more to drive until we reached the northern suburbs of Montreal.
Our camping site was located on the shores of Lac Embarras. It was beautiful and secluded. The four of us walked along the shores of the lake & Andi and Tory took turns flying the drone.
There’s really nothing like a remote Canadian lake. They’re massive, calm, and pristine with pine tree-covered islands dotting their middles. Along the shoreline, we saw lots of birds and chipmunks milling about. It reminded us a lot of being home in Wisconsin.
For dinner, Andi grilled chicken thighs while I powered on the generator and made green beans and mashed potatoes in the microwave. One big perk about camping remotely is that we can turn on our generator to charge our batteries or when we need a little extra power without disturbing anyone else. By now, the rain had stopped and the weather warmed up from 45 degrees to 60 degrees. The four of us sat outside at the picnic table and enjoyed our dinner together.
Our only trouble with this camping location was that our Starlink satellite internet wouldn’t connect. Andi tinkered with the satellite forever, moving it to different places to get a better north-facing view. “I just don’t understand the problem,” Andi said. “It should be working here.” A little while later, one of Andi’s friends from back home text him to ask if our Starlink was also down. Apparently, there was a world-wide outage and everyone was feeling the same pain of disconnection.
Without any cell or internet coverage, the four of us were forced to fall back on old methods of entertainment. Tory and Aden played together so nicely on the Nintendo Switch which is something Tory would never do if we were at home. For whatever reason during our travels (perhaps boredom), she’s far more likely to engage with Aden which makes him so happy. Later, I read aloud another chapter of The Mystery of the Great Lakes. We enjoyed a quiet evening together on Lac Embarras in the Quebec wilderness.
