We were so proud of ourselves for surviving the Trans-Labrador Highway (TLH) - we should not have been so smug. We stayed last night at the Labrador City visitor center on the border between Labrador and Quebec provinces. We started down the continuation of the TLH into Quebec, known as Route 389 and within 5 miles, the pavement turned to the worst gravel road we have been on. It continued for more than 100 drizzly miles, and often we could not go more than 20 bump jarring washboard miles per hour, but we did capture some interesting roadside shots.
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| Started out on pavement, then right after this mining town, the road turned ugly |
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| Giant tired used to guard the turn |
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| Shocked to see a railway line next to the road with no barriers or even a fence |
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| Scary! |
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| Exhausting driving trying to avoid the potholes |
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| When we got a chance to look around us instead of staring at the road to avoid the potholes, we were greeted with lots of pretty scenery |
Graders were welcome sights as the road was better where they had been, but tricky getting around them and driving across the pile of loose soil in the middle
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| No need for satellite phone as they had these emergency phone booths every 25 kilometers or so |
The weather cleared and we stopped at a roadside pullout for lunch where I got a photo of the rear of the RV, smothered in whitish dirt.
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| One of three major dams we passed in Quebec Province |
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| Short 10-minute ferry |
A couple of hours later, the road returned to pavement and we enjoyed a couple of hours driving south along the St. Lawrence Seaway in Quebec province.
We stayed in a campground just outside Quebec City so we could have a Mercedes dealer replace our front brake pads. They took us in as an emergency (guess brakes get a priority) and we were on our way across the bridge out of Quebec City towards Vermont. They even powerwashed the vehicle for us - very appreciative. The language barrier was, at times, a bit troublesome but we managed just fine. We would very much like to return to this area, but a large RV in an old city like Quebec is not a good match. Maybe a future visit and rent a car to explore the area.
The last town in Canada is Stanstead and we came across this interesting sandstone sculpture of Stonehenge.
We crossed the border, losing a few clementines (no fresh fruit or veggies) and stopped for the night in Derby, Vermont, about 10 miles south of the Canadian border. Good to be back in the USA - my phone works again, Jack got to watch the American national news and we enjoyed beautiful, but humid weather. Feels good to be home again.
Will be continuing our trip with visits with family and friends, but have decisions to make about the timing of some repairs to be done at the Winnebago factory in Iowa. Will keep you posted!
