Tadoussac & Back

Liz and I just returned from a six day trip North to Tadoussac Quebec.  Our first big bike trip of 2019.  We put it in the books and memory banks.  Now here to share.

Saddle Up

Meeting two other couples riding two-up (Ken & Jennifer and Kevin & Kathy). Kickstands up and leaving at 9am Thursday morning from our driveway.  We immediately headed north to meet anther friend in Pottersville, NY including a stop for breakfast. We'd tally seven riders on five bikes.  All dualsports.

With clear skies and comfortable temps we made our way through the back roads of the Adirondack mountains for a two hour ride to Pottersville to meet Lili (fifth bike) at the Black Bear restaurant for breakfast.  Pulling in just after 11am we had just missed last orders for breakfast.  We were all a little disappointed but made do.  Lunch items were all good. Nice place to stop for food with an attached bar.

Following our light lunch, we saddled up and continued north for the Canadian border, and on to our planned first stop in Drummondville, Quebec. Tadoussac is about a ten hour ride from home so we decided to break it up into a two day trip to get there.  We'd mostly highway slab it there (and our return) to save time and fatigue, and allow for more time at our destination.

Approaching the US CA Border 

X marks the spot we parked

Once again I was lead in our border crossing which was mostly uneventful except I had a low-talker border agent.  I needed to have him repeat every question he asked.  Following the normal questions and showing my enhanced licenses I asked if there was a place I could park to wait for the others to get through the checkpoint.  Again, I could not hear what he said but he pointed to what I thought was the area to park as there were other vehicles.  One by one we all cleared the checkpoint and and pulled in to a parking area to regroup.  I snapped a quick picture of our group.  As we started to gather ourselves two Canadian agents approached us and sternly advised us we were in a restricted area and we'd need to erase any pictures we'd just taken.  I literally only took pictures of us on the bikes with the check-booths in the background but I didn't feel comfortable lying to these guys so I obliged and erased the pics as they did look at my phone to confirm.  I didn't persist but I did want to advise them that their entire area is on Google Earth as I had viewed it while mapping our trip.
(Liz's note: We have decided Sam is no longer allowed to lead border crossings.🤣)





With my GPS mapping options  mistakenly set to avoid highways we made our way to Drummondville via the back roads of Southern Quebec.

Really? 

The great thing of back road travels are the great food stops we always come across.  We pulled into this parking lot for a quick rest and hydration.  Come to find out, what looked like maybe a restaurant was actually a catering company which sold their own foods individually wrapped.  Les Festins Gitans. I purchased a couple slices of their fresh banana type bread with nuts and chocolate.  Since everything is in French I'm not quite sure what I ate but it was very good and fresh.  Oh, I did share.

Arrived at our first and what would be our last nights stay (we would also stay here on our return) in Drummondville Quebec. Stayed at the Comfort Inn.  Very nice, clean, and priced right for the area.  Conveniently located and within walking distance to many restaurants and stores. They do have a breakfast, but we chose to hit the road and find a dinner when we'd stop for fuel.

Arret - 4 way

The next leg of our journey found us in the mist of a heatwave and high heat index warnings.  Made for a hot, uncomfortable ride.  Stopping often to hydrate and cool off as we all wear protective gear which retains much of our own body heat and absorbing some sun's heat.  Venting is not enough on hot days like this.  One of our stops we found a great restaurant which served the best pecan pie I've ever had.

PIE!!!

As we continued Northeast up route 138 traffic reduced, temps dropped (a little), and more wilderness popped up in between the remote towns and villages.  We noticed some very interesting large fencing with what appeared to be gates.  Liz and I via our helmet to helmet communicators discussed what these gates between miles of tall fencing could be for.  They're probably was signage explaining but remember, EVERYTHING is in French! We concluded they are to keep the moose off the roads.  We thought maybe they are an entry and exit points for the moose.  I didn't find anything specific for the area we were but did find info pertaining to what looks like the gates we saw.  Take a look (Moose Gates).

Much of this road is not passable, making it a very long ride if you are behind someone not able or willing to at least do the posted speed limit. This happened to us on a stretch of 138.  Liz & Lili were in front of me and I had an idea.  I have the capability of hitting a switch to turn my headlight into a modulating headlight.  Meaning, it strobes, quickly turning on and off.  The intent is to help other drivers notice you, however most don't know what it means and just get confused so I leave it off.  When I have used it, I've had oncoming traffic flash me, cars pull up next to me to advise me my light is flashing, and on the rare occasion I've even had cars in front of me pull over.  So, I had this idea and communicated to Liz I'm riding up past her to take lead. I positioned myself to the side of the cars left rear bumper and turned on the modulator.  Sure enough, he pulled over and our group and about ten other cars backed up behind all passed.

Route 138 would take us to Tadoussac via a ferry over the Saguenay River free of tolls.  The ferry is considered part of the 138 roadway.  There are two ferries running simultaneously across the Saguenay River.  Very little wait time.  Makes a nice break to get off the bikes and enjoy the scenery as we crossed the river and into Tadoussac.  Past our destination of Tadoussac, the 138 continues another 524 miles to the Newfoundland and Labrador border where it ends. 

A long days journey

Ferry Riding

New Friends

While in Tadoussac we stayed at the Les Suites De L'Anse.  It had the main ingredients to make it a nice place to stay.  Reasonably priced for the area, clean, and comfortable.  We also liked being able to park the bikes out our doors.  Unfortunately, no breakfast or even morning coffee was provided.  Air conditioning would have been nice but to be fair, they probably don't often need air conditioning.  We happen to be there during a heat wave.  It did cool down quickly as soon as the sun went down.

This whole trip revolved around seeing the whales of Tadoussac.  Up to 13 species of whales travel to this area of the St Lawrence to feed.  In some places you can even watch them from the shore.  We elected to see them from boat.  A zodiac to be specific (Croisieres AML). Large enough to hold up to 60 souls.  We felt the zodiac would be a unique way to an up and close look at the whales.  Although while on land they were experiencing a heat wave the water in that area is only about 60 degrees.  Add in the speed of the boat and a light ocean spray, it gets quite chilly out there.  It was a great and fun ride. We did see multiple whales and a few seals. We had a guide which did a great job explaining what we were seeing. We saw mink, humpback, and only a few glimpse of Belugas since it is illegal to approach them in the boats. We would also see a pod of belugas again on our ferry ride departing from Tadoussac on Monday.  They'd actually be much closer too.

Haut-found Prince Lighthouse

This was an interesting find while we were out on the whale watch.  Jennifer got the best picture of it as it appeared out of the morning fog.  It wasn't mentioned by our bilingual guide unless he skipped the English version.  But we all felt it was interesting enough to later Google it.  Here is the link for info on the Haut-fond Prince (Prince Shoal) Lighthouse.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the tourist filled town of  Tadoussac. Sampling it's foods and local micro brews.  All good! 

Historically known as the oldest standing church in Tadoussac 😆😉

If you are looking for a place to eat or sample a great micro-brew, I highly recommend taking the short and lovely 691 mile ride up to Tadoussac.



We spent a day riding North up to Trou De La Fee Protected Bat Cave.  Just a few miles out of Tadoussac we turned off 138 on to 172 and the into some really beautiful road riding.  It reminded me of some areas we've ridden through out west through the Rockies.  Unfortunately it was wet and rainy so no pics.

About halfway we stopped for gas.  Kevin discovered his battery had died.  Almost two hours, a few snacks, and a new battery later, and we were back on the road.

Checking things out.

Notice I helped by taste testing local chocolate cake.

Liz volunteered Moose to test Kevin's battery. 

As we arrived to the area of the bat caves we left the main route and hit some rough roads which fizzled out to dirt which was smoother than the paved.  We took some pictures of the area and with the sun out and roads dry for our return, Jennifer got some nice pics of our return while on the road.

DENIED!!!

Although it was a beautiful ride out, albeit a little wet in some areas, we were all disappointed to be denied access to the caves. Non of us had much Canadian currency on us since we figured we'd use plastic and not worry about the exchange rates.  Always worked in the past and had worked for all of this trip. UNTIL NOW!  This place did not take any credit or any ATM affiliated with a major credit card company and no ATM machine within miles. There wasn't any debate since the Canadian French young dude manning the register didn't speak much English.  Which still baffles me as to how you can be in North America and not teach the most common language in your schools.  Seems like you are really limiting your selves.

We left the Tadoussac area Monday morning for our two day journey back the the USA and home. It will be nice to return to an area with signage I can read and understand and a comprehensible language.  Although most locals try their best to communicate it gets tiresome not knowing.

Here are a few pictures from on the road.

Lili and Ana

Thanks to our new French Canadian friend Ana for our guided tour through Qubec City and back to Drummondsville Monday.  You made our day!

Even with a few bumps in the the road (that's what makes it an "adventure") we all had a great time.  The bikes successfully ate up 1,382 miles this trip.