Something happened on the way home.

 081925 - 082425

I left the Northwest knowing that I would be back in September, but that is another post yet to be posted. When Mom died, she left a grandfather clock to my sister, said clock has been at my brothers house for a long time. So, because my NW hosts were so accommodating, I thought I would offer to U-haul the clock to my sister. Towing a trailer, I didn't look for campgrounds, so much as just a place to sleep. I left on Wednesday 9/20 and stayed at Rest Stop near ‎⁨Boardman⁩, ⁨Columbia River Basin⁩, ⁨in Oregon.  My scheduled delivery was for Friday morning so Thursday I stayed in a nice pull through space at the Willard Bay State Park in Willard Utah, just up the road from my sisters house. The delivery went well and I dropped off the trailer in Ogden then headed to a boon-docking spot just south

of Beaver Utah. To get, I figured I would just jump on the 15 south and brave to crunch-e-thon through Salt Lake City and Provo. Well, this is when my luck turned bad and I had to use my emergency flashers.  While in the 4th lane of the 5 or 6 lane freeway on the long curve towards the Lehi exit my driver side rear tire blew up! I completely destroyed the tire just getting into the emergency lane, which is just a little bid wider than Vannie. I used the red button above my head and soon I was talking to RAM roadside assistance.  Well, this is where my luck improved, Jesus arrived only 16 minutes later and towed me to a RAM dealership. They were happy to change out the tire with my SPARE TIRE for free. I won't mention all the fact the vehicle did not come with a spare, only a repair kit. After the dealership, I found a Big O tire shop 2 miles away. I bought a new spare and had them swap out the rims. Soon I was on my way. I stayed overnight at a boon-docking spot near ‎⁨Paragonah⁩, ⁨Utah⁩. I left early because I had a 6 hr drive to Marshall Lake Dispersed Campground near Flagstaff. 

Marshall Lake is a dry lake, or swamp in the Coconino National Forest that is a popular place for weekend camping out of Flagstaff. Most of the established sites were taken, but I was able to find a suitable spot for overnight. It was getting dark by the time I got set up, so I heated up some stew and  settled for the night. In the morning the weather was beautiful so I jumped on the Jaguarandi to grab some Geocaches. The ones on the other side of the lake I had to park the bike and bushwack to the caches. Very satified, I rode back to the camp and started to get ready for the 2 1/2 hour drive home. This is when my luck turn bad again. While I was doing my final walk

around the vehicle I discovers the hole above the rear window. I stood there staring at the hole wondering how it happened. There was no low branches close by and I do not remember a collision.  It is still a mystery. Could it have happened when Big O worker pulled in and out of their garage, that does not sound likely and I think they would have told me. It probably happened when I was turning around somewhere. I do no it happened after Friday.  Anyway I made it to the AZ Habitat without incident, thus ending my Washington 2025 trip. 

July 20th - Aug 24th

74 driving hours 4,303 miles

 👀 Photos👀

Thanks for Visiting 😊

Centralia Campout - Old Time Music

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After one night of mooch-docking at Glenwood, Todd and I set off early and got in line for the 9 day campout in the farm fields of Centralia Washington.   This will be the longest I have stayed in one spot since getting my van. Including parked at home. I cooked breakfast, while we waited, before we knew it we were heading in to pick our spot. We ended up putting the 2 Teardrop trailers kitchen to kitchen with me off to
the side, nestled under some nice shade trees. 

This campout is all about the music and the meeting other pickers. Every morning at 11am we gathered with Margo and Sheila to learn a new songs, 2 in different keys and each day, then we would play the songs we learned from the day before. There were mostly fiddles, but plenty of mandolins  and Banjos. A few guitars and even a standup bass.  I played rhythm on the guitar learning the cord progressions from watching Sheila while Margo, on the fiddle would play the song slow at first then faster as the group picked up the melody. Margo picked songs that were not well known and I gained a lot of appreciation for how quickly the fiddles and mandolins picked up the tune. 

Later we would go on walks, yes we found a few caches and I took a long bike ride, but mostly we played music, more than I have played since my days at sea. There was always a steady stream of pickers to join our group to play or pet Gus, sometimes late into the night. There was other events like square dancing, pot lucks and even story telling. The weather was wonderful, it only rained once! One night we went downtown and played with a group at the Juice Box  and had dinner.  

The week went by quick and I met a lot of people, many that I met at Fiddle camp. As I packing up to leave, I was planning a return for 2026. 

Thanks for visiting my blog  -  👀Centralia Campout 2025👀

Coasting in Washington

In between music campouts, I took off for the coast of Washington where the pines meet the beach.

 80525 - 80625  👀Cape Disappointment👀

I shared a space with Charlie and her puppies at Cape Disappointment State Park Campground. We went on a bike ride along the beach trails and saw some awesome scenery including some creative sand castles. The weather  was wet so we stayed inside and played Trains (Dominoes). 

It was still raining the next day, Charlie and the dogs took off for Oregon and I stayed and hiked up to the
lighthouse. The trail was muddy when I started but the rain stopped and the sun came out. There was a nice virtual cache and I took in wonderful views and saw some interesting wild life. 

80625 - 80727 👀Pacific Beach👀 

After finishing the hike, I headed north to see if I could find a campsite near the beach. I ended up getting a real nice space with the rear of the van aimed right at the beach at Pacific Beach State Park  This was a postcard for vanlife spot, sun shinning and a cool breeze. I set up my chair on the berm and took in the view.  

There was no geocaching on the state park so I took a walk then had a nice dinner in the van. Slept with the back doors open.  In the morning I took my time packing up, stopped on my way out to find a geocache at the local Fire Department. 

80725 - 80825 👀Kalaloch South Beach 👀

I continued north to see if I could get a space at the Kalaloch Campground. When I arrived, I could tell the campground was full.even though it was a weekday. I stopped and went into the lodge gift store and got a sticker. Next option was to try my luck at the South Beach Campground. Here is was less crowded but still almost full. I found a spot with a view over the top of the big rigs. After getting set up, I walked the beach, 2 kilometers south, then 4 kilometers north then back to the camp. By the time I returned, it was completely full. 

There was a Park Ranger making sure everyone paid and was not parked for day use. I'm not much for the crowds, but it's hard not to enjoy myself with the beautiful beach, cool weather and wonderful sunset and sunrise. 

This wraps up my coastal hiatus before the Old Time Music campout at Centrailia Wa 

Thanks for reading my blog, leave a comment if you have one. 

 

Fiddle Camp - Cashmere Wa

 072725 - 080125 Chelan County Expo Center

Welcome to Fiddle Camp. Five days of musical instruction,  campground old time jams and Band scramble. 

I took intermediate guitar and learn to play Mandolin.  in the afternoon and evening musicians would visit each others camps to jam sometime late into the evenings. It was a very social week with schedules and performances. 

I camped next to tear drop campers parked kitchen to kichen with popup canopies in between, complete with a misting canopy. I learned some new techniques and met many pickers.  👀 Fiddle Camp

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Iron creek camp

 072025 - 072425  N 46° 25.897' W 121° 58.959'

First week camp is a family affair at Iron Creek. Located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Iron Creek is a well established remote campground located among three volcanic peaks: Mt. Rainier to the north, Mt. Adams to the east, and Mount St. Helens to the west.  Along the Cispus River this old forest of tall trees nicely secludes the campsites. 

Unfortunately there is only one geocache in the camp ground. We quickly found itand the kids wanted more. So I took a container with swag items and hid it along the trail.  They had fun finding it and collecting the treasures. We had great weather for relaxing, swimming in the river, bike riding and collecting blackberries along the trails. We camped for 4 days 

On the day we left, I took a side trip to another park trail to find a few more geocache. I had a nice walk and found three of the five hidden on the StoryTrail. 

👀 Here is a link to my shared album 

Twin Falls ID - Farewell Bend Oregon

When I left the Ashley National Forest I headed for a rest stop in Snowville Utah but I got there to quick and decided to continue on into Idaho and find a car wash and a place to camp. I found a waiting line at the Bubble Barn carwash in Burley ID  I just wanted to get the Uinta mud off the RAMVAN. While I was waiting U discovered the Milner Historic Recreation Area right on the Snake River just west of Burley. There was plenty of spaces available and only $15 per night. I got parked and went for a walk on down by the river, "Grandpa lives in a van down by the river", experienced a nice sunset and got visited by the local mosquitoes.  I had a very relaxing evening and a good nights sleep. 

I was up early because there was a couple Virtual geocaches I wanted to find before I left the southern Idaho area. Shoshone Falls Earthcache  took be to the very scenic Shoshone Falls Park, "The Niagara of the West". I went straight into tourist mode answering all the required question to complete the earthcache, and I even found the nano cache on the railing. Even though it was about 100° there was steady turn over of cars and buses driving through the park. I spent about 90 minutes walking around the park and watching the beautiful falls. 

Next on to  Thousands Springs Scenic Byway  Whoever put this virtual caches together went overboard on the questions. All 11 fill-in-the -blank questions came from the same sign. Kind of boring. The main attraction here is the Perrine Bridge, 4 lane highway that spans across the snake river 486 feet below. This bridge is popular for Hang Gliders that jump of the bridge. The reason it is popular, is the gliders do not need a permit.  This is near the sight where EVEL KNIEVEL attempted to jump the snake river on his custom SkyCycle in 1974.  The welcome center was great for escaping the heat and learning about the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway. 

My next stop is known as the last camp on the Oregon Trail across the Snake River Plains. The Oregon State campground is called Farewell Bend. The last camp on the snake river before reaching the Columbia River that leads to the Pacific Ocean.  The mosquitoes were very thick and hungry especially down. by the river. I camped next to 3 ladies from Pennsylvania  on a trip to kayak the rivers of the west. But I think the Mosquitos ran them off. I went off on the Jaguarundi up a jeep trail pointing at a geocache about a mile away. The cache was at a sight where there was Remnants of the Oregon Trail written on a sign that depicted the hardships the pigrams endured to complete the journey  

👀Twin Falls ID - Farewell Bend Oregon Photos 👀

This inspired me to move on with my journey to Olympia. So after returning to the RAMVAN I got ready for the road and took the scenic route, avoiding the Portland traffic, taking my time driving through Yakima farmlands, over White Pass and down in the forests of southwest Washington.  Now begin the days of the camp, Iron Creek, Cashmere and Centralia ...... to be continued, thanks for reading my blog. 

Spirit Lake 2025

Spirit Lake 2025

 If you are ever traveling through Vernal Utah and plan on heading into the mountains, stop by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Northeast Region Office and get the latest on road access, campground closures and fishing information. They also have free wildlife reading materials and state park stickers.  

I got a fishing license, propane and provision in Vernal before heading up the south grade of US highway 191 into the Ashley National Forest, I reached UT 44 and Spirit Lake Rd FR 001.  

Spirit Lake in Ashley National Forest is a high-elevation lake with a geological history shaped primarily by ancient mountain-building forces and subsequent glacial erosion. It is situated on the northern flank of the Uinta Mountains, the only major east-west-trending mountain range in the contiguous United States.  

The weather was beautiful, temperature high 60° with calm winds. The campground was less than half full, I took space #5 an set up camp. At about 1630 I got on Jaguarundi to ride around the lake.  I headed to the north end of the lake where the water spills into Middle Fork Sheep creek. As I rode by the lake I noticed how high the water is. July is the highpoint of the snow melt off, so the lake is full. So full there was no way I was getting across the spill area and there is no foot bridge. So I turned around and head back towards the lodge on the south end of the lake.  The lodge was not open, only a "be back later sign"

I downloaded the the offline geocaching information,  so I pointed the GPS to Osprey Cove at Pappy's Lake GC1X7GJ hidden 16 years ago on 08-10-2009 by Todduh.  I saw how high the water in lake is I knew I needed to check on this one. I found the old road by the lodge. From there it was just a matter of weaving to the GZ. The cache is in great shape, looks like it was hidden last week.  

The next day I decided to hike up to Tamarack Lake, there are 2 new geocaches on the trail and I want to check on Tie one On cache. This is the cache that Todduh found while we were fishing in 2008.  

Nothing has changed on the Spirit - Tamarack Trail 024 over the years, up and down at the edge of the meadow behind the lodge, across the bridge over the creek then the trail goes up to the Lily Pad lake where it splits off, left to Jessen Lake, right to Tamarack.  The 2 new geocaches are hidden in this area. Found then both pretty quickly, however the coordinates are way off on one of them. Trail 024 continues southeast up to 10400' elevation where Tamarack sits under the penumbra of 11500' east west ridge featuring treeless rock cliffs a snow covered domes.  

I was able to locate  Tie One On GC8328 hidden 08-22-2002 and found it is great shape. The theme is to leave a fly and take a fly which are all organized in small plastic cubes, I selected a nice bumble bee looking fly and left a renegade fly. I dropped a geocoin that I got at the New York state campground in Cooperstown NY.  (as of 8/31/25 it is still there) then made sure the cache was well hidden. I wonder how long it will be before someone else finds it. 

So I took my new fly and rigged my pole with a fly behind a clear bobber 1/2 full of water. Wouldn't you know it, that I caught a fish on the first cast.  The fish got off just as I was landing it, but it got stuck in a pool near the bank, I used my needle nose pliers to grab that the tail fin sticking out of the water and flipped it onto my rock. At first I thought it was a Golden Trout, but after

referring to the fishing guide, it looks like one of those Tiger Trout, or maybe a hybrid.  I did not keep the fish I caught because I think I have caught my fair share over the years. I ate my lunch and headed back down the trail.  I met 3 groups on their way up  right as it started to rain. Back at the Van, the rain has stopped, so I rode my bike to check if anyone was at the lodge, but again the back later sign.  I really want to buy a sticker!  Once again back at the camp, I busied myself organizing my stuff and relaxing after a active day. Honestly I kind of missed the people I have been here in the past,  remembering all the fun we had, and thinking about Pappy and Kim. 

The next morning I was out early to get another geocache across the meadow from the lodge. Parked the bike at the lodge and made my way across the marshy meadow and past the snow survey station and found snotelin' where it is. Back to the lodge, someone called out that they would open in a minute. They must have seen me checking the door.  I was able to get my stickers and I got a mug! 

The next cache, Woodpecker Camp is half a mile passed the north end of the lake off the road on the edge of the meadow Pappy named Rainbow Gardens. Been 5 years since anyone logged this lonely cache. I found it full of water. I dumped and tried to dry but everything was soaked. I let everything dry out a couple hours. I went back to RAMVAM and retrieved paper pencil and baggie. The container is a little cracked but ok. I replaced it on its side, hopefully it will drain. I said hello to Bullwinkle grazing in the meadow.  Spirit lake is a special place for our family and I plan to not let as much time pass before I return again, 

👀Spirit Lake 2025👀

I know this is a long post, thanks for reading my blog. 

Pueblos and Toadstools

Hope everyone had a nice 4th of July. After my long trip to the east and Canada, I ventured over to check in with family in San Diego. Fireworks, fishing and cookout I was ready for another adventure starting with heading north to find the closest to 70 degrees as I can. First stop was Lomaki Pueblo where I walked a path to look at the ruins, 900-year-old structures balanced on the rims of an ancient earth crack, learning about how the Navajo trapped water in natural runoffs. 👀Lomaki Pueblo photos 👀

After a quick lunch, I headed to tonights camping spot at Paria Valley Farm outside Kanab Utah. It is the off season for this Farm that has RV parking. All I needed to do was buy a t-shirt.  Even though it was 95° when I arrive it soon cooled down. I slept with my rear doors open, but had to close them after dark. In the morning I left early and hiked a nearby trail that featured Toadstool rock formations

From the trail sign, "A toadstool is a spire-like feature with a boulder perched atop a pedestal rock, like a

mushroom, or toadstool." It forms when softer rock erodes away, leaving a column sheltered from wind and water. The route ahead leads to an area where conditions were right for toadstool development."  

 👀Paria Valley Farm and Toadstool Photos 👀

I was back on the road by 9:30 heading north through Kanab on highway 89. This is one of my favorite routes through Utah, it runs through the Dixie National Forest and passed Brice Canyon. There are frequent opportunities to stop and eat, geocache or just rest. Much better than flying 80 mph on the 15N.  

This trip I stopped for some geocaching and lunch at the Spry Cemetery 1885. I caught interstate 70 then north on Utah 10 to Huntington State Park.  When I arrived the site I reserved was very small and on a hill. The camp host let me change to a site on the lake. There was a nice strong breeze and a impressive sunset. I found the lone geocache in the park and had a nice walk down by the lake.   👀Spry Cemetery and Huntington photos 👀

This is it for this post. The next post will be about camping at Spirit Lake. I know I am very behind on my post. I have a week at my Habitat in the desert, so I will be able to catch up, so check back when you can. Thanks for reading my blog. 

 

Oklahoma - New Mexico - Sun City

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I fueled up in Dodge City, did not run into Marshall Dillon or Wyatt Earp. Then headed SW towards the Oklahoma state line. There was a corner virtual cache called Coloklakan where Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas all connect. It was located on a farm road the went right along the border of Kansas and Oklahoma. After finding and logging I continued SW through the pan handle and stopping at another road side park in Felt OK. Overgrown parking lot with a vault toilet and picnic tables. I parked in the far corner and made some dinner.  I was the only one there for about an hour, then 2 car campers arrived. This made me feel better about a Sheriff showing up to tel me to leave. It rained pretty hard before the sun went down, there was some nice rainbows. It rained again overnight and I was the first to pull out about 7am. 

I targeted another corner virtual cache called Texhomex where Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico all connect. This farm road was very muddy from the rain, half of the road was flooded so I was careful not to get stuck. After I left this one, I found another cache on the northwest corner of Texas. The drive from here was to Albuquerque starts out as rolling grasslands that lead you into majestic mountain cliffs then ending in the Alamo River valley through Santa Fe. I stopped on I-40 in Albuquerque for Fuel, then headed west. By the time I made Grants, I was only 5 hours from home, but I did not want to break my rule to drive only 5-6 hours, I decided to find a space at Pinon Cliffs Campground. There was only 2 tents sites available but I squeezed into #19. An hours later it looked like all the spaces were full. The weather was real nice, 72° F  7,434 elevation. 

In the morning I dumped my grey water tank, but did not fill my fresh water. I was within 6 hours of home, so I did not plan to camp. I stayed on I-40 until Winslow, then took the scenic route through the Forest that the Mogollon Rim is located, then through Camp Verde, on the I-17 pulling into my driveway about 1500. Home again. 

Here is a link to Oklahoma - New Mexico photos.  So what's next? 4th of July weekend in San Diego then take off north to Washington.   

to be continued.........

Thanks for reading my blog. 

Iowa City - Kansas

 0625-2625

After a couple nights free parking, I looked for a campground with facilities so I can get a shower. I have

heard good things about the Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds, they are well maintained and cost less. I was able to make reservations at one of these camp grounds on the Iowa River near Iowa city. I did pass the worlds largest truck stop on the way to Iowa, but I didn't stop. I got to the campground early and the checkin booth was closed, so I went ahead and found my spot then rode my bike back to the gate and checked in, I really enjoyed riding around the camp grounds and learning about the Devonian Fossil Gorge  After my bike ride it was hot with high humidity so I went and took a long shower. I had shore power connected so I closed all the windows and used the AC which worked pretty well. I think I am understanding the difference between RVing and van camping. My time at the West Overlook campground was short but very productive, a shower, dumped the gray tank and filled up with fresh water. All for $20. 

The next day I headed west. I realized that the farther west I go, the farther away from the midwest heat wave. I continued through Iowa and into Nebraska. Looking for a a target geocache, I came across the geographical center of the United States in Lebanon Kansas. So about 1/3 into Nebraska, I turned south towards Kansas farm lands. The center monument was easy to find, but the small cache that was hidden in the BBQ stand was a pretty tricky hide. I was far away from any freeway rest stop or Walmart parking lot. So I felt fortunate to find a roadside park on the Campendium app in a farm town called Smith Center.  I had Subway tuna for dinner. The park was next to corn fields and the feed supply building. All I had was the app review that said overnight parking was allowed. I waited for the Sheriff to run me off, but no one came. It was a very nice and quiet place to sleep. I was on the road by 0700 heading south towards Dodge City, then onto another free camping spot in Oklahoma.  👀photos of Iowa - Kansas 👀 Thanks for visiting. If you have a google account, you can leave a comment below. 

Back in the US Michigan - Indiana

 0623-2425 

I got an early start out of Bedrock Campground, after dumping and filling and stoping at the ranger station for camp stickers.  Right away I was on the highway, 110 kph, heading SW past Toronto, 5 hours to the US border at Port Huron, then just a few miles to Port Huron Michigan Welcome Center where I aim to park for the night, The traffic was thick, but moving down CA 401. The line of trucks at the border was immense, luckily GPS routed me through Sarnia to the car lane.  From there it was about a 30 minute wait. I made sure I cooked all my eggs before crossing the border.  

Overnight parking at a rest stop is not camping. Everything you do has to pretty much be done inside the vehicle. So, after going for a walk and finding 2 geocaches, I went into town and had dinner at Cracker Barrel. 

I was off early the next morning heading west towards Flint, then south to Indiana. I believe it is a point of pride to pay $0 for camping, especially for full time van lifers. So while I was looking for a campground or another rest stop, I cam across the RV Hall of Fame & Museum at Elkhart Indiana. If you pay for the museum entrance fee, you can dry camp for free. They also have electrical hookups for $40. With Military discount, it cost $15 for the museum, plus I spent $10 on stickers. But I camped for free! It was pretty hot when I got there so I took my time in the museum. I think the one I liked the most was the 1928 Pierce-Arrow Fleet Housecar . THe parking lot was vast, plenty if places to park. There was also 3 pretty good geocaches.  I going to leave it here for this post. Thanks for visiting. Here are the Michigan - Indiana photo share. 

Quebec - Ontario Canada

 0620-062325

During this trip I try to stay on the country roads and avoid the speedways as much as possible. So it was no different when leaving New Brunswick. At first the GPS did not suggest alternate routes to the Casino parking lot on the border of Quebec but right around Moncton, GPS alerted that she has found another route that would save me 8 minutes! Why ever should I question the GPS, but I did check it against another app and it had the same results, so I took it thinking I would see more of the countryside, which surely did. The route through Northumberland turned out to be one lane logging road, mostly dirt, or in my case mud! Basically I went over the mountain rather than around. When a logging truck came by, I had to pull way over to the side, almost in the ditch, to let him pass. I didn’t time it, but I doubt I saved 8 minutes.

I arrived at the Grey Rock Casino just before 9pm. When in the casino and had a burger for dinner. Coincidentally, the couple I parked next to left Murray Beach this morning as well. Kelvin and Kristy are headed  home in North Ontario, 30 minutes east of Thunder Bay border crossing. I told them I had considered going that way, but I’m not sure I have the time. In the morning, they were already gone and they left a note on my windshield inviting me to there property. I pinned the note to the vizor and thought I can decide when I see how the next couple days go. 

Heading northwest, the drive into the Quebec province was very beautiful. The ridge line road followed a long skinny lake, Lake Témiscouata,  winding through small logging towns with colorful building and vistas showing thick timber and green meadows. 30 miles past the lake the road turned 90° to follow the banks of the St. Lawrence river  I earned the Quebec Souvenir by quickly finding a cache off the hwy witha scrabble up a nice trail. I picked another one near the river with a pier.  When I arrived St-Jean-Port-Joli, the church bell was ringing as I parked right next to the wharf.  I walked around, gathered the information for the cache, jumped back in drivers seat to log the cache. I looked up and there was man standing in front of the van giving me the thumbs up. He came around to the window and Louis and I talked about vans, he called them trucks. We went into the cafe across the parking lot and had he bought lunch and beers.  I followed Louis into town and on to his house/workshop so we could see his his van. We shared numbers and I told him to follow me on this Blog. 

It took the rest of the day to get to the maple farm, Aux Petits Plaisirs (To the Little Pleasures) in Warwick, the owner was waiting for me when I arrived. Part of the deal with Harvest Host you are expect to shop during your stay, so the owner was there to make sure I could shop. I bought maple candy, butter and some sausage made with maple. There was another RV there, a senior couple from Quebec. They were there to watch their Granddaughters soccer match in the morning. Our conversation was short because I do not speak much French and they did not speak much English. Once I got RAMVAN some what level, I took a walk around the farm. The road side geocaches both had Did Not Find (DNF) logs so I let them go. The weather that day was wonderful, sunshine all day. When I left in the morning, it was raining pretty hard. I hoped that it did not ruin the soccer match. 

I set the GPS for directions to a city park Virtual cache in Montreal, the second-largest in Canada. The

Title of the cache is called Moi, mes souliers (Me, my shoes), about Félix Leclerc, Author, composer and performer. he is considered the father of Quebec song, as a literary and poetic genre. His songs celebrate the imagination of childhood, nature, the country, love and the world of ordinary people, still close to their pioneering origins. (GC9P6D4) It also says that with his influence, Félix Leclerc was help Quebec maintain as a French speaking country.  There is a youtube video if him singing Moi, mes souliers  To get credit for the cache you have to locate the information panel nearby and answer 3 questions. Then you need to take a picture of your shoes with the Félix Leclerc bigger than life size statue. I love these interactive virtual caches that have you learn about influential

people and culture. After uploading and logging my find, I took a nice long walk around the park. I sensed a feeling that people were eger to get out in the sunshine. Many joggers, walkers and bike riding. There numerous activities for children, duck ponds and play grounds. Really it was pretty much like any city park. I enjoyed my visit.  I arrived back to RAMVAN and found no ticket, it was Sunday so I assumed like most places there is no fee for parking, but everything was in French so I was not sure. When I got in I had to leave quickly because there were others waiting for me to leave. The route out of Montreal to Bedrock Campground in Ontario took through a really long tunnel under the St. Lawrence River, fascinating!  Soon I was out of the city and back in the countryside. 

I had decided to stay at a provincial campground because I wanted to dump my grey water, refill fresh and

most importantly take a shower, in a shower. On my way, right after crossing the border into Ontario, I pulled off and found a quick cache at the entrance to a truck stop, thus earning the Ontario souvenir!   I arrived Ferris Provincial Park, Bedrock Campground just before 5 pm and got all set up. I checked for geocaches in the area and was please to find some along a over grown trail along the bank of the Trent River. It was about 85° felt like over 75% humidity so I figured geocaching first, then shower. Honestly, the hunt on this trail was a little creepy, lots of bugs and I was sweating like a horse. I found 3 traditional, a letterbox and a Multi all in good shape and well hidden. Evidence the local Cacher's are keeping an eye on things.  When I got back to camp, I was soaked through, muddy and thirsty! I pulled my cold water out of the fridge and got ready to take my shower.  Tomorrow I will be driving past Toronto and out of Canada. Not sure how the traffic will be and I do not plan to go into the city. I decided not to travel to Northern Ontario, I feel I have enough time to slowly make my way home.  Northern Ontario can be it's own adventure in the future.  Here is a link my shared photo album for Quebec and Ontario, thanks for reading my blog. 

Plage Murray Beach - Provincial Park

 0618-2025 46.17747, -63.97891

You should have seen the custom officer's face when I told him I going to visit "Saint" Edwards Island while I am camping at Murray Beach. I made it to the At the Canadian border. He asked so many questions, he didn't even give me time to correct myself! Maybe if I would correctly said "Prince" Edwards Island, he might not have made me itemize the contents of my refrigerator.  Looking at me hard, the officer said "Where did you get the eggs?" "Roaring Acres Farm in Connecticut" I responded. He told me to park the van and go inside. Entering the building, looking for the group W bench, I thought the next question will be do you now Todd Thedell, but the pretty lady at the desk just asked my name and said I was good to go.  
So I entered Canada, jumped on Hwy 1 and headed east. I stopped in Fredericton for lunch at Tim Hortons, in Canada Tim Hortons is as popular as McDonalds is in the US, but they have good coffee. After lunch I found a Micro cache in the parking lot and earned my New Brunswick Souvenir. 

I arrived at Plage Murray Beach - Provincial Park and checked in at the office. Site 101 was right on the edge of the loop, only a short walk to the beach and the North Atlantic. My spot for the next 2 days. The view out the van door pretty nice. 

In the morning I packed up and drove to Cape Jourimain and took the 7 mile bridge across the bay to Prince Edwards Island (PEI), there was a virtual cache and a couple traditional caches in the park at the end of the

bridge, Earning the PEI souvenir, I paid the toll and went back across the bridge then headed to Nova Scotia. Just across the province line, I found a peanut butter jar cache in a tree behind an old church.  

I visited a nearby park, right near the water, found 2 small caches and walked  around enjoying the beautiful weather. 

It was still early afternoon by the time I got back to site 101 and set up. Plenty of time for a long walk on the beach and in the ocean. Although I was looking forward to visiting Quebec, I could have stayed here for a week. 

👀 NB-NS-PEI👀