NS 2025: Day 1: Levis, QC: We’re Back!
Or, we’re gone?
It has been a year since our last significant van trip. This summer we did some short excursions using the van as a base for some fun bicycle (Brompton, of course) rides along the St Lawrence river. But alas, time to get moving on our annual fall trip. This one is slightly different than previous fall trips in that it is a little later in September, and we are bringing Amy. Normally she sits out the fall trip, but this year her stubby little tail was wagging about 1,003 wpm (wags per minute) as we jumped into the van.
This year we intend to poke around Nova Scotia a bit. My spiritual advisor refers to Nova Scotia as God’s country. We have been to Nova Scotia many times, but outside of day trips to Halifax, Lunenberg, Peggy’s cove, we have primarily stayed along the Northumberland Strait. Beautiful spot, but let’s see some more!
Day -1 of the trip was rather busy and almost killed the trip before it began. After given the van (we should really name the thing) a light washing to get all the crap off of it, I set about doing a systems check. Not all was good in van land! The propane was low pressure, until it stopped. Switches on? Yup. Valve open? Yup! Propane in the tank? Yup! Well, there are only three things that can prevent the flow of propane then. First one is the solenoid. It was getting hot and definitely clicked, so that didn’t seem to be the issue. The single stage pressure regulator rarely fails so I ignored it. Let’s have a look at the dual stage regulator. No actual way to “see” if it is working in situ. I called an RV dealer in Ottawa and they had one in stock so of I went. 45 minutes later, they did not have one in stock after all. I called the next closest dealer and they had plenty in stock. It was 14:38 and they close at 15:00 on Saturdays. I was only 21 minutes away so piece of cake! Made it at 14:58 and they actually had plenty to choose from. Nice guy at the parts counter at Ottawa Camping Trailers helped me figure out the right one. Reminded me to get the yellow teflon tape (which is not what the manufacturer of the van used). I paid, used their facilities and hit the road home.
I removed the lines from the old regulator. The high pressure side did have propane in it, that was a good sign that the upstream parts were working. I hooked up the lines to the new regulator, turned on the gas, squirted some soapy water to look for bubbles (not the one from Trailer Park Boys, but that would have been a cool discovery) and all looked good. Systems check, all passed! Boom, we are good to go. I may have to improve the mounting of new regulator when I get home. Funny? story: I’ve had a replacement regulator in my Amazon check out thing for 3 years as they are known to be problematic. Next time I am near Ottawa Camping Trailers, I’ll pick up a spare. I don’t want to mention the other parts that are known to be problematic as that will certainly cause a failure!
Now, about the first day of our trip. We departed at approximately 10:00 with a planned short(er) day to Levis, QC. It was a wonderfully boring drive mostly. We did a stop just before the Quebec border to fill up on gas as it’s a lot more expensive in Quebec! Highway 30 was toll free today as they had closed highway 20. What a bargain! We took a 20 minute detour on the east side of Montreal to load up at a boulangerie. Mrs Milddogs did the procuring while Amy and I walked around outside. One of us did our bathroom business by a tree. But tragedy was discovered! We forgot butter! How can one have a baguette without butter! Definitely on our list of things to get tomorrow.
As we approached Levis, we decided to head down to a scenic rocky beach. Turns out it was a rather twisty, narrow and hilly little road to get there. We parked along the side of the road once it was wide enough to do so and enjoyed a walk amongst the rocks. Good news, the only way out was back UP! that twisty little road. We carefully drove out as we discussed other scary narrow hilly roads we have gotten ourselves onto on previous adventures. We agreed that this one was nothing like some of the past gems. Think Monument Valley!
Our camping spot is a parking lot on the west end of Levis. Overnight parking is allowed. Let’s hope that is actually true. We are here with a bunch of cars and one other RV (so far). Have not found any syringes on the ground so it must be fine! Turns out the church bell rings at 06:00 and 18:00. Will let you know how fun that is at 06:00!
Once we checked out the parking lot we decided to head about 8 km east to check out the view of Quebec City from the Levis side. Oh, we also got “Poutine Inter” (regular poutine, add bacon, beef and onion rings) from a food truck for dinner. We all shared it (even Amy). Strangely, we were not attacked by seagulls as we ate at the edge of the St Lawrence river. We opted to not get churros for dessert. Not because of health, although it should have been, but because we have some fresh croissant, choclatines and of course baguette back waiting for us at the van. Might need some veggies tomorrow. That’s how it works, right?
We drove back to our parking lot and started getting the van ready for the evening. Now, time to relax, hopefully get a good nights sleep and then head out for 5.5 hours of driving tomorrow.
Levis has some great cycling infrastructure. If we had been here a bit earlier, I would have headed out on my Brompton.
Hey, if you are so inclined, our friends Tony and Barb are on their way back from British Columbia. Check them out here!
My potato is your potato!
