From Florida to Quebec Part 2

Day 8:

Today we didn't really have a solid plan. We slept soundly in the Walmart parking lot. Luckily, no one bothered us. However, it has been raining since last night. One day of bad weather turned into a beautiful day as we made our way to Saguenay. We stopped in a national park, Jaques Cartier - Eperon Trail. I expected more views, buy I definitely wasn't mad about the hike. It was cool and secluded. We ran into only a handful of people. Mom was taking it slow, but I was able to take everything in. I found myself thinking a lot about what my plans are for when I get back, I did eventually silence my mind. Once we finished the hike we headed straight to Saguenay. There, we met a body of water that led to the Atlantic. No whales though. 

We then decided to make our way to the Saguenay fjords. We didn't find any whales here either. However, we sat on a floating dock and watched the water/sky/people. It was so relaxing. We hiked a little bit, but we were tired from the morning hike and the last several days. I had the idea of camping here rather than another Walmart parking lot. I went in and the lady said that there were no more spaces for those with vehicles. Then I had the idea of paying for a spot for tent camping but not using a tent. The lady didn't speak much English. Luckily, there were two ladies from Ontario that spoke some English. They helped translate and we were able to get a place here…in the Saguenay fjord national park. How lucky are we!? There were showers and clean bathrooms. The only thing is…it's going to get cold AF. It's already 58° but feels like 50s!

Mom woke me up around 1 AM to look at the sky. I haven't seen a night sky like that in so long, one that wasn't lost in the light pollution. You could see millions of them, so bright. Mom saw a few shooting stars, I wasn't able to catch any. I really felt so at peace.

Day 9:

Today started out with a little breakfast as the sun peaked over the mountains. We decided to exit the national park and make our way to the east side of the river in hopes of seeing a whale or two. It was about a 1.5 hour drive. We made it to an observation area. We were there for probably 45 mins….I was losing hope. Right when I was about to have us pack up and leave, a whale emerged RIGHT in front of us!! We're unsure what kind, either a Minke or a Fin whale. It came up for air several times and we were able to get some footage of it. Pretty spectacular! Very excited that our trip to that side ended the way we had hoped!

We then decided to make our way back to the States. 4.5 hours later….we cross into the states. 493 miles and no moose! We almost had no dinner either. Peanut butter and salami sandwiches are good, but we've had too many! We luckily Found a BBQ joint that had pretty good wings and okay pork. We filled up and headed towards a Walmart! Mom says: I'd move here just for this Walmart. She really liked how big it was lol. 

Hopefully a restful night of sleep is ahead of us. We're getting up early in hopes to find moose!

Day 10:

On the road again…in search of moose!! Literally hundreds of miles and NOTHING. Not a single one! Absolutely ridiculous! We went on trails, on roads that were said to have sightings, and checked marshy areas. Nada. We tried. We really did. We ended up at our zipline tour without any moose findings. The zipline tour was great! I'm not sure that I'm over my fear of heights, but it was an experience. Getting up there we rode in a pinzgauer. OMG. Worst ride in a vehicle I've ever experienced. But it was a time! The ziplines were quick and I really tried to keep my composure. Mom had a lot of fun and she was really glad that I found that place. I got everything on go pro so I'll be fixing that up. Afterwards, we went to get food after driving for about 2.5 hours south. We weren't met with luck and I was getting hangry. Before we found food, we stopped at a gas station (Valero) which I thought were nicer, closer to a WaWa…I was wrong. We walked in and I asked the guy if they had any restrooms and he said “no, but I'll let you use the employee one back here”. I thought, great! he hollered at mom “ay, Mami” as he gestured to behind the register counter. We walked past a fry cook, lotto, and the register to be met with a very sketchy looking bathroom, but a bathroom nonetheless. Mom later told me she was worried he'd trap us there. And I kind of already anticipated that. Knife in the back, I was ready. Luckily it was just a bathroom trip and we were out of there.  

Finally we ended up in a spot called Hubspoke kitchen. It was kind of confusing and I was worried it was a place where they built the food for you and you'd have to take it home to cook. Luckily, it was not. We had pasta, meatballs, sausage, and a Caesar salad. I was happy and ready for the last 3 hour of driving. HOLY SHIT. These northern states are no joke to be driving in. The city drivers are crazy. We almost got hit by some kid who attempted to merge into our lane. Crazy traffic for hours. I wasn't able to make my turn and ended up in the Bronx for a short while. Homeless people lined the road just like in LA. We finally made it out of that nightmare and headed towards a rest stop. Which…ended up being guarded by some guy staring at computer monitors. 2 hour parking limit or subject to 50-200$ fine or tow. They paid this man for that!! Frustrated. I found a Walmart. And there's also a workout anytime in here too. We might be able to shower in the morning if we wanted. Or just wait until our bnb. There are birds in this parking lot just SQUAWKING away. Not my night.

Day 11:

Well…the squawking were from seagulls. The seagulls came from the landfill that they placed in the middle of this town. Wtf. All night. Seagulls. People talking. People zooming through the parking lot. Car alarms going off. I just could NOT BELIEVE. I don't know how much sleep I got…but I do know I was awake A LOT. 

Started the morning off with a Walmart bathroom run and then not being able to find my truck 😅

We get to the truck and…(We haven't showered in 2-3 days)

Me: I'm a mess

Mom: you're always like that

Me: gee…thanks

Got gas at a gas station that had bars on the windows and doors. Mom laughed at what had happened the day before. 

We were early for our airbnb so we looked around to see if we could find it. It took us a little driving around but we eventually did. Cute area, nice spot. Clean, comfy. 

We decided to go into DC, brave the traffic. We saw the Lincoln memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial, the white house, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington monument, and a couple of other things. What a journey to just get over there. Traffic was RIDICULOUS and parking was even worse. I missed my first turn and added an extra 10 minutes to our trip. Way to go. Parking we paid for, once we finally found a spot. 4 hours total of walking around. 8$ altogether. Not bad. Mom didn't want to try any of the street food, afraid of food poisoning. BUT, she'd try a random berry from our hike unsure of what kind of berry it is….make that make sense. She luckily didn't get sick. After our long journey, we headed to our bnb. Showered. Started laundry. And then found food. We had calamari, Friend shrimp for mom and a shrimp/chicken bowl for me. It hit the spot. On our way home a truck didn't see us crossing. I moved mom over because I saw it. I took her spot expecting him to stop, but he didn't. Almost ran me over. If I wasn't watching, we would've been hurt. Now we lay here tired and ready for our adventure tomorrow. Luray caverns!

Day 12:

Well…started the truck up and it gave me a tire pressure light. I was thinking they must not have put enough air in it yesterday. Welp, I wish that were the case. There's a small screw, about ⅓ the size of my pinky. I got the spare out with less effort than what it took to get the jack up and tire off. Goddammit. My hands are messed up from it. Still waiting on AAA so that they can put air in the tire and possibly fix the spare. They said 11. By a miracle from the universe, this guy pulls up to the garage where they fix up cars. This Exxon had a repair shop attached to it, but the sign said that they were closed on Sundays. Mom had asked him if he could help us. He came over, grabbed the spare, fixed it, told me to pull up the truck, took the spare off, put the repaired tire on, put the spare back up underneath the truck, all within 10 minutes. It took me about 30+ to get the spare down, jack the truck up, take the tire off, put the spare on…it has me buying better tools for when shit like this happens. 

It was 1pm when they called and said they were there. We tried to cancel It but no one wanted to pass along the message. 

Mom and I had stopped at a diner called Gainesville diner. They were busy but we got sat right away. We had their omelets. Mom ate her whole plate. We left happy. 

Luray caverns here we come! I'd have to say, they were pretty impressive, but it was jam packed with people. You could barely move let alone take a decent picture without someone standing right behind you. Maybe it's because it's the largest cavern on the east coast?? 

Then, we ventured off to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Spectacular views! We finished up the first quarter of the drive. We were able to see the sunset, bright red lit the sky. We made our way to Walmart where we found a spot tucked under a tree and called it quits for the day.