Day: 20 September 2024

After we passed Montreal traffic eased and once passed Quebec City, or Levis, the scenery became more interesting. There were farms and forests and eventually we could see mountainous terrain across the St Lawrence which was occasionally in sight. Gail took her second shift in the driver’s seat as we approached Rivière-du-Loup and I navigated the transfer to Quebec highway 85. Almost as soon as we started south on 85 things became strange and we found ourselves navigating country roads which seemed to take us further from Highway 85. I had some awareness of a construction project on 85 but was unable to find any information about detours before we left home. While Gail drove I began consulting both Apple maps and Google maps only to discover that their detour routes were not identical. When we finally reached Highway 85 again both Apple and Google located us in the middle of nowhere since the newly constructed highway was not up to date for either system. My solution was simple, follow that truck. That seemed to work. At our last rest stop before Edmunston we found a Quebec Information Centre where the attendant was only too pleased to show me how to avoid all the construction. The secret, he said, was to aim for Pohénégamook, Quebec then take Highway 289 north to Highway 20. We shall try that on our return trip.