Camping along the East Coast of Canada with my A128S

[handbuilder]

ROFL - you have me beat and techno gadgets at that! DH says I am a gadget person....I agree but I tend to lean to gadgets such as one might find at a home/garden show or the local county/state fair. I like to see what people create/invent to make their task easier. Sometimes I buy em and sometimes I dont. Do you use your phone as GPS on your bike?

[ko777]

I just ordered an iPhone 5 yesterday and I'll use that to take pictures, surf the net and all my online transaction. Since I started with iPod 3 and I don't like giving away my old gadgets, I have dedicated the iPod 3 for GPS running Navigon, I always take this with me in my bike trips. The iPod 4 is for my Carcorder. My iPod 5 will be use as the Carcorder when I get the iPhone 5. I have over 2000 mp3 in my iPod 4 so I will dedicate that for my jukebox. Since I bring them all with me in my travel, my GPS navigation is fully covered...hopefully it will give me accurate information in my trip to get to my planned destinations. LOL...I know I could have all of this functions running in one device but this is my excuse for keeping them all...backup for each other I think that is a good reason!

[ko777]

Two more weeks and counting....

First stop at La Mauricie National Park. I checked the availability on serviced sites and there is only 1 left. I booked my site 2 weeks ago and it looks like I have to book my other destination site soon to make sure I get them with electricity.

My plan to visit the two cities Quebec and Montreal have changed. They are over 2.5 hour drive one way from my first site. Too much driving at the beginning of my trip may ruin the next destination if I get too tired or sick of driving. I will just hangout at the site and enjoy nature by hiking and biking. Hopefully be refresh and ready for my next trip to New Brunswick. I will post some pic while I'm there live using my new iPhone 5...like a kid playing with a new toy LOL

Has anyone camp in La Mauricie?

Here are 2 private RV site I found in the Internet, has anyone been there? If you know a better site close to these please let know:

NB: http://www.woolastookpark.com/facilities.htm

NS:http://www.campscout.com/campground/NS0049/

[thehamguy1]

Bookmark the site "waymarking.com" It's a site with GPS coordinates for thousands of different interesting places and things you may never know about otherwise. You can sort by the type of attraction you want to see (like firehouses or railroad stations or bike trails or ghost towns or hundreds of other categories). You can sort by the type of attraction, by postal code, or by the position the GPS in your phone reports you're at. It's a simple matter to tell the phone to guide you to the site.

Similarly, the free app "wherigo" will download GPS-based groups of related locations, which are clustered into an adventure story or an educational field trip. Great fun for kids or adult groups to share.

Will you do any geocaching while you're traveling? Apps for smartphones make it almost easy.

[ko777]

Interesting apps, thanks, I have checked out Waymarking.com and Glympse. Just for fun I'll check out the waypoints Waymarking.com provides during my trip and check them out if I see a good one.

[ko777]

I was reviewing Google Maps app and it is awesome to find interesting attractions close to the location you are planning to stay. I got bad results for the available attractions close to my first stop in La Mauricie National Park, it is very limited and far; I guess I'll enjoy the outdoors for 2 days and 3 nights.

The dots are the attractions, it will give you info when you touch the red dot, how cool is that.

I guess I have to cook my own steak...meals, not too many restaurants around there

Using the red dot, I use the share function to clipboard and paste it to Maps app of apple, it will display the route and distance:

Wow that far to get food service...I am forced to cook my own meals, where is mom when I need her...LOL

Now that I have the address, I just have to program my GPS Navigon app to direct me to that place.

This will be the process I will follow to program my GPS Navigon app of the destination spots I am planning to go to in my trip.

Since I will have Internet with my new iPhone 5, the choices of places to go will be awesome and spontaneous, can't wait to be surprised!

[ko777]

Found my second stop, Mactaquac Provincial Park in New Brunswick.

Close to the city and restaurants, awesome

I may just take a chance on the day to get a site but here is the site to book it online: https://parcsnbparks.ca/?ShowFullSite=true


Restaurants and Attractions spots, this will be fun touring this side of NB

[thehamguy1]

If you like ghost towns, at waymarking.com enter "ghost town" and postal code near you. You might find something interesting, I did. There are over 488,000 waymarks listed so the chances are good you'll find something good to explore.

[ko777]

Started using GS camping app and the information it provides is awesome. I did the following to find campsites in Nova Scotia:

Set filter for private, national parks and provincial parks

Lots, zoom in and touch the spot I'm interested in

Campsite I'm interested in, has anyone been there?

More information about the site and get driving direction

From PEI to this site

The apps in my PDA are making my travel preparation easier to find the destination sites I'm interested in.

I just called the site http://www.englishtown-ridge.com/
Cost $28 per night and since I'm going there during the week I do not have to book it...this is a potential site for me.

[ko777]

Less than a week before my trip and I'm still making changes to my destination campsites. I cut down more than 700 km travel distance by choosing sites closer to the cities.

I got my iPhone 5 the other day and the transition from my iPod 5 was a breeze. I was able to configure the iPhone 5 by restoring iPod 5 backup. I tested my new device and all the functions I'll be using in this trip passed with flying colors. I got a case to make my iPhone 5 waterproof, shockproof and dirtproof.

Since I will have Internet access wherever I am, I will use google map to list the interesting restaurants and attractions I could check out. I can't wait for the surprises I will find in my trip.

I am double checking my TV and TT the next few days for any problems. I'll take the TT for a spin tomorrow to a park close by and practice more backing up parking of TT.

My first stop, La Mauricie National Park in Quebec.

[ko777]

Day 1:
I only had 3 hours sleep yesterday and I am glad to get 7 hours of sleep today, I woke up at 4:30am; I hope I had enough rest to drive to my first site:

I'm looking forward enjoying the outdoor...it has been 3 weeks since my last camping.

Ok I better stop posting and get packing...

[ko777]

Last night I got to my destination south entrance at 8:30 pm but the road was close and there was no mobile service. I have no clue how to get to the other entrance fortunately there was a pay phone. I called my family but all went to voice mail, left a voice mail to my camping friend to call the park and let them know I'm coming the next day and not to cancel my reservation.

Ok I have learned my lesson, make a hard copy of the directions to the entrance and their phone numbers, do not rely on the online map, find their site and get the directions from there instead http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/qc/mauricie/visit/visit1.aspx


Where I slept last night. It was so easy to set up the Aframe and my front bed was ready, just move the stuff on top away. Within 15 minutes I was inside my trailer heating up my dinner.

With no Internet, power and lots of bugs outside, I slept at 10:30 pm.

Let the adventure begins.....

[ko777]

Day 2:
I got up at 5:15 am, there was no issue sleeping at the parking lot and I slept well. I unhooked my trailer to look for mobile service somewhere out there and I found 2 bars of signal with 3G a few kilometers away, I'm happy again...lol. The other entrance is 45 mins away. I love my gadgets, with Internet I got the site I posted earlier, it had GPS locations of the other entrance, entered it in my GPS app...viola I now know how to get there or not but I trust technology, so I got ready to go.

I got here with my GPS with no problems, here is the info, 46.733830,-72.768330, just copy and paste these numbers in https://maps.google.ca/

It is raining right now but I finished setting up my trailer with tarps for shelter.


The mod on the roof allows me to hook the tarps which provides shelter between the trailer and gazebo, the front storage has a tarp shelter too.

Wow the weather here changes so much, rain a few minutes and then sunny the next....

[Pooneil]

Looks nice, wish I were there and you were here.

[ko777]

Originally Posted by Pooneil

Looks nice, wish I were there and you were here.

This is my second night solo and maybe after 20 nights without my friends, I maybe wishing the same thing....NOT

I took a nap this afternoon and got up several hours later...that long driving really got me tired.

[ko777]

Day 3:
Got up early and can't go back sleep. It is cold here at 9c and the heat pump keeps me warm 23c but it goes on/off several times an hour, I need to get use to the noise, it still wakes me up.

I was reviewing the GPS app Navigon where it guide me in Day 1. It looks like I have to trick it to use a different route:

The green flag is where I set up/slept and the orange road to the park was closed

Maps app shows the route to the park

I need a better road map because I did not see the information I got from the apps.

Thanks to the Internet I got to my destination safely but a day late.

[ko777]

Originally Posted by rockin'ray

Just a note about your Wifi Hotspot with Rogers. As a former Rogers customer of many years, they do not have the greatest coverage here in the Maritimes unless you are near to larger populated areas. I switched to Telus for that reason that when my wife and I started camping again about 5 years ago that the difference in signal between my own Rogers phone and my Telus work phone was night and day. Also at my previous job they for some unknown reason switched from Telus to Rogers and all we heard was complaints from the out of town/fringe area techs that they could not use their phones. I have also done some camping on PEI and a few trips to to Cape Breton and found the coverage to be not very good there as well.

I just confirmed my Rogers hot spot does not work in my campsite. I'm glad Rockin'Ray post this info and I got the Telus iPhone 5 with 5G data plan...thanks to him my Internet is rockin good.

[ko777]

My last night in La Mauricie National Park, this place reminds me of Tobermory where I visit once a year forever but because it is far away from home and I'm glad to have experience what the place could offer. I went for a 3 hour hike and it was a hard hike for me because there were lots of hills, rough path but the view at the lookout points were beautiful. I made sure to take it easy because there were hardly any hikers and a sprain ankle will ruin my day and the rest of my trip. I sprained my ankle several weeks ago playing tennis and I'm glad to survived the hike.

Here are some pictures:



Start of the hiking area, this place is for skiing in the winter and have bike trails too


No hikers to take my picture...



Top and bottom of the lake



Ropes to help you down or up the trail

I think going hiking solo like this is not a good idea. I was lucky to finish the hike safely but I think I may do this again later in my trip, wish me luck.

New Brunswick here I come....

[thehamguy1]

Thanks for posting, Marc. Great photos!

[ko777]

Day 4: (yesterday) Traveling from La Mauricie National Park to Mactaquac Provincial Park

My driving endurance is getting better, I'm ok between 3-4 hours before rest stop.

One of my GPS broke but I have 2 others for backup. The iPhone 5 does everything, GPS, Camera, Phone, Internet and etc...I have it mounted on the windshield conveniently so I could see it and it could see me, I could touch it to take pictures or to video log my journey lol talking to a machine

Pictures from my iPhone library, also I take pics for the GPS info, for example rest stops in the highway or a scenery shot, just in case I want to go back there

Press map and it will go to google map

It was funny to see a neighbor in my campsite that has an A122. They where very friendly and helpful, my pop-up broke and they helped me temporary fixed it with duck tape they provided.

My neighbor a 2010-A122

Site is small but cozy. I lost an hour because of the time zone change and I was able to set up the screen room in the dusk with no problem.

So far my A128S is working great. Towing it is so easy, it is front heavy close to 400 lbs, that is over my TV max tongue limit of 350 lbs, the hitch looks ok, no bending or twisting.

I'm using my fridge like a freezer, it gets cold to -3c, all my frozen food from home is still frozen

I got an ice maker and making a lot of ice to put in a cooler box for my drinks and food.


This set up works great for collecting grey water, when it is full, cover it and dump it to the closest washroom

Since I am solo, I have 2 layers of cushions on the front bed, it is very comfy and I don't have to use my air mattress.

With all the comforts my rig provides, my journey is looking good....17 nights to go!

Happy Camping...