Exploring The “Route Des Navigateurs”

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It was the title of the colourful brochure that caught my eye, “Route Des Navigateurs”.  I had been wandering around a visitor information office in downtown Montreal, perusing racks of tourist pamphlets, looking for inspiration. My wife, Maureen and I had just spent several glorious days exploring the wonders and attractions of Quebec’s largest city. Now, it was time to move on. Our next stop was Quebec City, then on to the Gaspe. The quickest and most expedient route was the multi-laned Trans-Canada highway but, that wasn’t our style. This blog is about routes less travelled and that’s what I hoped to find when I picked up the pamphlet.

The title, roughly translated meant, “Route of the Navigators” or “Route of the Explorers”. In my mind’s eye, this evoked images of great French navigators like Samuel de Champlain or Jacque Cartier. I felt an immediate connection. After all, weren’t they and modern day RV’ers kindred spirits, motivated by the same desire to see what lay over the horizon or around the next bend? Naturally, I picked it up.

The Red Coat Trail - Part 2

The Journey Continues
Welcome to the second of a two part series chronicling the adventures of my wife, Maureen and I as we followed the Red Coat Trail across the Prairies. The Red Coat Trail is a series of provincial highways, which more or less followed the route taken by the North West Mounted Police back in 1874 on their march west from Manitoba to Southern Alberta. Maureen and I however, were going the other way. Our starting point was Fort Macleod in Southern Alberta and we were headed east. By the end of part one, we had reached the middle of Saskatchewan. Along the way, we had visited some interesting attractions, driven over some unique roads and experienced some very empty yet beautiful landscapes. In part two, we continued east along the Red Coat Trail to its end, near Winnipeg, Manitoba. Please join us for the rest of our adventure.

The Red Coat Trail - Part 1

Introduction
Welcome to the first of a two part series chronicling the adventures of my wife, Maureen and I as we follow the Red Coat Trail across the Prairies. The Red Coat Trail, in case you’re wondering, is a series of provincial highways, which more or less follows the route taken by the North West Mounted Police back in 1874 on their march west from Manitoba to southern Alberta. The route was marked by distinctive roadside signs to help modern travellers stay on course.

Haida Gwaii Adventures

The Ferry With The Funny Name

It’s funny what random and bizarre thoughts percolate through a person’s mind while waiting for a ferry. In my case, it was the name of the ship that my wife and I plus two friends were about to board. The vessel that would take us from the port of Prince Rupert on the Northwest coast of BC across 100km of open ocean to the storied isles of Haida Gwaii was called the, “Northern Adventure”. That struck me as a rather odd. Don’t get me wrong. I like a good adventure as much as the next person but in a suitable craft such as a canoe, kayak or even a white water raft. On a ferry, I prefer calm, peaceful, unadventurous voyages yet as I waited for the loading process to begin, I couldn’t but help wonder if the name was simply a marketing ploy or an omen of things to come. The answer arrived sooner then expected.