My travels this summer have taken me mostly to places without Internet connections so I apologize for being behind in my blog posts. I still don’t have any connections at my current campsite but I’ve been able to take my laptop to the rec center and use the office WiFi.

When I left Florida in July, I had a photography workshop booked in Quebec. I had just enough time for a weekend visit in New Jersey, staying at Turkey Swamp Park, a Monmouth County Park System campground. Side note: my first job out of college as a graphic artist was for the park system.

Turkey Swamp Campground, Freehold, NJ.

My quick visit didn’t allow for much in the way of visiting friends and family but I managed to see a lot of people in a short time. I even got in some country line dancing, which I miss terribly. I’ve been dancing weekly for two years and I’m going through withdrawal.

Country line dancing with Billy from BTK Entertainment at Laurita Winery.

When I was packing up to leave the campground, I discovered I had a flat tire on an outer rear dual. This same tire had gone flat while I was in Florida. I had taken the motorhome to a truck tire center where they repaired a bad valve stem. My coach has valve stem extensions for the inner dual tires and, apparently, while I was driving up from Florida, that one broke loose and tore a hole in the back side of the same tire I’d had fixed. Same tire, different problem. I found a truck tire center not too far from the campground so I was able to drive there and buy a new tire.

Hole in the tire right down to the steel belt.

From New Jersey, I headed to Quebec by way of Newport, VT where I had a photo shoot scheduled for my former employer. I stayed at Prouty Beach & Campground, a nice little city-owned campground on the shore of Lake Memphremagog. It’s a lovely little place that I’d like to return to if ever in northern Vermont again.

Prouty Beach Campground, Newport, VT.

Photo shoot for my former employer.

Newport is on the Canada border so it was a short drive to cross the border. I went through customs with no problems. They didn’t even ask to enter the motorhome, which I’ve been told they usually do. On July 19, I arrived at Camping Rayon de Soleil in Alexandre, Quebec, about 120 miles east of Quebec City. I parked the motorhome with the cats and the next day I took off in the Jeep to meet up with the photography group.

Camping Rayon de Soleil in Alexandre, Quebec.

The photography workshops are provided by Lerro Photography. They have a number of subjects for workshops including trains, WWII reenactments, American Southwest (cowboys and Indians) in addition to lighthouses throughout the U.S. and Canada.

DAY ONE

I took a ferry across the St. Lawrence from Rivière-du-Loup on the south shore to Saint-Siméon on the north shore and met up with the group a few miles west of the ferry. This particular lighthouse is privately owned and the owner gave us permission to walk the two miles through his property. He was not at home or he would have given us rides on ATVs. That would have been a blessing.

We parked on the street and spent a little time getting our “hello, how are you’s” out of the way. There was Pete who runs the trips, his girlfriend Michele who I had not met before, Buffalo Bob who I haven’t seen since Michigan two years ago, and PA Bob who I haven’t seen since my very first Maine trip with Pete in 2014.

L-R: Buffalo Bob, Michele, Pete, PA Bob, me.

The walk down to the lighthouse was extremely challenging and did not bode well for the return trip uphill. There’s an 800 foot elevation change over the 2 miles and much of it is on 45 degree inclines. This is a gravel and dirt road only suitable for ATVs and some stretches had old tractor treads installed because even the ATVs can’t handle the slope.

 
The trail to the lighthouse.

It took almost an hour and a half to climb down to the lighthouse but what a beautiful spot! There are several buildings that he rents out for vacationers. I assume he brings them down and doesn’t make them walk!

Cap au Saumon Lighthouse

We always do a bit of rock and cliff climbing to get the best views.

The hike back took over 2 hours for me and Buffalo Bob. He’s a little older than me and it was kicking his ass as much as mine. The others got back quicker. Bob stayed with me and we used the buddy system to get through it. For much of the climb we could only walk about 20 steps before needing to rest. We’d set a goal of getting to the next landmark – a tree, rock, whatever was 20 feet ahead of us.
At about the 2/3 point, I became lightheaded and dizzy. I’ll be honest, I was a little concerned I could have a heart attack on the trail and they’d never be able to get me out of there.

Hiking back up the trail.

In hindsight, Pete never would have taken us there had he known how difficult it was. This is the first time we’ve ever gone to a location he hadn’t already been to. He had been told it was a rugged hike but nothing prepared us for it. I’m glad I lived to tell about it.

By now, it was early afternoon and we needed to drive four hours to the eastern end of the St. Lawrence (still on the north side of river) to a spot we would stay overnight. Pete was concerned about my condition and didn’t want me to drive the long distance so Michele drove my car. It gave us the opportunity to really get to know each other, which was nice.

Pointe des Monts Lighthouse

We had great afternoon light and then left to find a place for dinner. The plan was to stay up shooting the lighthouse at night with stars and the Milky Way. When we returned after dark, we were disappointed to discover the lighthouse lantern was not operational. No point shooting it at night if it doesn’t light up. So we had a round of drinks in the parking lot and went to bed. “Bed” might be over-stating it… we sleep in our cars. I was able to stretch out in the cargo area of the Jeep. Not bad but it needed more padding.

DAY TWO

Got up at 4:00 am for sunrise (The sun comes up at 4:30 here). It was overcast but not bad.
Pointe des Monts Lighthouse at sunrise on an overcast morning.

From here, we drove three hours back toward the ferry for our third lighthouse. This little park is actually part of the National Park System. It’s well maintained but very touristy.

Bon Desir Lighthouse

An hour to the ferry and an hour+ to cross the river and on to the next light.

Pointe au Père Lighthouse

We would actually visit this light three times. We were here at 4:00 pm on day two, 8:00 am and again 8:00 pm on day three.

Adjacent to the lighthouse is a pier where they allow RVs to stay overnight. I have no idea if they charge a fee but many came in after dark when there would be no one around to check with. They left early, as well. I noticed RVs parked everywhere you can imagine in Quebec. Any parking lot or flat piece of land.

RVs parked on the pier in Rimouski.

Now we have a two hour drive to where we’ll spend the night, stopping for a quick pic at Matane Lighthouse along the way that we will return to the next day. Our spot for the night, Cap Chat Lighthouse, was disappointing to me. It’s in tight quarters and I don’t have a wide-angle lens although I occasionally borrowed one from others. And there are limited angles to shoot from.

The highlight for me here was chatting with a Mennonite family from Kentucky. They were camping here with their two teenage daughters and three young sons. The girls love lighthouses and the boys were captivated by Pete’s drone. The parents and I talked for almost an hour and the Dad gave me his business card and invited me to stay on their land when I get to the Bowling Green, Kentucky area.

Cap Chat Lighthouse at dusk.

The lighthouse allows camping on the premises but they have no facilities other than bathrooms. No water, electric, etc. We slept in our cars in the parking lot

DAY THREE
Up at 4:00 am again for sunrise shots here, then off to find breakfast and drive three hours back to the place where the ferry was so we could take a tour boat to an island lighthouse. We stopped back at Matane and Pointe au Père along the way.

Cap Chat Lighthouse at sunrise.

Matane Lighthouse

We had a couple hours to kill before the boat tour. This is when Pete likes to take naps. The guys went to the boat parking lot and Michele and I went to check on my cats and take showers at the campground that was a 20-minute drive.

Boarding the tour boat from ferry terminal at Rivière du Loop. We saw a pod of Beluga whales in the harbor.

Pot a l’Eau-de-Vie Lighthouse

We got off the boat at 5:00 pm and headed back to Pointe au Père for the third time.

Pointe au Père Lighthouse at sunset.

From here we had a three-hour drive to our overnight lighthouse. We stopped at gas station near here and just as we’re about to pull out, there’s a terrible car accident right at the station exit. Three cars involved, one caught on fire and its occupant had minor injuries. All three cars were totaled.

Two of the guys grabbed fire extinguishers from the gas pumps to put out the fire while Michele and I directed traffic around the vehicles from either side of the accident. It took 10 minutes for EMTs to arrive, 15 for a fire truck, and the police were last on the scene.

We arrived at La Martre after 1:00 am and set up to shoot. Unfortunately, the sodium vapor streetlights wreaked havoc on our light sensors but the minute we got out of our cars we see a faint green glow on the north horizon. We’ve got the Aurora Borealis! I’ve never seen it before and I’m so excited, I don’t care about the lighthouse!

La Martre Lighthouse. Bad light conditions but seeing Aurora Borealis was awesome.

The Aurora Borealis with the Big Dipper.

DAY FOUR

La Martre Lighthouse at sunrise.

It looked much better in the daylight.

Our last full day is spent on the northeastern coast of Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula, where the Gulf of St. Lawrence meets the Atlantic Ocean. We have three more lights to see. We arrive at Cap Madeleine at 6:30 am.

Cap Madeleine Lighthouse isn’t much to look at but they have great bathrooms that are open all night. We took the opportunity to freshen up and change clothes.

Next we went to what would be our farthest lighthouse, Cap des Rosiers. We then doubled back to Points des Renommee and returned to Cap des Rosiers for our final overnight. But that’s not how it was supposed to go.

Midday at Cap des Rosiers Lighthouse.

We arrived at Points des Renommee at 3:00 in the afternoon. We plan to nap for a couple hours then shoot at dusk/dark and spend the night. This light is not operational so Pete got permission to place a flash on a stand inside the lens. He can fire the flash remotely while we shoot. An employee let him into the lighthouse to set up then locked the building and went home for the day.

Points des Renommee Lighthouse

About an hour later, the flash started rapid-firing on its own and finally exploded and died. He couldn’t get into the building and he only had emails and no phone numbers for his contacts there. We were worried it might start a fire. We left when we were certain it wouldn’t cause any damage.

This is what was left of the flash when Pete returned for it the next morning. It had short-circuited causing the rapid flashing then overheated and burned up.

So, since we couldn’t do our nighttime shoot here, we returned to Cap des Rosiers and were treated to a spectacular Milky Way show. Sometimes things happen for a reason. The only other time I’ve seen the Milky Way was in Michigan and it wasn’t visible until 2-3 am. This shot was taken at 10:00 pm, a much more civilized hour.

The Milky Way over the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

It was difficult to get in a position to have the Milky Way behind the lighthouse. I borrowed a wide-angle lens and was able to get the Milky Way as well as the beams of light from the lantern.

Cap des Rosiers Lighthouse with the Milky Way.

Then we climbed down the rocks to the water to get shots from a distance but this angle didn’t include the Milky Way.

View from the water’s edge.

DAY FIVE

Up at dawn one last time and caught the sun through the lighthouse lens.

Sun-up on our last morning.

We said our “Goodbyes” and I drove over 400 miles back to the campground, taking 6 1/2 hours.

Below is a map locating all the lighthouses, ferry and campground. All tolled, with all the driving back and forth, we logged 1200 miles from first lighthouse to last.

For anyone wondering how Cleo and Tillie are adjusting to travel in the motorhome… they seem to be quite comfortable.

Upcoming post:

Nova Scotia.

My name is Lindsay Reed and I’m a photographer and retired graphic artist with a passion for both lighthouses and road trips. I am living as a full-time solo RVer in my 31 foot Coachmen motorhome and plan to spend the next few years traveling the U.S. and Canada photographing not only lighthouses, but everything else there is to see in this wonderful land. I hope you enjoy my blog and will follow my adventures in the months and years ahead.