GP Day 9 — Magnifique!

No wi-fi service last night, so this is a little late getting posted.

Rimouski, (which is a First Nation word for “many moose”, not Polish) to Baie-des-Sables (Bay of Sand) with our Warm Showers host, Tristan. 42 miles, 806 ft of climbing.

Today was a glorious cycling day. Clear and sunny, not too hot, and a mix of tail- and head-winds and great scenery made for pleasant riding. It was another morning of rain storms, but they were over by 8:45 and it was mostly dry by 9:30 when we left Phillipe’s. We had a lot of side roads to use today and they were welcome as the traffic has picked up along the main route 132 which is the only road on the perimeter of the Gaspé peninsula. It’s summer vacation time and there are a lot of RV’s and campers to add to the normal truck traffic, so any side roads were much quieter and almost traffic free, including 3 miles on a gravel road.

We stopped for lunch at the Canteen of the Navigators and had cheeseburgers and fried clams, followed by a strawberry sundae. Yum! The whole day was “Yum!” as we arrived at our warm showers host’s and got settled in. Tristan is all of 19 and was so enamored with the warm showers hosts he met on his first touring trip around the Gaspésie, that he wanted to become a host. We were lucky enough to be his first guests and we stayed at his family house which his mother uses to operate a small day care. The children were gone for the weekend so we had the place to ourselves.

Tristan’s friend Sam came over and we sat and drank a few beers (18 is legal in CA) and talked of all the differences and similarities of Canada and the US: healthcare, education, taxes, guns. They both spoke very good English, though sometimes struggled for words, but we always got the gist. Before dinner, Tristan wanted to take us to the family farm up the road. He’s one of five and you would be hard pressed to tell his mother from one of the siblings. His step-father is a school teacher and they are all into raising vegetables, chickens, turkeys, pigs and rabbits and being self-sufficient. The farm tour was amazing and all the family were very welcoming (and Tristan’s sibs almost all spoke English). ristan is wise beyond his years, is in college and wants to move to either Montreal or Quebec to experience “city life.” We wished him luck and bid all a good night. It was one of those warm showers days that will be burned in our memories for years.