Day 26, July 23, 2007

Day 26, Sunday July 23, 2007.
We got a good start this morning, we were on the road by about 7:30 am. Nice time of the morning to travel, traffic is less and cooler part of the day, everything seems to run quieter and better. We have decided to skip Quebec City on the way down and maybe catch it on the way back. We’ve had enough of museums, forts and old buildings and besides we are about 4 days behind. We don’t really have a schedule but the Atlantic Provinces are our priority and we are spending an extra day here and there and suddenly you aren’t sure if you won’t need another month. For the same reason we have also dropped off the Gaspe’ Peninsular. So now we have cleared Montreal, Quebec City and come down over the St. Lawrence River and are now heading up the south side of the St Lawrence and into the country where my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandparents originated from after they came from France in the 1600’s. Now we are looking into my family’s information and Willa is trying to fill in some of the gaps she is missing and confirming some of the information she already has. We were in Mont Carmel, Quebec where my Great Grandparents were born and married. In Kamouraska (which is a native name meaning “Bull Rushes by the Sea”) almost sounds Russian. One of my relatives was the first Dionne in the area. In one of the towns, Cap St Ignace, we tried to find the old church where my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandparents were married in but apparently the church was washed away by the St. Lawrence River and with it went the graveyard also. Willa is pretty sure that my relatives would have been buried there. Soooooooooooo! I guess you could say that I have ancestors scattered all along the St. Lawrence river (well down stream especially). On our drive I was watching for Pat Pelletier’s ancestor’s farm which is on the road we were traveling on. Pat is the Mortgage Broker at our office. I stopped, took some pictures and called Pat from the motorhome to tell him I was in front of his ancestor’s home. Couldn’t reach Pat so had him paged. Still having some problems with the motorhome but hope to resolve it today. They broke a spark plug wire installing the manifold gasket and I think it is breaking down when I stress the motor. So see if replacing it helps. Well we looked at some more graveyards, churches and towns that were, are inhabited by my ancestors. Hard to believe that they could have been walking these same roads and streets that we have been driving and walking down. From Cap St. Ignace, I called my mother, and sister to tell them where we were. Turns out my oldest sister Jerry and her husband Joe were at my Mother’s. Joe’s brother inlaw had passed away and they were down for the service. Well talk to you tomorrow and update you on our travels. Weather by the way has been real good, not too hot for traveling and not wet and rainy either.