Parc National d’Oka

Now we enter the Long Denouement. Seeing friends and experiencing all the craziness of the Grand Rassemblement has been quite the climax of this trip. We reached our farthest point eastward and now it is time to steer to the West. For future me: please don’t plan a one night stay after a big event. Things like that deserve some processing and settling time. And it takes more than one night to blog it all. Two nights at least would have been much better.

Despite the shifting of gears, we really did like Oka for the one day we were there. We had some nasty weather to navigate again en route, and it was not a short travel day. We pulled off the highway a couple of times to let storms pass, but otherwise, taking the route proposed, via Trois Rivieres to 40, and then to 640, was a good call. We managed to avoid crossing the river at Quebec City or Montreal that way.

As we pulled into the campground, Richard swore up and down that there was no way there would be a sewer at the campsite. He was so wrong. I’m documenting that. Also, the power pole looked super dodgy, but it read green on our tester thingy and was fine, even to run the AC. There was also water at the site, so we were able to do a full post-rassemblement dump and live it up with showers. We really should have stayed there for two nights.

We got unhitched and hopped on our bikes (look at me being a biking person) to look at the beach. It’s really nice, with soft sandy shores and lots of family friendly activities. It looked like there were boats to rent, and a water playground, and a snack stand. They also had a little store. It was really fun.

We then bopped around on the bike trails to explore. They are also very nice and run all the way into the town of Oka. There, we decided to get dinner at Pizza Greco and that was delicious, thick crust, pizza, and a Greek salad. We topped that off with soft serve from Cafe Cremerie Oka. That was also really good. A child size is plenty.

We returned to Dory and called it a day with our normal routine of shower and a movie. We would happily come back to this campground. I could have launched my boat. It seems very fun for families, and there were lots of people on the beach, but it didn’t feel crowded to me.

This is officially our last stop in Quebec. Next, we have a couple of spots in Ontario, and then back into the U.S. We are both feeling the pull to stay longer and explore more. We both really enjoyed the company of good people and it’s hard to part ways. Sigh. We do have some exciting stops to look forward to, and we will start gaining, rather than losing, hours during our return voyage. We are already discussing next summer. 🙂

Total miles from Centre Caztel: 219.0, 18.3 mpg, 5 hours 56 min. Electric, water and yes, sewer at the site. Dump looked dodgy and on the wrong side of the road. Good cell for both. No solar. Nice bike trails through park. Tons of sites. Some have hookups, some don’t. Some loops are dog friendly, some are not.