I checked around the outside and saw that the window is mounted a rubber gasket. It is mounted such that an indented vertical seam in the side of the van, where the back quarter panel is attached to the main side panel, runs directly through the middle of the window, just where the leak appeared inside the van. Feeling along the top of the window, I could feel that the gasket drooped a bit at that point. After fourteen years, it must have stiffened enough to allow water to get in along the seam. Some caulking when we get home should do the trick.
After coffee and more of Ellen's excellent banana bread, we headed off to the Safari Condo showroom, a few kilometers up the road. Denis Messier, the sales representative who handles US customers was waiting for us. He had a new Red Safari Condo ProMaster XL Flex 21' to show us. It was already sold, fortunately for us (or maybe unfortunately?).
It was a really good conversion to a Class B camper. It had good layout and seemed solidly built with quality materials. It had all of the features we would want, a large permanent bed, large opening windows, a real shower and toilet, 285 watts of solar panels, seating for four with a portable dinette table that can be moved outside, two compressor refrigerators, all the usual appliances and plenty of storage. It even had a permanently mounted sliding screen door inside the right side sliding door.
One of the most interesting features was the motorized lift for the bed. It allowed the entire bed to be raised, creating more storage space. It could be raised part way, high enough to store a pair of bicycles, and still be useable for sleeping. It could even be raised to the ceiling in order to transport massive amounts of stuff.
Very tempting—but the next available one would be delivered September 2016, too late for next summer's big trip. (But not too late for winter 2016 travel...)
We also took a look at the two types of trailers they make. They are both well equipped and ultralight. They were interesting, but the wait was even longer for the trailers and they produce four a week.
After all that it was time to move down the Saint Lawrence River, eastbound on the Route des Navigateurs, the tourist route that runs along the coast up to just beyond Rimouski at Sainte-Luce. We did a few sections on the highway, but mostly stayed on Route 132, winding through the countryside and many small towns.
It is evidently a popular bicycle and motorcycle touring route. We saw dozens of bicycle tourers and many motorcycles (a bit jealous here). We also saw a lot of Class B RVs, many more than we usually see. There probably a dozen Roadtreks as well as others. We stopped for lunch at a little park right on the river at Saint-Jean-Port-Joli (noting only Gulls in the bird log) and also for groceries at the Maxi in Rivière-du-Loup, a large town with several supermarkets. I'm not sure the Maxi would be my first choice in the future, but we don't know Quebec markets.
We finally arrived at the campground at Rivière-du-Sud-Ouerst of the Parc national du Bic. Our first order of business was to try to fix a reservation error I made last night. At about 8:30, I went online to see what camping availability was like at Parc du Bic. I could only find one campsite available for the next three nights (or so I thought). With the possibility of getting here and not finding a site, I decided to book online.
I made the booking, pressed submit...and then realized that I'd made it to start last night, the 14th, not the 15th. I was tired enough that it didn't dawn on me that they would offer a same day booking at 8:30 at night. I have the most experience using ReserveAmerica, which handles most state park systems and is also the system behind Recreation.gov, the federal booking site. They will not allow same day reservations.
I immediately tried calling SEPAQ, the Quebec provincial reservation service, but their phone bank was closed. I tried calling again this morning, but, after 15 minutes at 30 cents/minute, abandoned that attempt and hoped that we could fix it when we got here.
We couldn't. I think the language barrier and the inexperience of the vistor services ranger here was too much. The "official" line was that since I had't cancelled, they couldn't resell the site...not that anyone was here to book it at 8:30pm.
They were, however, able to change our reservations to add another night, Friday, and move us to a better site, so all that was lost was a bit of money (264 bits to be exact).
We are here, the real beginning of our tour around Gaspé. The weather has cooled and dried. Tomorrow we will get out the bikes and start exploring.
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