First big longer trip

[boomerBear]

So we have owned our AS for over a year and took smaller trips to get used to towing. As we have never owned a trailer of any sort before last April. We dove in head first as it were. Bought a 07 27fb Classic as it was what came up via an out of the blue phone call from Can Am. Love it for all of its small thoughtful details. We are heading to visit the folks in New Brunswick for 2 weeks the end of July going via Quebec through Edmundston where we will stop over night then head north through Campbellton and around to the Miramichi. Any insights would be helpful on doing longer trips.

Couple of questions - Big concern is finding diesel along the way that is accessible for my rig, got caught between pumps and building last year, rookie mistake, given that the filler was on the other side of the vehicle to begin with. Any tips on gas stations with easy access and how are the roads between Edmundston and Campbellton? Finally what are some must see things to do up in that area of New Brunswick?

[MaryD]

Hello Boomer Bear,

Two thoughts about filling up with diesel. When we started out we were new to towing anything that large (we have a 27' FB too). The first few days we drove only as far as the the tank would accommodate to the next campsite, unhitched and filled up the tank (far less stressful). Then we started looking for truck stops. They accommodate the whole process with a lot more ease. Now we do stop at regular gas stations with diesel at times, but we look for the green handles and only go in if pulling in and out will work fairly easily.

As to road and sights...we are Californians and have not driven in much Canada; we hope to in the future.

Hope the diesel thoughts are useful in Canada. Enjoy your trip!

Best, Mary D.

[silverlabs]

We use regular gas but use the half-a-tank rule. We try to fill up whenever we hit half a tank. That gives us time to scope out good places to fit our rig. We scope out entry and exit points before we pull into a station. If we don't fit that half a tank gives us time to keep going and find a suitable set up for us.

[Jim Flower]

Hi boomer near
Both previous posts have excellent recommendations. The 30 now goes around the south side of Montreal and is the easiest route, connecting to the 20 north east of the city. There is an easy to use Irving south of Rivière du Loup on the Trans Canada. Diesel is easy to get and is generally marked on signs before you get to the exit. Always confirm your exit strategy before entering the fuel stops, as you have most likely discovered. Irving stations in New Brunswick are more common than Tim Hortons in Southern Ontario. Although I travel to Saint John a couple of times per season, I have not driven your route to Campbellton from Edmundston. There is nothing to worry about. It should be a great trip. Jim


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[Jim Flower]

Boomer Bear
Oops on my spelling. I am trying to type on my iPhone. Only some times successfully. I think these things were designed for 13 year old girl fingers. Jim


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[boomerBear]

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I think we will start with travelling as far each day as the tank will allow which is about 500Km or 300 miles and then fill up at a local station. It will make for a much more leisurely drive anyway something I have been looking forward to since we took our children down east and stopped about 3 in the afternoon to rest and stay the night at a local hotel. very civilized way of travelling.

Jim Flowers, I know exactly what you are talking about re Iphones, yesterday I discovered the "talking" function the microphone at the lower left hand corner when about to type something. Press that and speak your message. Hit done and it fills in the text for you. Works for emails, messages and so on. NO more spelling errors or fat finger disease. I have regained my respect for Apple iphones which was waning quickly.

cheers to everyone

[Jim Flower]

Wow thank you for that it's just terrific. Jim


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[crunch27]

Good luck with your trip, BB. We have only done small trips ourselves, the Pinery and Long Point. We are going to Rideau Provincial Park near Ottawa in September and I have been planning out the drive too. The new "ONroute" service stations on the 401 are good and spacious.

You could Google map areas 500 or 600kms along your route and see where there are good spots to fill up.

[RamblinManGa]

Hi from AZ. . . when we did our 1st long trip in 2011, we bought a book (I know, I'm old) called 'next exit' which had pretty good description of what was coming up down the road. Codes for accessibility (green was good. . .) and we used it a lot. Now we have an app for that and it is as useful. It's for Interstate routes and I don't know how applicable it is to Canada, Eh ?Just another tool you might consider and Regards, Craig

[herkvet]

We are heading from CNY up via Montreal, Rivière-du-Loupe and then south to PEI later this summer. It will be our first "big" trip. Home via Maine. We had thought of circumnavigating the Gaspe peninsula but had second thoughts. Thanks for the tips on diesel.

[boomerBear]

Originally Posted by crunch27

Good luck with your trip, BB. We have only done small trips ourselves, the Pinery and Long Point. We are going to Rideau Provincial Park near Ottawa in September and I have been planning out the drive too. The new "ONroute" service stations on the 401 are good and spacious.

You could Google map areas 500 or 600kms along your route and see where there are good spots to fill up.

Yes small trips helped us. We called it trailer training. But really come to think about it what is a big trip but a series of connected smaller trips with more clothes and more beer in the fridge.

We did that trip last year and stayed at the Ottawa Municipal campground. It is a 10 minute drive straight downtown. Loved it not too busy at all and we went in July. You are right about those ONroute, wish Quebec had something like those, but we will stop in Lancaster and hope we make it to Quebec City where we are staying at the KOA in Levis.
I just discovered today that CAA in their TripTik will map out gas stations as well.

[boomerBear]

Originally Posted by RamblinManGa

Hi from AZ. . . when we did our 1st long trip in 2011, we bought a book (I know, I'm old) called 'next exit' which had pretty good description of what was coming up down the road. Codes for accessibility (green was good. . .) and we used it a lot. Now we have an app for that and it is as useful. It's for Interstate routes and I don't know how applicable it is to Canada, Eh ?Just another tool you might consider and Regards, Craig

Thanks for this, Is that what the App is called?

[Kyle401]

I use a free app called Trucker Path to find truck stops. It also has Walmart and Rest Areas in the database. I'm not sure how useful it would be in Canada, but the listings were very accurate during my 4500 mile trip this year.