Our second road trip of 2023 (after ☞ Puerto Rico) took us on 37-day, 6000-mile loop around Eastern Canada, heading out via Detroit and returning via Cleveland. We crossed 10 states (IL, IN, MI, NY, ME, NH, VT, NY, PA, OH) and 6 provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edwards Island and New Brunswick. We drove fairly quickly to Baie-Comeau QC. Short stop on the way at Pointe-Noire to watch belugas reminded us ☞ Quebec 2009 trip. Traveling Trans-Labrador Highway was the initial impulse for the entire trip. Driving was easy as the highway is in excellent condition and even the unpaved section of Rt 389 is not bad. Still, vast, sparsely inhabited expanse of taiga and tundra, and very light trafic preserve Labrador’s remote feel. The landscape is great and very interesting. Vegetation was surprisingly green and dense, even lush, although growth of everything (except mushrooms) is stunted. There are beautiful lakes, rivers and marshes. It was then rather disappointing that travelers on the road are firmly ditched-off the surrounding environment – nowhere to stop for a break, except at the road’s edge, or to get a good view, except stopping in the middle of bridges. Most side-dirt-roads, road-side parking lots or post-road-construction sites are neither interesting nor the kind of places one wants to explore. The rest of the trip was easier in this respect.
Scenery was changing all the time: from Great Lakes to St Lawrence River, to Labrador’s interior to Gulf of St Lawrence and Atlantic coast. Many lakes, rivers, streams and fjords. Taiga (boreal forest), tundra, beaches, coastal cliffs and barrens. Some mountains and hills. Interesting rock formations. We saw four black bears (they do not seem to cause problems for campers), 1/2 moose, a heard of 12+1 caribou, one fox, many squirrels and birds, a few dozen pilot whales plus one larger whale (?) far away and several beluga pods.
We started with a general idea where we wanted to go and we did some reaearch about places to visit and possible O/N sites, but the rest was left to daily decissions (did not make any reservations).
We had really good weather most of the time. A few nights with colder temps and several rainy days. Despite late in the season, we were hit by flies in multiple locations, two layers of clothing and mosquito nets helped (to some degree) and once by swarms of really nasty mosquitos. Moderate, passing rain during the day or rain, even heavy, at night was not a problem, but substantial rain made packing our car=camper quite a wet experience on one occasion. And we were on collision course with remnants of Hurricane Lee, which passed over our heads on Prince Edward Island. We spent the night in rented cottage just in case, but it was just rain and some gusty wind. We are getting better finding wild camping sites on our own. We had no problems with car travel/camping, but we have some new ideas how to improve/streamline operations before next trip. As it was later in the season, we had no problem finding space in National/Provincial Park capmgrounds or in inns/cottages.
Completed itinerary
 |  |  |  | Main destination |  | Overnight |
Aug | 19 | Sat | 1 | Ontario | ON | Big Bend |
 | 20 | Sun | 2 | Darlington PP | ON | Darlington |
 | 21 | Mon | 3 | Rideau Canal Kingston Mills | ON | Mille Roches |
 | 22 | Tue | 4 | Thousand Island NP | QC | Petite River |
 | 23 | Wed | 5 | Massif de Charlevoix | QC | Petite River |
 | 24 | Thu | 6 | Pointe-Noire | QC | Les Dinosaures du Quai De Ragueneau |
 | 25 | Fri | 7 | Lac Manicouagan | QC | Lac Manicouagan Rt 389 |
 | 26 | Sat | 8 | Uapishka Biodiversity Reserve | NL | Two Seasons Labrador City |
 | 27 | Sun | 9 | Churchill Falls | NL | Camp Rt 500 Happy Valley |
 | 28 | Mon | 10 | Happy Valley-Goose Bay | NL | Camp 1 Rt 510 |
 | 29 | Tue | 11 | Mary’s Harbour | NL | Camp 2 Rt 510 |
 | 30 | Wed | 12 | Saddle Island | NL | Grenfell Louie Forteau |
 | 31 | Thu | 13 | Thrombolites Flowers Cove | NL | Camp Rt 430 |
Sep | 1 | Fri | 14 | L’Anse aux Meadows | NL | Main Brook |
 | 2 | Sat | 15 | Pointe Riche | NL | Arches |
 | 3 | Sun | 16 | West Brook Pond | NL | Barry Hill |
 | 4 | Mon | 17 | Gros Morne Summit | NL | Barry Hill |
 | 5 | Tue | 18 | Gros Morne NP | NL | Trout River |
 | 6 | Wed | 19 | Green Gardens/Tablelands | NL | Lomond |
 | 7 | Thu | 20 | Cape St George | NL | Inn at the Cape |
 | 8 | Fri | 21 | Boutte du Cap Trail | NL | Camp Rt 480 |
 | 9 | Sat | 22 | Ramea | NL | Sandbanks |
 | 10 | Sun | 23 | Sandbanks PP | NL | Ferry to Cape Breton |
 | 11 | Mon | 24 | Cabot Trail/Cape Breton | NS | Mountain View Motel Pleasant Bay |
 | 12 | Tue | 25 | Skyline Trail | NS | Cheticamp |
 | 13 | Wed | 26 | Salmon Pools Rd Trail | NS | Whycocomagh |
 | 14 | Thu | 27 | Charlottetown | PE | Cavendish |
 | 15 | Fri | 28 | PEI NP | PE | Cavendish |
 | 16 | Sat | 29 | Green Gables | PE | Dreamweavers Cottage North Rustico |
 | 17 | Sun | 30 | Hopewell Rocks PP | NB | The Shire |
 | 18 | Mon | 31 | Fundy NP | NB | Chignecto |
 | 19 | Tue | 32 | New River Beach PP | ME | Fogg Brook Resort Palmyra |
 | 20 | Wed | 33 | Lobster Cooker Freeport | VT | Camp George D Aiken Wilderness |
 | 21 | Thu | 34 | Vermont Long Trail | NY | Oneonta KOA Journey Unadilla |
 | 22 | Fri | 35 | Erie Bluffs SP | OH | Broadview Heights |
 | 23 | Sat | 36 | Cuyahoga  Valley  NP | OH | Broadview Heights |
 | 24 | Sun | 37 | Home | IL | Chicago |