Today we start the trip up to Labrador. We started the morning by emptying the tanks and filling up with fresh water. Ruth got her first black fly bite of the trip. We left the campground at around 9:30 and stopped for gas and some groceries. Next was a stop in Baie-Comeau itself. It is a beautiful little town with a paper mill, aluminum plant and a port where wheat is loaded onto ships for transport across the Atlantic. The town has number of nice shops and Ruth got a new pair of Keen shoes. As we were about to leave we stopped to talk to Pierre Philippe, a retired schoolteacher who now lives in Baie-Comeau.

At around noon we started our trip up Hwy 138 towards Labrador. At km 2 on the highway our fridge door popped open and some of the fridge contents temporarily escaped although fortunately the blueberries stayed in their container. We stopped to shut it but it opened again as we started rolling again. We finally stuffed one of the cushions between the fridge and the bathroom door and it stayed shut for the remainder of the trip. At km 30 we saw a trailer that looked like it had rolled over while going around a curve. The road is paved but parts of it are pretty bumpy. That doesn’t stop the trucks from racing and Ruth had one chase her for several kms. Fortunately we were faster up the hills. At km 100 there is a large transformer station where the voltage is increased to 735 kV for transmission to minimize power loss over large distances. From here for about 50 kms the road is very smooth.

We made it to the huge Manic 5 Hydro electric dam and generating station (km 212) at 3:30, just in time for the last tour.  The tour was wonderful and included visiting the powerhouse where the turbines are. The dam is 214 meters high. The tour guide told us about a road leading to Lake Louise from where one can get a great view of the dam and can camp over night. We spent the evening photographing the dam and talking to several of the other people that will be spending the night here.