Since the day had now become beautiful, we decide to take a little detour and drive the scenic coastal highway along the north shore of Gaspe. This was a drive I'd also never done - and it was very, very scenic. On the north side of the Gaspe, the terrain stays at a relatively high elevation right up to the coast, where it then drops down steeply into the ocean. The highway is a ribbon between the steep coastline and the water, often incorporating a seawall to protect it. Jenn and I stopped by one of the many ladders built into the seawall, and explored a bit of the interesting coastline.
We then continued our drive west, eventually reaching the more familiar and more boring Autoroute 20 divided highway. We stopped for a brief but scenic dinner in the Old Quarter of Quebec city, then continued along on our way to Ottawa. A long day and a very packed trip!
Note: the map below shows our entire highway drive, from Ottawa to New Brunswick to Quebec and back. If you'd like to know what roads and highways we took and where a couple of beside-the-highway pictures were taken, then by all means double-click on the map!
Interactive Highway Map - New Brunswick Weekend Trip - click map to Expand