Travelogue: Day 3

Today started with some big excitement; we picked up our new vehicle for the drive to PEI.

Thanks to the generous folks at Hyundai Canada, we were set to take the next leg of our trip in a new IONIQ 9.

The IONIQ is a three-row all-electric SUV that is - and they're not paying me to say this - probably the best value for money in the large electric SUV segment.

I won't go through a whole review of the vehicle here, but suffice it to say that the kids were PUMPED to have an entire row of seating to themselves after being crammed into our much smaller Polestar 2 from Toronto to Montreal.

Our first stop in the new ride was Montreal's Nathan Shuster Park.

It was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful, serene playgrounds we’ve ever visited.

Like stepping into an Ewok daycare, the playground at Nathan Shuster Park in Montreal is not only forest-themed, it’s in an actual forest. The equipment is set up in a loop, so kids can make their way around an obstacle course that takes them over logs, stumps, mushrooms, a boulder, and finally a zip line.

A toddler area sits to one side, giving nice separation between the space for bigs and for littles.

From there we visited our second Jumpstart playground of the trip, this one in Montréal's Julie Hamelin Park.

The coolest thing about this one was that it's across the street from the Cirque du Soleil training facility, and it features - fittingly - an extremely acrobatic piece of equipment that we've never seen at any Toronto playground. A series of long rings hang down from above, and with a bit of momentum, climbers can make their way across.

We left Montreal, but it wasn't long before we took a break at another Jumpstart Playground, this one in Trois-Rivières.

Much smaller and cuter than most Jumpstarts, this one featured a small turf field, a beach volleyball court, and the standard selection of equipment by Landscape Structures, the manufacturer that Jumpstart prefers to use for its playgrounds.

After Trois-Rivières, we drove through to Québec City for a play at an interesting location: the site of the former Quebec Nordiques NHL arena.

In addition to a nice playground, the site featured a series of hockey-related statues that I won't bore you with if you're not a hockey fan. But trust me, my nostalgia was buzzing.

The sun was starting to go down already and we still had some driving to do before we could sleep, so from there it was off to La Malbaie, an incredibly scenic little town on the St. Lawrence.

And that's where we'll pick things up tomorrow!

Before you go...if you believe in the power of play (and if you're here you probably do) please consider donating to our cross-Canada road trip by clicking here. It would mean a lot!