Heading Inland…

June 29th, 2007 (AM)

I have been on the road now for 10 days and reside just outside of Montreal in the suburb of Vaudreuil.  I have clocked over 2000 miles so far on this trip and I’m only 280 miles from home…I guess in a way, this is the start of my journey. 

 I got a late start leaving PEI (I had to wait for a tee-shirt place to open at 10:30 so I could buy myself a souvenir)

You see, they have these shirts that are hand-dyed with the red dirt from the area (you may have noticed in one of my previous photos).  They’re called “Dirt Shirts” and I just had to have one…  They are this great orange-ish, brown color — kinda like tanned leather.

I logged the last 800 miles in the past 2 days while racing my way to Niagara Falls in order to meet the family there this weekend.  Jen booked a great suite overlooking the falls and plans on being there with the kids sometime on Saturday.  I can’t wait to see them!  I still have about 400 more miles to travel but I can take that at a more leisurely pace… following the Ottawa river to Ottawa and then most likely the north shore of Lake Ontario — coming into Niagara Falls from the west.

The highlight of the last 2 days has to be the retired couple from Halifax that I met while staying at Motel Leo just outside of Grand Falls, NB. — sorry, no photo.  Vic is retired from Air Canada and Marian-Rose retired from the Canadian Census.  They make an annual trip to Montreal to visit thier son who lives in the city and plays at the Jazz fest.  Grand Falls is the halfway point for them and they’ve been making the trip for years… staying at motel leo.  Motel Leo is one of those “old-school” motels with a patio-type front entrance and deck chairs to sit and visit with your neighbors.

 

I pulled up on my bike after a long day on the road and announced to the two strangers: “I’m home!”  Vic was smoking a cigar and drinking (what i assume to be rum and coke) and Marian-Rose was reading a book… we immediately hit it off.  Within 5 minutes i was out there too… smoking one of Vic’s cigars and reading my own book… life is good!  Where can a guy get a drink?…

Marian-Rose should have been a travel guide for Nova Scotia.  I must have spent over an hour talking with her — maybe more… it was so facinating.  She was passionate with her stories and about the history of the region.  She told me of the history of Nova Scotia and how her ancestors were deported to America by the English in the 1700’s.  She told me how they re-immigrated to the area after walking hundreds of miles up the coast only to find that their land had been redistributed to the English.  She told me about Boston’s role in the deportation effort.  She taught me about the social and class differences between Quebec French and Acadian French (Quebec=bad — Acadia=Good).  She told me about the connection between Nova Scotia and New Orleans and the story of Evangeline.  She educated me on the Bluenose (which i thought was a fish not a 1920’s racing ship) and the significance it has for Canada.  She kept on going…  I was dumbfounded, awed… saturated with all this new knowledge… i didn’t know what to say… i just looked at her and said: “I bought a Dirt Shirt….”

 

Here are a few more photos:

World’s longest covered bridge – 1282 feet — Harland,NB

Cloud Factory in Fort Kent, ME and Edmundston, NB