Overview

Day 1 - 575 km.  We stopped early so we didn't have to go through Montreal at rush hour or in the dark.
Day 2 - 832 km.  An enjoyable day with a few scenic detours.
Day 3 - 327 km.  The picture below is a New Brunswick highway at rush hour.

Trip total - 1734 km.

Tori lives off residence in an older house with 3 others.  Two friends are in the middle of moving into the basement.  And all the students in town are moving out because they are leaving for the summer, finished school for good or moving onto new digs.  The streets are lined with garbage (treasure as Tori terms it).  They have scored 5 or 6 tvs, a foosball table, a mattress and miscellaneous little items.  Their quest for a working bbq was not productive.  Their living room is packed with belongings from a friend moving across the road today.  It was a little too crowded for my comfort.  And people wandering out all the time.  I am glad to be home and glad she is enjoying herself.

Below a picture of Tori and Bonnie Blue.  She has always called the vehicle that.  I hope they have many safe adventures together.

In less than 2 weeks I have had 5 houseguests on 4 different occasions.  I am so tired of making beds.  I have driven a lot more than normal - twice to the airport and to the east coast.  When I wake up in the morning my first thoughts are more jumbled than normal.  Usually it starts with "Who slept over last night? Do I need to put on my housecoat before leaving the bedroom?  Do I need to make breakfast for a crowd?"  Then it progresses to "Am I in my own bed or at a hotel?"  I am hoping for a "normal" week at work and home.  Because next weekend both of our mothers are coming!

Cornwall, ON to Woodstock, NB

We have driven this highway many times because we lived near Fredericton. However, most of our trips were high speed, single day drives.  We would get up at 4, get the kids in the car and drive 16 hours to our hometown, stopping only for gas, meals and bathroom breaks.  We rarely stopped and did touristy things.  Today we detoured to Grand Falls.  It is the biggest waterfalls east of Niagara Falls.  The water certainly did rage and roll but it is not much of a drop.

Next we took a side trip to Perth/Andover.  Much of the low lying parts of the town flooded a month ago.  We didn't see much damage to homes and businesses, just occasional piles of debris, but look at what the ice jam did to the guard rails!

You may remember that I have mixed feelings about GPSs.  They are occasionally very useful but definitely don't replace a map and a sense of direction.  Below you can see that I am capable of driving on water.  I am thinking of giving classes and teaching this useful skill to others.

We're on a Road Trip!

We just bought my Dad's Santa Fe and that left us with an extra vehicle.  The Escape is a 2003 with about 260,000 km but hopefully has a little life left in her.  If we kept it in our driveway when Connor gets his licence in a few months he would be considered the driver.  There is no way I am paying for a new almost 17 year old driver so we offered the vehicle to Tori.  She jumped at the chance after 3 years of being without a car at university.  And I was in the best position to accompany her back to Mount Alison where she will be working for the summer.  In October I drove from the West Coast to home with Caitlin, now I get to go to the east coast with Tori.  In 6 months and 2 days I will have seen both coasts of our incredible country.  That's a lot of miles for someone who rarely leaves town.

Observations from day one of our eastern adventure.
1.  I am very glad I do not live in Toronto.  I am very glad that my parents moved from there 43 years ago.
2.  I am very glad I do not live in Kingston.  We met friends there for lunch today.  There are way too many stop lights in Kingston.  They are not co-ordinated.  We had to stop at 9 out of 10.  That is not right.  And to make matters even worse, almost all of the traffic lights are at the top of hills.  The Escape is standard.  I hate stopping on a hill in heavy traffic.

We are in a motel in Cornwall which is virtually empty.  We went to the fitness room (has anyone ever been to a fitness room with operational equipment?) and the pool.  We ate supper in our room from our cooler.  Tori is a vegan so we had tuna and chickpea salad and granola bars.

On to Montreal.  I can hardly wait.