IROQUOIS ONTARIO TO TROIS-RIVIERES QUBEC:: A SO-SO DAY

WE FINALLY SEE A SUNRISE OUTSIDE OUR DOOR

Three more large ships came through the Iroquois lock in the night and Kelly woke up and saw all three.  I heard only one.  The advantage of half a sleeping pill I guess.  Another ship came through this morning just after we got up so that made 10 altogether while we were there.  Decided to scrap my ship photos and just concentrate on getting our boat cruise photos out of the way.  After tonight’s post I will only have the exterior views of Boldt Caste left and I’ll post them another time.  Starting today I plan to cut down on taking so many photos.

THIS THOUSAND ISLAND AREA IS APTLY NAMED

It was around 3 a.m. when I awoke on the cold side.  I hopelessly tried to start our front furnace but only succeeded in reving up the furnace fan in the rear part of the coach where Kelly was.  That immediately had her stampeding out to see what was going on.  She quickly got the coaches forward furnace going and all was well in la-la land again.  And we actually got to see a nice sunrise finally. 

A PURPLE DOLPHIN  SLOWLYFLOATS ITSELF OVER THE FAR SHORE OF THE U.S.A.

Nobody bothered us all night, not even the local young town guys driving by blowing their horns or revving their engines. 

WE FOLLOWED THIS LARGE FREIGHTER FOR AWHILEL

Under cloudy morning skies we had us a strong East wind a blowin.   Our weather has definitely changed as we continue to plod northwards.  I have broken out my warmer cloths and that is just fine with me.

I THINK IF I WAS ON THAT CROWDED BOAT I WOULD BE THROWING MYSELF OVERBOARD

We rolled out about 9:15 resuming our journey on highway 2 East through Morrisburg, Ingleside and on to Cornwall where we filled up with gas for the first time since leaving Clinton.  We made it all that way on half a tank of gas.  Keep in mind we have a big gas tank.  We do feel our gas mileage has definitely improved by not towing a vehicle.  So far no qualms at all about not bringing the Jeep.

IT’S A THIN LINE BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES  IN THIS REGION SO PATROL VESSELS ARE PRESENT

THERE’S KELLY INSTAGRAMING OUT SOME OF HER BLACKBERRY BOAT CRUISE PHOTOS

I THINK THIS FELLOW HAS THE RIGHT IDEA….. 1 BOAT 1 PERSON

North of Cornwall we re-joined the 401 and set our sights on Montreal.  We decided earlier in the morning our objective for the day would be to put Montreal in our rear view mirror.  And we did that.  Morning’s traffic on the 401 was not a problem and not heavy.  No trouble in picking up the #30 by-pass around the East side of Montreal.  What a gem that by-pass is and traffic was very light for most of it and moderate for the rest.  For anyone who has been through Montreal before the by-pass they will truly appreciate the value of this #30 route.  I first tangled with Montreal back in 1966 when driving from Halifax Nova Scotia to my home town of Tavistock Ontario.  Worst part of the whole trip was Montreal.  My next nasty encounter with Montreal was in 1986 when heading East to the Maritimes then coming through Montreal on my way back again.  Both times were bad encounters and I vowed to never drive through that Montreal madness again.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, to the people who put that by-pass in. …………We had totally forgot about all the road signs, etc. being in French as soon as we crossed the Quebec border.  Trying to read anything was like being in a foreign country where English is not used.  Sign after road sign were real tongue twisters for us and trying to pronounce any of the words was a serious business which could easily leave the tip of one’s tongue jammed irretrievably up behind one’s left eyeball.  We quickly figured out Est meant East and Quest meant West.  Frustrating!!  Below are a few pics I took today……….

SCENIC DRIVE IROQUIOS TO CORNWALL

A QUIET 401

TONGUE TWISTING SIGNS IN QUEBEC

STOPPED IN PIERREVILLE TO CHECK OUT A POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT SIGHT

Climbed off #30 at Sorel Quebec and picked up highway 132 heading through Yamaski, Pierreville, Nicolet, and on to Trois-Rivieres. (Three Rivers)  This very flat route travels through Quebec’s rural countryside and it was nice to see the quaint little towns and old rustic buildings along the way.  We kept an eye out for an overnight spot but ended up going all the way to Trois-Rivieres where we found a spot in a parking lot near a Best Buy.  Not a great spot but sometimes by the end of the day any old Port in a storm will do.

GANANOQUE DEAD AHEAD

WE NOSE INTO DOCKSIDE

KELLY AND I WERE THE FIRST TWO OFF THE BOAT

 THANKS FOR THE NICE CRUISE GUYS

I am finding myself using my Atlas road maps less and less and Google Maps on my computer more and more.  Unlike Google Maps my paper 2012 Atlas has no way of updating itself plus the computer map can easily be enlarged making it much easier to see.  And then there’s the satellite views.  We still use our antique Garmin GPS system to audibly navigate through large cities.  Sooooo much easier than trying to scan overhead road signs, etc.  One of the many welcome logical perks of modern technology.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon resulted in many dogfights between Syrian and Israeli jet fighters.In the end, the Syrians lost over 80 planes and had a number of SAM batteries knocked out, while the Israelis lost no planes.Sometime later, the Syrian Defense Minister was shopping for weapons in Moscow.  His host, the Soviet Defense Minister, was embarrassed about the scorecard from Lebanon.  He told his Syrian guest, "Take anything you want - our best tanks, rifles, or surface-to-air missiles."  "No, no - you don't understand!" the Syrian replied. "Last time you gave us surface-to-air missiles. This time we need surface-to-*jet* missiles!"

--------------------

“So many people buy their groceries at the market on the corner that it seems to have a corner on the market.”

---------------------

Little Emily was complaining to her mother that her stomach hurt. Her mother replied, “That’s because it's empty. Maybe you should try putting something in it." The next day, the pastor was over at Emily's family's house for lunch. He mentioned having his head hurt, to which Emily immediately replied, "That's because it's empty. Maybe you should try putting something in it."

===================