I probably need to warn you - the trip was 23 days - be prepared for this to take a while.
Things are sorted at home now - the clocks say the right time everywhere (I can tell you that when you get home with jet lag and your own time has also changed but your clocks haven't and you don't change them all on the same day it REALLY messes with your head.
Yesterday we had a craft fair booked and so our alarm went off at 7 am which our bodies thought was 11 pm and our bedroom clock thought was 8 am - all a bit much really!
I have spent time editing photos - deleting a load - and have the next day of our travels to share.
Day 2 Portsmouth to Montreal
16th October 2019
Start miles 900
Start time 6.00 am
End miles 1265
End time 3.15 pm hotel... then out
The One with the Atlantic
We were awake extremely early ... who needs alarms when you have jet lag? I decided that I would pack again so that everything we needed was in one large case and we only have to take one case into each hotel which would make our life so much more simple. Over the years I have honed what I do for road trips with zip lock bags and sets of things and pouches in the case etc. It works like a dream and it needs to as we will be in no fewer than 16 different hotels this trip. Once the packing is finished we decided we may as well just leave and were not a slightest bit put off by the fact it was pitch black and all sensible people are still fast asleep. After all, sensible people were not about to embark on a journey like ours.
We drove around the corner to our much loved Roundabout Diner where we had enjoyed our first meal of last year‘s trip. It seemed a tradition that was well worth keeping. It was as lovely as we remembered... beautifully retro and a superb welcome again ... and the food was good. It made a great start to the holiday.
We decided that, as it was still very early and the sun hadn’t risen, we would go to see Nubble Light again. Flossie was fascinating ... just as she had been last year ... and took us the most peculiar way down single-lane residential tracks. This year there were quite a few people there set up ready for sunrise. It wasn’t as cold as last year and it was nice to see the Lighthouse not covered in scaffolding. We enjoyed watching the sun rise and it seemed a very fitting start to such an epic adventure.
Our next stop was one of the things we had most been looking forward to ... and yet dreading. The trip was called coast to coast and so it was important that we not only visited both the East Coast and the West Coast, but that we actually went into the ocean on both coasts. We assumed the Pacific would be quite pleasant. We knew the Atlantic was bound to be cold. We parked up at York beach, which was pretty much empty save a few hardy dog walkers, and braved ourselves. As we left the cosy cocoon of the car we noticed the condensation rising from the ocean leaving a sort of miasma over the ocean. It wasn’t exactly a comforting sight. Complete with towels and cameras we slowly made our way across the vast flat sands to the ocean. It was cold just walking on the damp sand, let alone braving the icy waters. We gingerly removed or shoes and socks, noticing the chill seeping up from the wet sand into our once cosy feet. Realising it was now or never, we walked the few steps to dip our feet into the Atlantic in Maine in mid-October. There was a sharp intake of breath from each of us as we realised our fears had been fully realised and it was indeed freezing. We both thought it would feel warmer once we got used to it. Funnily enough, we were both wrong. There was much laughter as we snapped our photos to record one side of our coast to coast and, as we dried our poor blue feet and rubbed away the sand, we were excited about all that lay ahead of us. There is nothing quite like the first day of a holiday when you relax because your luggage made it, you have all of your things, have your car set up and you can now enjoy what you have been planning for the last 12 months. Seriously. This holiday was incredibly planned.
Snowball at York Beach
Looks cosy doesn't he.
Nigel had promised me that when we retired he would take me to see fall in New England. He was good to his word and we went last year on our aptly named Fabulous Fall tour. And it was fabulous, but we were a little disappointed In the colours. They were pretty but certainly not fabulous. At first, we thought we were just a little too late and had missed the vibrancy. It turned out it was a bad fall ... that due to a wet spring and a dry summer ... or the other way round ... the colours were not so bright and it was a poor fall. This year, apparently, everything had conspired together to make it a stellar fall ... and indeed it was. The colours were so much better and we were blessed with better weather than we expected. For days prior to our departure the forecast for Vermont had been poor with rain likely. Thankfully the weather system stalled ... we were to pay the price later ... and it was glorious. It wasn’t as cold as last year and the skies were blue and there was no rain. We ambled through New Hampshire and Vermont glorying in the colours. The only downside was our transponder. When Leaving Boston airport we checked we were good for tolls. We knew we would have tolls in lots of states and had checked the same pass was valid .. it was for everywhere except Indiana apparently. Transponder fitted already and we were happy. Remember it was DARK when we picked up the car and DARK when we left Portsmouth. We had been through two toll plazas before it was light enough for us to see that it had to be OPENED to register. We had violated tolls twice and had no idea what the penalties would be. Fortunately, Nigel saw the web address. Skipping forward a little he found we had a week to pay ... and it was 6 days before our violation showed up. He then tried to pay it and of course, the same disadvantage as always ... no zip code no pay. We had to call his brother Jim who, in true big brother style, helped by giving us his credit card details and we were able to pay the almost $2 fee. If we had t the car hire company would have stung us for handling fees.
Anyway I digress. We loved Vermont this year. We stopped at a visitor centre to use their facilities ... always impressed at how good they are. It amazes me that almost without exception, even seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Americans can provide clean toilets ... albeit with gaps under the doors. In the UK we struggle even in towns and don’t get me started on motorway service stations. Whatever Americans must think when they visit the UK I have no idea. The man at the desk in the visitor centre was very helpful and advised us another route other than the one we had planned would afford us a nicer trip and he was so right. One of the places it took us through was Woodstock ... just an utterly beautiful little town and so typical of Vermont. Just outside the town we visited a local farmers market store and it was gorgeous. So much fresh produce beautifully displayed, helpful staff, delicious food and, just as I hoped, genuine Vermont maple syrup.
We had a whale of a time. In the end, we spent so much time just pootling around we decided we had seen lots of gorgeous colour and we would miss Lake Champlain and press on to Montreal. We crossed the border into Canada and, to our utter surprise, Flossie, our own sat nav, did not work in Canada. We were sure she did both USA and Canada. Thank goodness we had Snowball and her super duper sat nav.
Crossing the border into Canada
Now Montreal ... well, there lies a tale. Ever since seeing O Canada in Epcot we had wanted to visit. Nigel wanted to see the underground city and I just fancied Montreal. Three days before we left the forecast was terrible. We had booked one of our most expensive hotel in Montreal on the recommendation of Nigel’s brother Sean who had stayed there in the spring. Like all cities, hence why we rarely stay in them, properties were at a premium price and parking very expensive. The hotel, St Sulpice, was next to the Basillica we wanted to visit. So three days before the trip I tried to talk Nigel out of Montreal and rerouting elsewhere. I failed, sadly.
Anyway, Montreal it was. As we crossed the border the landscape changes almost immediately. Gone were the hillsides and mountains, the verdant deciduous forests and it gave way to flat arable land, a fairly featureless landscape apart from the signs ... all in French of course. Now I knew Quebec was French but I kind of figured everything would be dual,language. But no. All French, everywhere, and not a shred of English to be seen. I confess it didn’t endear me to the place.
Navigating around a busy city with French directions was let us say an interesting experience, but our welcome once we reached the hotel was great. It was a very busy very narrow side street, but we were greeted by the valets who helped us find a spot to stop. I dislike valet parking. I always panic that I don’t have everything, that I am not organised enough, that we are not ‘ready’ etc, but they really were very nice. They u loaded our luggage and by the time we entered the hotel and arrived at the desk they had already been primed and we were treated by name as if we were the most important guests they had ever had.
We were checked in speedily and made our way to the room which was lovely with a bedroom, separate lounge that could be shut off and was spacious and clean. Clean is key. I have an utter phobia about bed bugs. I understand from all of the forums that they can be found in even the very best of hotels at times and I live in dread of bringing one/millions home. Every room is checked, as advised on the internet on a site like ‘be very paranoid about travelling anywhere.com’ and nothing comes in until I am happy. Poor Nigel just grins... well grimaces really ... and bides his time UNTIL he is told it is safe. He also knows now, since I showed him the scary old web sites, that things like the tv remote control don’t get touched until ‘safe’. Did you know that an average hotel room Remote control has more bacteria on it than a toilet seat. In fairnes, so many hotels now recognise this and have smooth cleanable remotes. But I learnt a great tip from the scary web sites. Use the shower cap ... I mean who uses the shower cap in a hotel room anyway ... to cover the remote. Result.
Sorry, digressing again. We dropped our bags and headed out into the chilly streets as we wanted to see the Notre Dame Basilica next door before it closed. It wasn’t very inspiring from the outside, but goodness me. Inside I think it was the most. beautiful church I have ever seen. The colours, the decoration, the heady smell of incense, the glow of the candles, the light from the stained glass windows. Just awesome. It was a really uplifting experience and we both lit candles to say our thanks for the many blessings we have, not least of which was the good news meaning I could go on the trip. If. Nothing else, the church had been worth the visit.
We made a half-hearted effort to walk round but it was grey and unispiring and Nigel was feeling poorly with a bad head cold and chesty cough and we were very tired. We agreed a quick comfort food meal and bed was in order. We are food peasants. We like simple food and we tend to eat because we need food. It is rarely a highlight of our day. So Macdonalds it was, because it was right there, and we headed back to the hotel. Nigel really wasn’t feeling well and so we had staff make up the spare bed in our Lounge so we slept separately so that hopefully I wouldn’t catch it and he wouldn’t keep me awake. We’d buy medicine tomorrow. We were dead to the world by 8.
Today I am thankful that
- we are home safe, the cats are well and all is good
- the clocks - well apart from our body clocks - all say the same time
- new fall decorations in the hall look lovely
- selling well at the craft fair
