Newfoundland, Quebec and Ontario and Rochester, NY

From Quebec City and St. Lawrence River

Wed.
No word on BEYOND. It rained all day and I just watched TV and read all day. It stops in the evening and I go out to get my stove when Myron offers me some home made moose stew. I accept and it is great. Moose, onion, potatoes, carrots and turnips. Very tasty with some whole wheat bread. I save a little for breakfast.

Thursday
I should be hearing about BEYOND today. But no call or email all day. At 5 pm I call them and they test drove her and she seems good but they want to drive her again in the morning. I had been singing “We’ve got to get out of this place if it’s the last thing we ever do” all day today. Now I feel better and I drive to Paddy’s Bar and Laundromat for a wash and a beer. I treat myself to beef and broccoli on the way back. It is great to eat a vegetable! I have a drink in the bar with Mary and the obnoxious guy from the other night is there and apologizes for his behavior and I accept and we have a couple of drinks and talk. Corey is a Newfie but has a tile business in Alberta. Lots of Newfies work part of the year off island. There is painting of trees and mountains done on slate and decorated with shells he bought from a local artist and forgot to take home. It’s been sitting on the bar the whole time I h ave been here. Corey decides I need a Newfie souvenir and insists that I have it. I say only if he signs it. I get him and Mary to both sign it and say my goodbyes.

Friday Sept. 19

Keyano Motel Stephenville, NL

This morning I got the call I have been waiting for....BEYOND is fixed! Finally, I can get back on the road again. I pack up Little Red take a shower. Myron and I take care of business and he insists that I have a bowl of homemade chili before I go. He is a very nice guy. I eat my chili and Myron gives me a jar of canned moose meat so I can make a stew on the road. WHat a nice guy!. I say my goodbyes to the Keyano Motel gang and zoom back to Corner Brook. I unload Little Red fill her up and turn her in. A weekend rental turned into almost a month. I pay the and pay for BEYOND. Ralph warns me that the check engine light won’t clear and is giving an oxygen sensor warning. Only a VW dealer can do it. I thank MR. NIGHT for overseeing the repair, crank her up and she sounds good. Feels good. So I drive to the supermarket and gas station and fuel up. Then I drive to a Park and stow all my supplies and gear. I have a celebratory drink with my friend Steph and then hit the road south for Channel-Port aux Basque and the ferry terminal.

I have a reservation for tomorrow morning but I get in the waiting line just in case there is space. At the inspection station they confiscate the two potatoes I just bought to make stew with. O forgot about Nova Scotia and potatoes. Oh well. I have a few hours to wait so I make the last of my pasta and jar sauce. Yuck. I add some red pepper, calamata olives and snow peas and beef stick to jazz it up. I have a big fresh salad which tastes great. THen I lie down and read for a while. I hear the call for all drivers at 9:30. SO I get ready and then sit. THey load some cars. And I sit. The ferry is supposed to leave at 11 pm. At 11:45 pm they let a few of the wait list cars on and at midnight tell the rest of us the boat is full. Lots of hunters on this boat. So I go inside and get my reserved ticket. I move into line 9 and crash for the night. Fall has arrived in Newfoundland and it’s 42 degrees as I drift off to sleep to the sound of idling trucks.

Saturday

Port aux Basque, NL on the Ferry

I sleep until 8 then eat breakfast. Wheat chex with strawberry yogurt and skimmed milk and tea. I walk to the terminal to wash and then back to BEYOND. THe sky is pure blue and the sun is up and warming the air. I drink my tea while writing in my log and listening to Big Head Todd and the Monsters. I love their album Another Mayberry. The Ferry Caribou is scheduled to leave at 11:30. It should start leading at 10:30. So far BEYOND is feeling great. I am finally feeling like I can make it to Rochester, NY for my flight on Thursday. I was really anxious about it all week. It’s hard to worry about anything on such a pretty day! I really enjoyed Newfoundland. It’s a very beautiful island with wonderfully kind and generous people. I am ready to leave but also looking forward to another visit.
The ferry left about 12:15 and the sky was blue and the sea calm. I dozed, watched part of a movie and had a shower. Then some baked cod, veggies and fries in the cafeteria. We arrived at 5:30 Newfie TIme. So 5 Nova Scotia TIme. I cranked up BEYOND and drove almost the New Brunswick border and pulled into a rest stop and had some salad and lay down to read. About an hour later there was a knock on the door. I put on my trousers and peeked out at a police car. The police said that a car parked next to me smelled propane and called them. I showed them that my propane refrig was lit and my propane leak detector was on safe and the bid me good night. I climbed back in and it took me a while to fall asleep.

Sunday Sept. 21
No more disturbances in the night. I woke up and made a bowl of cereal and started driving. Today was all balls to the wall freeway flying. I left Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in my dust and after a stop to refuel and check tire pressure. That rear tire seems to have stopped leaking. I pulled out snacks and got back on the road. I crossed in Quebec and gain an hour to Eastern Standard Time, then over the hump of Maine. I passed through the town St. Louis de Ha Ha which must be where The Joker has his summer Ha Ha Hacienda! Ha! Getting a little tired now as I pull into Riviere du Loop and the re is the St. Lawrence River. I drive alongside and stop in Montmangy for gas, propane, groceries and a call to let my friend Hilda know I’m coming. This store has micro brew beer! I am in heaven and buy two big corked bottles. THen I drive down the road along the river until I spy a picnic stop looking over the river.

I pull out my new potatoes, turnip, carrots spices and Myron’s jar of moose meat and make stew. While it’s cooking a watch the sunset. It’s cold and windy but the sun over the St. Lawrence is beautiful. There are lots of cars coming through and I am worried about the police showing up so I put the beer away for another day. But the moose stew is really tasty. After dark the cars stop coming through so I lie down and read for an hour. No sign of the police or any worried people. It’s chilly and sunday night so I decide to chance it and roll up in my blankets and sleep until 2 am. THen I am wide awake so I hang out for a while and then slowly drive the 30 miles into Quebec City. It’s nice and quiet so I can take my time. I stop for directions once and a nice convenient store clerk understands my Franglais and assures me I am on the right track. I arrive and pull into the big quiet Aquarium parking lot and at 4 am go back to sleep.

Quebec City and St. Lawrence River

Monday
I get up at 8:45 and have cereal and hot chocolate and then drive up to the historic section of the City. I walk around the Citadel and some of the Fields of Abraham. I have to move Beyond so I drive over to the Art Museum and stuff a meter with some of my loose change. Then I spend a while in the Art Museum. They have a wonderful collection of Inuit carving and sculpture. It makes me wistful for Labrador. One of my intentions was to look at Inuit art while I was there. This is a great stuff though. There is also a large amount of Abstract and Contemporary Art which I view. But the Inuit collection made my day. My meter has expired so I drive around until I find a surface parking lot and stuff it with more change then get out my bike. I n locking up BEYOND I discover that she is refusing to lock! What a pain. I hide my passport and computer and got for short rides, returning to check periodically. BEYOND seems fine so I have lunch in a Indian restaurant. The lunch special is a curry lemon soup which is amazing. Curried shrimp, basmati rice and salad followed by a cup of tea and an Indian donut for dessert. I walk around and finally get the postcard my father I wrote to my nieces in the mail! Sorry I got distracted! I should arrive before I do in November!

I walk around and take pics then ride back to BEYOND. I find an internet signal and check my email. Then I look at my credit card and just as I suspected they want me to call because of the last few charges have set off their alarm. So I go in search of a payphone and am able to reach them before they cancel my card! I go back to BEYOND and my card is clear so I pack up and drive to the last rest stop before Montreal. I stop for dinner and while my peas and moose stew are cooking I attempt to pull the fuse on the power locks. But the fuse panel is completely different from in the manual and I can’t find the lock fuse. It gets too dark so I eat my dinner drink a little beer and write in my log. I am going to sleep early and If I wake up early again drive into Montreal. Good Night!

I didn’t sleep very soundly and was too tired at 4 so I drove out at 6 am but at 6:30 am all the roads into Montreal were jammed with early morning traffic so I pulled over and ate so cereal and yogurt and hot chocolate. I read until 8:30 when traffic eased up I drove on in and parked near McGill University by a great divided bike lane. I fed the meter and then rode my bike across town to the Insectorium and back. It was a great ride. It was clear but chilly and lots of riders of all ages and styles. It reminded me of riding in Portland, OR.

Montreal

When I get back I have enough time on my meter to get my hair washed and cut. They even gave me a cup of tea! Then I heated up the last of the moose stew and green peas and ate lunch as I drove to Ottawa to visit my friend Hilda van Walraven. I arrived at 3 pm and the sun is out and it’s almost hot here! Hilda left me a bike route map and I get on my bike and head out along the Rideau Canal Path. Ottawa has lots of canals and rivers and they all have bike paths. I rode for a couple of hours and got back just before Hilda got home at 5:30. She lives in a cool little apartment in the top of an old house. She made some drinks and we chatted about my trip and all the people who have been visiting and staying in her apartment which we renamed Walda’s (Hilda’s nickname) B&B! We were getting hungry and Hilda walked to the store for food and sent me off for a wash.

Ottawa

My last wash was a few days ago and I hope I didn’t smell too bad! She has a purple bathroom with a great deep tub and I took a nice hot bath and scrubbed up! I was finishing up as Walda returned with fresh salmon, green beans, fingerling potatoes, a pineapple. Hilda doesn’t generally cook so after a consultation she cooked the beans and potatoes and cut a beautiful tomato from her fathers garden and i made some garlic parsley butter sauce and broiled the salmon. We opened a bottle of Shiraz and poured the sauce over the salmon and potatoes. Our meal tasted great and then we sliced the pineapple and a banana, poured rum over it and broiled it for awhile then ate it with some dark chocolate! Very tasty! We chatted until bedtime and then pulled out the inflatable bed and crashed.

Wed. Sept.24
In the morning Hilda made Tea and rye toast with PB. Good times at Walda's B&B! We had planned a longer visit but I have to get to Rochester so we said our goodbyes and she went to work and I headed for the border. It’s going to be hot today! I head south and cross the border at Thousand Islands. I arrive at customs at 9:15 am and am back in the US at 9:22 am! This was much quicker than crossing into Canada. Two years ago I crossed here and there were 3 raven sculptures that I missed getting a picture of, so I am ready with my camera but alas no ravens! Oh well. I drive south on 81 to Syracuse and take the Thruway west to Rochester. I arrive and find a Volkswagen dealer and they can check out BEYOND to make sure the computer is communicating with the transmission correctly, checkout the oxygen sensor error reading and figure way the power lock refuse to stay locked! They say they can do it while I am in Florida working on the Folkfest. Fingers crossed. I drive off to the mall with a Verizon store and buy a new phone. I buy a Motorola Adventure phone which is waterproof, dust and shock proof. I think it will be great for me. Then I find a cheap hotel room and drive back to the Volkswagen shop. I leave BEYOND and they drive me to the hotel where I relax and prepare to fly to St. Pete early in the morning. I am looking forward to seeing friends and family. Look out Florida here I come!

As always pics are at http://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd