Satellite
Show on map
  • Day 1

    Hamilton to Montreal

    August 8, 2022 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Hi everyone. This trip is different from the last one. This is a driving trip to the east coast of Canada. I'm going for about 7 weeks. I am going to write this one a little different as well. I plan to write it based on the towns I'm in instead of each day adding a new entry. I will be having driving days when nothing really of note will be happening, so I thought this would be a better way of doing things. Let me know if you like it.

    I packed my Escape and brought the cooler with me for keeping stuff cold along the way. I haven’t been really worried about packing too much because I have the Escape. I put a couple of shelving racks in the back to hold little totes with shoes, kitchen stuff, camera bag, etc. I think this will work well for this trip. I want to see how this works because I’m planning on taking a 4-month trip next year to the west coast. (Stay tuned!)

    Let the trip begin: Hamilton to Montreal:

    I left on Monday August 8th at 5:45 AM. I wanted to beat the Toronto traffic so I thought leaving early would be a good idea. The traffic wasn’t really bad through Toronto, just slow downs but not stopped. So I guess my plan worked. Still took an hour to get through Toronto though. It is an overcast day today which will be good for driving. Once you get past Toronto it’s smooth sailing. Put on some counrty music and just watch the scenery go by. (As well as driving in a safe manner.)

    I only had to stop once for gas and a bite to eat and make it to Montreal by around 2 PM. Laura meets me and we find a place to park. They shut down Mont-Royal Avenue to cars in the summer and it becomes a pedestrian walkway. So, we find a side street for parking. Only a block from where I’m staying. I am staying at a place I have stayed before in February. It is only two blocks from Laura’s and two blocks and two store fronts from the best croissants I have ever tasted. (Yes, there will be lots of food in this blog as well!) I take up my stuff and then head back to Laura’s to catch up on family stuff. I have baked her some oatmeal cookies and brought the book I made from the Greece blog for her to see. Laura has to work and I’m tired from driving, so I make an early night of it.

    On Tuesday, Laura and I do what we do best. Go shopping! I’m not really a shopper but there are a few stores that I like. I pick up some clothes and a couple of pairs of sandals. The most fun I have is dressing Laura and she has no objections to me having fun. We stop for lunch at a crepe restaurant and then continue on. Laura has found a store that sells clothes based on the 50’s and 60’s! Laura has the figure for this, so I splurge for a few outfits. Check out the pictures! She even has crinolines on underneath them!

    Afterwards we head back to get cleaned up for dinner. We are having dinner with Laura’s friends; Kate and Zack. Laura went to school with Kate and I like the pair of them. We have dinner at a place called Boris Bistro. ( http://borisbistro.com/en ) This is a very nice place that is certified gluten free (for Laura). It has an indoor seating area but the outside terrace is so much nicer. It has a nicer menu for a more upscale dining experience. I chose the duck confit and it was wonderful. It was not really that expensive considering we all had a drink and dessert. Kate and Zack are planning to take a motorcycle trip to the tip of South America. I think this is going to be a year long adventure for them. I hope they will do a blog so we can keep up with them. I brought my Greece book for them to see. They were following the blog on line and they both liked the idea of it turning into a hardcover book. We had a great time with these two! When I was in Greece, I was knitting them each a pair of socks to take on their trip, so I hope they liked them. I’m looking forward to seeing them again in September on my return visit.

    After dinner I head back with Laura. We part ways and I head home to pack up for tomorrow. I will be heading to Rimouski and that will be about a 6-hour drive. Talk to you later!
    Read more