:: W4B photography's companion blog ::

:: Sunday, May 29, 2005 ::

Live, from Moncton!
Vacation: I am currently in Moncton, New Brunswick. Some pics are up. Here is what I wrote here and there...

Thursday to Friday. I left at about 930 pm and headed onto the 401. I stopped at a couple of TH locations en route. I seem to be mimicking the commercial…

Traffic was light the whole way till about Kingston. Lucky for me I was going eastbound as Westbound right across Toronto was solid due to construction. And this was at about 11pm! Not much to report in terms of the driving. I stopped for the day after 5h 18 mins and just a bit over 500km. I was past trenton and stopped at a truck stop to sleep. Tim Hortons. 44.30.17 N lat 75.50.9 W long The GPS Rocks Leanne. Seriously the most clever and useful thing. I folded down the driver seat flat and crawled into my lightwight polar fleece like sleeping bag and slept half in the back half in the front of the CRV. I slept from about 3am to about 630am or so before heading out again.

I stopped next in Cornwall for gas – 77.7 cents /L and then headed into the La Belle Provence. It drizzlded on and off the whole way after that. Still not really having had a good solid sleep I was tired and Tim Horton’s was my friend. My stomach is going to regret that later I fear. I went through Montreal without incident and found it easier to navigate than the various collectors and express lanes of the 401 in Toronto. First thought about the infamous Montreal Drivers. This curious subset of Canadian drivers seems to think that turn signals are an optional feature on the car. Didn’t see them used much at all. And that is always entertaining.

I then got to cross under the St. Lawrence via tunnel, left Montreal and continued up the Jean Lesage Hwy 20 towards Levi. And on the way I found the Dinosaur restaurant that I mentioned to some of you. They have dozens of fairly large scale – say 1/3 to ¾ scale dinos from Triceratops to raptors to many others. I shot some of them and will post them later. I also, a good cunk of distance later napped at another roadside stop. Not a truck stop. Just washroom and picknick tables and that was a bout it.

Around 1-2pm I was in Levi Quebec right across from Quebec city. I didn’t cross over as it was cold and windy and still drizzling, and after trying to get to the shore and find the ferry in case I want to see it on the way back, I took some long lense shots of the Chateau Frontenac and the old city.

I got gas again ( I won’t mention this everytime…) and had a bit of a time with the activation of the pumps. Everyone designs a pump differently it seems. Anyhow. I figured it out and paid inside. But the guy behind me couldn’t find the tiny button to activate it and the woman was trying to give instructions via the Mcdonlads like speaker to the guy outside. He still didn’t get it. She said to me in a secretive way “ J’ pense qu’ill es’ anglophone…” I think he is an english speaker. Pretty condescending I felt, but my resonses for petro can card or whatever got by for me being undercover today…
In Rivier de Loup and it is low overcast and drizzling. It’ s 5pm and if the clouds went away the aproach into the town would have been spectacular from up on high with the St. Lawrence in the background.

Currently I am at the corner of Boul Armand Thiereault and Boulevard Hotel SR-ville in Riviere De Loup PQ. I keep losing the Satellite but I am roughly at 49.49 36 N lat by 69 32 19 West Longitude. Roughly ? :)

It is less that two hours to Edmonston. Which was my goal for today. I think I may press on further.

Update next morning.
I pressed on to Fredericton. The countryside is pretty rolling and mountainous, though all of this was experienced in the dark. There was haevy fog going south from riv de loup. In Edmonsdston I got some gas. The most expensive gas I have ever seen at 97.7 cents. And paid the guy at the Esso? Station who was wearing a guitar and a holder for a harmonica.

Much further south. Not sure where and I didn’t have the GPS fired up, 2 was closed and they were detouring. No idea what this detour was so I asked and a local guy told me to go over the covered bridge and hand a right. So I crossed my first covered bridge – easily 100 m or more in the dark. Checking the GPS just now, this was the Hartland covered bridge in Wakefield NB.

I stayed in Fredericton, NB in a motel last night. One thing I didn’t know about the CRV. The CRV has two trip odometers – I knew that part. What I didn’t know was that I could make them roll over. They only go to 999.9km. And yesterday I did 1098km from Near cornwall to by the time I stopped for good for the day here in Fredricton. That was in 16 hours. Including stops in Cornwall, the Dinosaurs, Levis, Riviere de Loup, Edmonsdston, and a nap here and there. Longest single day’s drive I have ever done. Up there with the trip from Naples to Orlando last year I think.

According to the 5 satellites, I am at 45.56.23 N lat by 66.39.39 W long. 1105am Atlantic time.

Heading off to Moncton. Overcast, but not rainy.

More Later when I get a chance to write and upload...

Carpe Diem

:: Mike Wood 01:12 [+] :: 0 comments
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