World’s Worst Tour of Montreal 🤣

I had a half day of driving today and hoped to spend most of the afternoon and evening seeing parts of Montreal. My first challenge was getting stuck in traffic approaching Montreal - there had been an accident and everything was stopped for miles. 

By the time I got to where my motel was, on the outskirts of the city, it was after 2:00, which was check-in time according to my confirmation email. Well, at least I could find the place in the daylight and unload bags before driving on into the city. I checked in with the friendly guy at the desk, grabbed my bags, and headed for the room. Hmm - the door was wide open with a mop propped up against the door jamb. The room wasn’t quite ready. It was about 3:30 before I got to the city center. And POURING (can I emphasize that enough?) down rain.

I had three places I thought I’d go, then see if there was time for anything else. Probably too late for the Marché Jean-Talon (farmers’ market), so I headed up to Parc du Mont-Royal (park), where I should be able to enjoy some nice views. After two failed attempts to make my way up the hill and find the entrance, I gave up listening to Google’s navigator and finally found my way in. Only to find fog obscuring the city view. 

Okay, so headed down to Old Montreal and the waterfront. Drove around and looked at stunning old buildings, but the narrow streets were a mess of detours, and I couldn’t figure out the parking signs with confidence, not that I found any open spaces large enough for my pickup anyways. So I wasn’t able to see Place Jacques-Cartier, another site on my list. I didn’t give up trying to find parking easily, but when it started getting dark, I threw in the towel. I was hungry for dinner, so I went to another part of town, where the lanes were wider and things weren’t so compressed, and finally found a large parking spot open on the street near a couple of restaurants. And bonus - by now it was 6:00 and parking was free. 

So much for seeing Montreal. I hear it’s lovely. Hopefully I’ll have better luck and better weather tomorrow in Quebec City!

Driving Thru Ontario

I spent the day driving through a stretch of Ontario. The photo is of a nice roadside stop outside of North Bay, Ontario, called Duchesnay Falls. After hours on the road, it was nice to have a short trail to a place where the nature sounds drowned out the highway noise, and Charley appreciated all the forest smells.

Mackinac Island

The Grand Hotel

Took a break from driving today and ferried to Mackinac Island. It’s a popular tourist spot where no motorized vehicles are allowed, and people get around on foot, bicycle or horse carriage. I walked around the town and took a carriage tour to see more of the island. I’ve never seen so many bicycles in one place before. It seemed busy enough to me, but I heard someone say in the summer the downtown streets are clogged with people so much it’s hard to move. Glad I went today!

Planning to cross over into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow morning.

Charley enjoyed sight-seeing from the horse-drawn carriage

First Time I’ve Seen the Great Lakes

Reached the Great Lakes today. The photo is my first view, of Lake Superior from above Duluth, Minnesota. I’m spending tonight in Marquette, Michigan, also along Superior. 

Since entering Minnesota, my driving route has been more interesting, as I’ve gotten off the interstate and onto smaller highways. The only wildlife I’d seen earlier was deer, including a lot of beautiful bucks in Montana. Now I’m seeing a ton of wild turkeys, a fox, and eagles, including one that had been on the road shoulder and took flight just as I was approaching. It threaded the needle between me and an oncoming pickup so closely I was concerned about it (and my truck). Thankfully, all was fine.

Walked Across the Mississippi River Today

This evening I visited the headwaters of the.Mississippi River, where it exits Lake Itasca. It’s hard to comprehend that this modest-looking stream becomes the mighty river. 

Today was another full day of driving, but at least I was able to take a little time at Itasca State Park. Tomorrow’s another long drive, but hopefully Friday will be mostly sight-seeing when I hit the Great Lakes.

Glendive, MT

Sept 13: I can’t get my location map to work, so I’ll just update here. Another full day of driving and now I’m in eastern Montana, along the Yellowstone River.

Big Sky Country is Looking Like Brown Sky Country Today

I’m on the road again, this time to see the autumn colors on the east coast. These next few days I won’t be doing much sight-seeing. I’ll mostly be driving  But I’ll try to at least keep my location updated on the map each night. 

My posts will be pretty basic since I didn’t bring a computer. But hopefully I can share a few photos here. Bye, for now, from smoky Missoula.