Monday Morning Musings

Posted on July 31, 2017 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

Gluten free blueberry cake. Irresistable

I’m really ticked off.

No. I’m not mad. A little sad maybe because we dropped our granddaughter off in Montreal on the weekend after her month long stay with us. Having unfettered access to a grandchild for one whole month is every grandparent’s dream. We had many wonderful adventures and the weather cooperated giving us plenty of visits to the beach.

I’m ticked off because I’ve been bitten by a tick for the second time in less than a year. Last year it happened after a hike on a wooded trail which is understandable.  How does one get a tick bite sitting inside a car for 2606 kilometers? Yes. We stopped for gas, ate at restaurants, slept in motels and crossed the Bay of Fundy on a ferry. None of these seem like natural habitats for a tick. I felt something on my leg while pulling into a scenic lookout in Maine. Weird.

I am happy to report that the trip was uneventful. Betty and I packed minimally. Most of the car space was taken up with our granddaughters belongings.  We stopped in Edmunston for dinner on the trip up. Chantal’s is a restaurant that was recommended by some family members as a great place to have ribs.

I knew entering the parking lot that we might be in a little over our heads. I noticed a few high end sports cars. I did not see a lot of Yaris’s. When we entered the restaurant ,

( which was packed ) , a hurried looking server came to the door and asked us if we had a reservation. Assuring her that we didn’t, she summarily dismissed us. My guess is that when she saw an old guy in a white t-shirt and shorts, that even if they had room, we would have been denied entry. The linen table cloths were a dead giveaway. We ended up eating at a deli where we ate superb and healthy food for $24. My hunch is that coffee and dessert at Chantal’s would have been twice that.

After dropping off our granddaughter, we took a different route home traveling east through Sherbrooke and entering Western Maine. Neither of us had traveled this road before. The Quebec portion was quite beautiful. There were some stretches of road that you could see for at least 5 kilometers. But unlike our prairies or the deserts of Arizona which are so flat that you can’t see to the horizon, the terrain here was very hilly but the road was as straight as an arrow.

Quick show of hands. How many of you have crossed the border from Canada to the Unites States at Coburn Gore, Maine? I didn’t think so. There was nothing notable with the crossing other than the fact that the border agent window was on the passenger side of the car. Which is fine when you’re traveling with someone. Traveling solo would be interesting to observe.

Less than a day later, we exited Maine at Calais. There was very little traffic and within five minutes, we were at the booth. We were asked the standard questions . We had nothing to declare as I had finished off Betty’s dessert ( pictured above ) a short time earlier! The agent looked at us and I was wondering what she was thinking. There was chip peeling off the front bumper of our car; potato chips and peanuts littered  the floor of the back seat . There was one lonely apple which Betty had declared as a food item.  She failed to mention the gluten free rice crispy square. The agent  probably deduced that we couldn’t afford to buy anything in the U.S. It was the quickest border crossing in history… under 30 seconds. She didn’t even scan our passports. I guess we didn’t look like drug mules although I may have looked like a donkey’s arse wearing three day old clothing.

Our last meal of the trip was in Quispamsis, New Brunswick. Fatigue was setting in after a gruelling couple of days of travel. I decided to treat myself to a non alcoholic beer. I always read the label… just in case. I noticed that this particular bottle was infused with “ isotonic, vitamin rich reduced calories.” For the first time in 48 hours I was able to fully relax knowing that I had just quaffed some of the most nutritious, live giving alcohol free beer on the planet.

Have a great week.

Advertisement