"On the Trail"
Wednesday, August 8, 2001: Oh Canada! - Vermont to Pohénégamook by car and 4 km by bike
Frank here…
Today was a long day of driving and a day to start to get reacquainted with Louise. As we headed to the Canadian border (at Quebec) just north of Derby Line, Vermont, I jumped out of the car, onto my bike and crossed the 45th parallel line, then the Canadian line. Passing the 45th parallel line was special to me as well because two years earlier, Tad and I crossed the 45th parallel from the north as we started on the very first days of the PeaceBike journey in Oregon, USA.
At the Canadian border there were no requests for my passport. Nothing had to be stamped. It was as easy as when I entered into Italy. The border patrol officers were very interested in my journey and my bike, so a conversation ensued followed by pictures of course. I was quite excited to be back in my home country - all relatively familiar territory - people, language, scencery. I have never been so far east in my own country and was heading even further east! Wow, I was back in Canada. I have never been out of my country so long before - eleven months. I was actually entering a rather different section of Canada that day that I came back. The biggest difference was the French language. Fortunately I knew a bit but even more fortunate was that Louise's first language was French.
I so much wanted to visit Serge and the gang of Arkel Overdesigns in Sherbrooke, Quebec. They sponsored me by selling me their panniers at a very discounted cost. After a year of travel, the panniers are still in top shape, thanks to their pride in their workmanship. Apparently, they are the only North American manufacturers of panniers who actually fully make them in North America (no outsourcing to other countries such as Mexico). When we got to their shop, several people were hard at work doing their stuff while Serge (who appeared to have a broken nose from a mountain bike spill) and I had a little chat. He really knows his stuff. I encourage anyone to check out their website at www.arkel-od.com. Tell them that I sent you.
We drove through beautiful low and flat lands south of St. Lawrence seaway. We were definitely in the land of the French Canadian language and influence as indicated by the names of the cities and towns that we passed by such as St. Joseph De Bauce and Ste Helene. There sure are a heck of a lot more towns that are passed by when driving. I remember the feeling of wanting to cycle when we would get out of the car, because of a great tail wind and relatively cool and comfortable temperatures. By the way, Louise did all the driving because my vision is not optimum for the task. We continued east until the little town of Pohénégamook and stayed at Louise's aunts Terese and Celine's home which was vacant for the night.
-"This time like all times is a very good one if we but know what to do with it" -Ralph Waldo Emerson
-Frank Pollari
<---previous journal | journal list | next journal --->