Almost to the border

My visit with David Wilkins followed by lunch kept me in Ottawa until noon. As I rode east toward Montreal and Quebec I was optimistic that I could get to Madawaska, Maine by dark. As has been the case with many of my efforts at predicting a schedule, I didn't make it.

Traffic through Montreal was at a near standstill, but aside from the delay the traverse was uneventful. I don't speak or read French, so it is an adventure to try to decipher the highway warning signs that are almost always exclusively in French. In Ontario the signs were bilingual.

The wind was as strong as it has been at any point of the trip and was roaring out of the north. I spent much of the day leaning left, but some of you may have noticed that I have a natural inclination in that direction.

The clouds were thick and gray, but because they were high, they didn't seem to be threatening rain. East of Quebec the gray clouds were being chased by some white fluffy clouds and blue sky. To the north shafts of sunlight made the St. Laurent Strait glisten while off to the south the sunlight alternated with the gloom to give the farming country a hackneyed landscape painting look. It is much more attractive in life than it is on canvas.

From the frequency with which I passed dairy farms, I would suspect that the eastern end of Quebec is the milk producer for the province. Even those farms I didn't see I could smell.

I mentioned in an earlier post that a warning sign for elk would slow me down. Dramatic and repeated warning signs for moose really apply the brakes. I didn't see any moose, but I didn't mind. My experience with moose during my Alaska trip lead me to believe that moose are large, surprisingly fast and not very bright. I have no interest in getting close to one while I'm riding.

At Riviere-su-Loup I turned south to head for the border. Guess what happened? It started to rain, the clouds got lower, and it got dark. On top of that, one of my driving lights has been working only when the mood strikes. The mood didn't strike after a late afternoon bathroom break even though it had worked all day.

Rolling south it got darker and the moose signs seemed to appear more frequently. I decided Madawaska could wait until morning. Besides, there needs to be light for the photos, right?

I bailed out, and found another classic road trip motel. I'm in Motel Claude in Deglis, Quebec. The room is clean, comfortable and connected. As a plus, there is a restaurant in a truck stop a short walk away. The desk clerk invited me to park my bike under the roof overhang outside my room. I took him up on the offer even though anything on the bike that can get wet is already wet.

Did I mention that I was close to the border? To my surprise, upon closer examination of my map, I learned that I won't be going from Quebec to Maine. There is a little swatch of New Brunswick between Quebec and Maine. I've never been to New Brunswick, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity. There isn't much English being spoken here in rural Quebec. I wonder how much French is being spoken in New Brunswick.

I think I can make a prediction on schedule. I will be in Madawaska Tuesday unless a moose gets me first.