Return to the US via Vermont

Monday, October 19, 2009

In the breakfast room we met a couple from Switzerland who had brought their VW van from home and had traveled to the west coast, then up the coast to Vancouver where they took the ferry to Alaska. Now they had driven across the continent in Canada and were leaving tomorrow for Switzerland. They had planned to drive to Mexico also but something happened and now they were going home. Our trip seems minuscule compared to theirs but I am happy with ours.

The couple suggested that we see Mont Royale before leaving and we planned to but it was foggy so we changed our minds and continued south towards Vermont. Somehow, we ended up on a different road than we had planned to enter the US. There are so many roads between Quebec and the US with a little Customs symbol at each crossing that it looks like a long row of ants along the border! Jalil was talking about spending his last Canadian money in a tax-free store. I could not imagine that there was a tax-free store at each crossing.

In St.-Pierre-de-Verone-a-Pike River we stopped for coffee - that was more an excuse to go to the bathroom and I was not ready to leave this different culture. We had a piece of cake, too, at the counter (Jalil's preference). This was a little mom and pop operation. The owner spoke French to her customers and the soup waltzed out to them very quickly. I did not get what was said but the speed with which she served up the food, made me think that she already knew what they wanted. With us she spoke without any accent in English. Jalil gave her all the coins he had left and she was happy - said that she would put them in her grandchildren's piggy bank.

My goal had been to drive along the narrow islands in Lake Champlain in Vermont but we had made the wrong turn near Montreal. Now I thought that we could rectify this by turning west to Venice-en-Quebec and follow the Canadian west shore of Lake Champlain. Good idea but there were more roads than the map showed so we had some trouble knowing when to turn south towards the border. One road was a dead end in a resort. On a field there were numerous little structures close together supported by sled like things (don't know what word to use). I suspected that they were used on the ice to sit in to fish in a hole in the ice. Does anybody know if I am on the right track? There was not a soul to ask any questions.

Well, we kept making turns in the southern direction on these small country roads without any signs. Jalil wanted to go back to a bigger road. Just then there was a building on the left and a gate across the road. There was a real person there and we asked if this was the border. "Yes!" The gate opened and I pulled up the camera as I wanted to get the gate but I missed and Jalil stopped at the building on the other side, where a customs officer demanded that I immediately turn off my camera. He was very serious. He told us the crossing was called Clarenceville/Alburg and he told us how to get to the islands that I wanted. He said it was a beautiful road, if we were not in a hurry.

Well, we were not in a hurry so we followed these islands - North and South Hero Islands in Lake Champlain - a very long (120 miles) and narrow (1/4 mile to 12 miles) lake. The Champlain Canal connects the lake to Hudson River so that large vessels can navigate from New York to Montreal and the Great Lakes. The country was beautiful with fall colors and the Adirondack Mountains in the west and the Green Mountains in the east. There are summer resorts here and there and parks and farms. We stopped at a State Park. There was a woman there who told us that the park was closed for the season but we could have our picnic lunch there, if we did not leave any garbage. It was a sunny day and warm in the sun so we had our picnic before walking down to the lake.

We had planned to spend the night in Burlington by the lake. It is the largest city in Vermont - 38,000 pop. It was settled in 1775 but most of its inhabitants left with the start of the American Revolution. Maybe, they are the ones who settled in St. Catharines, Ontario. The University of Vermont was founded in 1791 and Champlain College in 1878 - an old town!

We wanted to see Battery Park by the lake where there was a battle between US land batteries and British vessels on the lake. Parking was a problem but we eventually found a spot. Then Jalil needed a bathroom and there was none so he became a little contrary and did not want to stay in Burlington! He is not always rational. So we headed east. Shortly, there was a rest stop/visitor center and we have found them quite useful. The information man was so helpful, giving us maps and marking where we should be able to see the famous fall colors, after consulting with the computer. He also told us where the famous covered bridges were. Then he wondered where we were planning to sleep. When he found out that we did not have any specific plan, he called a few places for us and gave us a coupon for a cheaper price! So we headed for Barre (pronounced berry!). You do not know how to pronounce anything here.

Once in our room, we called Nancy who lived with us for many months while finishing the last part of her PhD. We thought that she lived in Maine. No answer.