Arriving in Canada

Early Morning, Goose Pond NH

Tuesday morning, I got up early, the Wards still adjusting to US time from their recent China trip, and had the great pleasure of sitting quietly, and enjoying the stillness of Goose Pond. I cannot remember the last time I sat and looked at water that was perfectly still, and looked like a mirror. I t is so peaceful and rural here.

After a wonderful breakfast and wrapping up my visit to the Wards (Vickie and Steve) I set out for the Canadian border and Georgeville where I was to have lunch with dear friends from Montreal, Paul and Nancy Amos, who I have not seen since 1993.

Driving through Northern Vermont was such a treat. I love this part of the world. The greenery, the mountains, the meandering rivers and the highway that cuts right through it all. Sometimes they just cut through the hills and you go through this rock corridor that is 50-60 feet high on each side. Finally I crossed the border, said goodbye to the US and entered into Beebe, Que. Beebe is unique in that some of the houses, the local church and theatre are partly in Canada, and partly in the US. You park your car in one country, walk around the buildings into another country to enter, without going through any border control. They do hover though in case anyone wanders off.

As I arrived at the border crossing, I knew I had arrived in Quebec. A very cute, smiling border guard welcomed me with a big "Hello/Bonjour" and I knew I was home. We chatted in Franglais, that mixture of French and English that locals use and since I was the only one crossing we talked about California, my road trip, the places I had been etc. The whole time we were chatting he is looking at me, and then looking at my passport, the birth date right there in front of him. Finally he said, "All by yourself, you did this?" "Yup" I said, then he gave me a very flirty grin and said, "Wow, you are very adventurous." I agreed, and then off I went to Georgeville to have a wonderful lunch with the Amoses and got to catch up on news of friends etc.

Late in the afternoon, I took my leave and headed off to my next stop, a converted Canadian border crossing house on one of the back roads along the Quebec/ Vermont border.

The house at the end of the Cdn road

Years ago, Canada and the US decided to shut down the border crossing at many of the tiny back country roads for security purposes and economics. My friend Cornelia bought one of the border stations, and has converted it into her country hideaway. I was last here about thirty years ago and since then she has done updates and additions to the property that make it a uniquely special place.

My plans to go to Montreal got delayed a bit, as my friend that I will be staying with, had to go out of town on business, so she rerouted me to her country house. So here I am tucked away in the country surrounded by forest, rolling hills and Jay Peak off in the distance. There is still snow on the trails and I have had flashbacks to when the kids were small and we would ski there. It is so quiet here, I plan to take walks, read and just relax until Cornelia shows up.

To get there, I decided to take the scenic route, and needless to say, Liam (the GPS) got his knickers in a twist, constantly trying to reroute me onto the route he had planned. Finally he gave up and came on board with my plan. After that we got along just fine. He is doing extremely well with all the little country roads, including the unpaved ones. The weather alternates between sunny, with puffy clouds, and thunder storms. So it's naps and reading for me, for now.