Snow on Mother's Day

Snow and blossoms in May

(click to enlarge and see the snow)

Well it has been four weeks on the road, and here I am on Mothers Day, happily watching it snow ,while we are inside, cosy with lovely classical music, hot tea and good books. Just another quiet country day.

I must admit, I do miss my San Jose family on Mother's Day. I miss getting a hug from those who still hug, which at the moment is everyone. I missed not going to church this morning and seeing many familiar faces and sharing in the worship. This year I did get to spend a pre-Mother's Day with the Connecticut branch and that was a treat.

That aside, I am having a great adventure that just gets better all the time. I have spent the last few days with people who have known me for a very long time, and it has been such fun catching up and sharing how our lives have been going. We have all, naturally, aged, but only a little, and everyone is, thankfully in reasonably good health. And now it is on to Montreal, and more reunions.

Mansonville and Surrounding Sites

Side by side - Canada & Quebec co-exist

Typical French Canadian house with painted tin roof,

Built 1850's, Mansonville, Que

Covered Bridge Road



As advertised, the Covered Bridge

Inside the Covered Bridge

I went into Mansonville today to get a smoked meat sandwich, unique to this area. It is delicacy introduced to this area by the Jewish delis, instead of corning the beef, they smoked it....yummy. The other big regional treat is poutine but that is so-o rich, I'll have to work up to it. http://electron.mit.edu/~gsteele/poutine/

After running errands and I took lots of pictures of Mansonville- with no hint that it is within miles of the US border, no fast food places, no US franchises, just a sleepy little French Canadian town, stuck somewhere in the last 150 years. Then I headed off onto some of the local country roads and found a covered bridge.

It is all very quaint and picturesque, everywhere I look it is so beautiful, and seems timeless. Mostly, I just love the greenery. After the big storm that blew in yesterday, things are so crisp and clear.

Merrin, Zoe & Liam - Mile 3985, and Going Strong

This morning as I was planning my next move, turned on the news ..... accidents everywhere .... near-by Newark, NYC, the Turnpike. So, Liam plotted a route around it all and off we went on the NJ Garden Parkway, a huge improvement over the turnpike. We completely by passed the City and took the very amazing Tappanzee Bridge over the Hudson River north of the city, then cut through Rye to the Greenwich area, all very beautiful, picturesque, and for the most part traffic free.
Liam was very patient with me today, as I decided to take to road less travelled in CT, and got off the highway and to the Old Boston Post Road that meandered along Long Island Sound through quaint little towns and villages. Everytime I would decide to turn off, he would quietly recalculate and give me new directions. What a guy :)
Had my first Tim Horton's sighting, and stopped at Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale in Madison for a delicious lobster role. Arrived in Wethersfield and spent the rest of the day visiting my grandson and his parents. Tomorrow will be a slow day in the morning while Zack is at School and Francois works, then more hanging out. Closing in on the Canadian border and getting excited to see friends and family north of the border

Day 1

As planned, I was out the door at 7:58 and on the road two minutes later, headed South on 101, and an hour later, I hit 5 and headed south.

This state is big and varied and it took me eight hours to hit the AZ border. Somewhere, between Bakersfield and Barstow, I found myself on a one lane highway and had to pay attention, so could not change the CD, boredom set in and I decided to name my car and GPS, ..... so now I am travelling with Zoe - the car and Liam-the GPS with an Irish accent.

It started because I took a break, and Liam kept nagging that I make a U-turn and get back on the highway. The thing about Liam is he does not listen, just gives orders, and point out my mistakes. He is however, very helpful in getting me where I need to go.

I did not succumb to the temptation of pushing on, and stopped in Kingman, AZ as planned. It was an nine hour day with appropriate breaks.
It was an easy day, however, it was sobering to see a sign as I turned on to Highway 40 that said, Willmington, NC - 2554 miles.

Time for a long soak in the tub.....