May 27, 2007

You can’t dampen our spirits!

It was a fairly quite night at the campground. We both got up around 5:30 and after breakfast, breaking camp, and loading up we were on the road by 7:30. The plan for the day was to ride about 30 miles before second breakfast in Burlington. When we arrived in Burlington we got directions the where there was a diner. Today was the day of a marathon that went right through the pedestrian mall in the center of town. When we arrived there the pack had already passed and there were just some stragglers coming by. They were dumping the extra cups filled with water and Gatoraide onto the ground so I got a refill of my Gatoraide bottle for zip.

Marathon route in the pedestrian mall.

Second breakfast at the diner was pretty good and pretty much hit the spot. When Denny and I were getting ready to pay the bill each of us put some money on the table until the waitress came around. Mine was around $11 so I put a ten and a five on the table. Denny’s was around $6 so he put a ten on the table. The waitress came by and we told her we would be paying separately. She had something else in her hand but before we could hand her the money she scooped it up with two hands and was off. I started to say “whoa” but she was out of earshot before I could say anything. When she came back she said that she miss totaled the bill and that mine was $12 something and Denny’s was $6 something. Also she said that I gave her a $10 so I told her what I gave her but she disagreed. It was no time for an argument over a few bucks so I took back the ten, gave her a $20, got my change and left no tip as it already cost me too much for that breakfast already. I was telling Denny yesterday about how when we came up to VT as kids the adults would play poker and my Uncle Clarence would always say:”Give me some of that Connecticut money.” The waitress must be some distant relative.

As we left Burlington it started to rain so we donned our rain gear for the first time. After a bit it became a steady rain. Getting out of Burlington was a bit dicey with the rain and traffic, but we were careful. As we reached US 2 the road became flatter and even though we were riding into a slight head wind the riding was OK. Lunch was sandwiches and a real big chocolate chip cookie at the Marina general store in North Hero on the islands of Lake Champlain. It had stopped raining before we rolled in. Just as we were leaving it started up again so it was back to the rain gear.

US 2 - The same road as in '05 but 2,000 miles away.

The roads on US 2 for the most part had pretty wide shoulders so much of the time we rode side by side and chatted. On a trip like this you learn a lot about your riding partner and he about you. None of that stuff gets repeated here without permission.

Entering Quebec

The trip through customs was uneventful except that both Denny and I tried to give information before we were asked a question. At one point the attendant said: “Just let me ask my questions!” So we shut up until we were spoken to and were allowed to proceed into Quebec Providence Canada.

Jim

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

© 2007 - JNS