The Road to Touchdown Atlantic: Maine and New Brunswick Edition

Today was a travel day, which means sites were at a minimum. There were two border crossings and only one stop on what was almost 10 hours of travel.

The day started by leaving Quebec City where, as was typical of any car drive there, we took a wrong turn. I kid you not when I say that every single time we drove anywhere in Quebec City we took at least one wrong turn.

After leaving Quebec City, it was off on the long road to Maine. This was the first time I had crossed the border since the summer of 2001, so an over-10-year break from leaving Canada ended earlier today. Kevin Glenn has crossed the border many times, so unlike me, he was happy to do so.

In Maine we made our one and only pit stop of the day. I went into a gas station store to buy myself a pop (or should I say soda?) and when the women asked me how I was doing, I stared at her for a good two seconds like she had just asked me the question in Korean. That New England accent threw me for a loop. I rebounded to say that I was doing great, and asked her how she was doing. She responded by saying, "Be betta in about an 'ouwa." I guess I know when she got off work.

Maine is dull. Sorry, but it is. Or at least the parts of it I saw. It was a bunch of trees and not much else. I fell asleep for a good portion of it, but what I saw was pretty boring.

We finally got out of Maine and back on Canadian soil, entering in New Brunswick. The trip then took a very fun and fortunate turn, as we made the 5:30 Grand Manan ferry with about 15 minutes to spare. So instead of waiting around for the 7:00 ferry, in the middle of nowhere, we got to get on the boat and get across sooner than expected.

The boat ride was an hour and a half, and Kevin Glenn decided to do a little wandering. I guess the people that own the ferry company knew that Kevin Glenn and the rest of us were coming, as the ship was decked out in some familiar colours. Kevin Glenn was obviously pleased.

We landed onshore in Grand Manan and headed out to dinner. Kevin Glenn was very tired, so he stayed behind. Tomorrow is hopefully going to involve some whale watching, but if not, we will leave Grand Manan and make the final trek to Moncton, where we can try and take part in some of the festivities there. If whale watching is a go, it will be a late arrival in Moncton – sometime around 10:30PM local time – so it will likely be bed and then getting ready for the main event of the trip: the game on Sunday.