Lost Day and Found Beauty

You may have noticed we skipped a day of posting - and what a day!  It began well enough with some homemade blueberry muffins (not mine) and a cup of coffee, yogurt and a banana.  We got ourselves together to head out early so we could walk the trail to Moxie Falls and take some photos.  We drove through a misty, cloudy morning along the Kennebec River Valley.  Dennis and I agreed that we would do the walk even if it rained.  We stopped to take a few photos of the Kennebec River and of two historical sites - one where a confluence of rivers created a trading "highway" in the early years of settlement, and one where Benedict Arnold and his men came out of the river to begin their unhappy march to Quebec City.  For a non-historian like me, these are the lessons I never learned in school.

 Misty morning on Kennebec River

 Pictorial history

Historical marker

As we pulled into the parking area for Moxie Falls, the sun started to come out and it began to warm up a bit!  We walked back about three-quarters of a mile (one way) on a great, level, well-marked path.  We discovered steps and three viewing platforms at the end of the trail and the truly beautiful, glorious falls.  Dennis and I had taken our walking sticks this time, so we were pretty comfortable on the not-so-easy trail.  Once again, it was worth the effort.  The intrepid photographers jumped back into the car and headed into Quebec province.

 Moxie Falls - upper

 Lower falls

Lower falls and rocky surround

We drove through dairy farming country (lots of it!) and through one tiny town after another.  There were no gas stations, diners, or convenience stores in evidence until we reached Interstate 10.  We had been thinking of stopping at Sherbrooke but decided to go on since it was only 2:00 p.m.  We thought we'd find a hotel on the outskirts of Montreal.  Near Brossard we exited I-10 and searched for a motel - and searched, and searched.  The one with a room had only smoking rooms available.  We got back in the car.  The next one was fully booked.  We got back in the car.  We headed into Montreal to get from I-10 to I-20.  This was our biggest mistake of the day.  We got caught in rush hour traffic when the four million people who work in Montreal all leave the city on roads built for 500,000 people.  What a mess!  It took us one and a half hours to get through the worst of it.

We were tired.  We had not eaten since breakfast (how un-American!) and we were running out of gasoline.  We finally found a gas station and Dennis talked to the very nice woman cashiering.  She told us where to find a hotel at the next exit.  We found one - kind of down at the heels but it was a bed in a non-smoking room with a clean bathroom.  We went in search of a restaurant and literally stumbled on a St. Hubert - it is a chicken (not fried) chain in Canada where the food is well-prepared, the wine is good, and the dance music videos playing in the bar were interesting.  By the time we sat down for dinner, twelve hours had elapsed since our departure from Bingham ME.  I promised Dennis that we would do a much better job of traveling and planning for the rest of the trip!

This morning we left Quebec province behind and headed into Ontario where the signs are all in English - it really does make a difference.  We stopped at one of the ubiquitous Tim Horton's for breakfast.  They have excellent coffee and really good, filling breakfast sandwiches.  Then we headed for Gananoque in the 1000 Islands area.  We hopped off I-20 to get on the 1000 Islands Parkway and closer to the water.  This is a really beautiful area with resorts, large houses (summer homes) and moderate houses with great views of the St. Lawrence River.  We laughed about the pictures we took - you really cannot see all 1000 islands, I promise!  But the pictures give you the idea.  There are folks here who own an island - some of the islands are just big enough for one house!  Some of the islands have castles on them.  Some are (especially appropriate for today) hideouts for pirates and smugglers!

 House with own island and own bridge!

 Bridge to U.S.

OK - it's not 1000, but you get the idea.

Gananoque (pronounced gan-ah-nok-way) is a lovely small town.  We found a nice gastro-pub for lunch and had a fabulous meal looking over the harbor.  Then we drove around into Kingston - a huge city with a major military presence.  When we drove back into Gananoque, we stopped at the park where the hydro-electric dam is located.  This park also had a great fountain and numerous works of art.  They started the public art program in the 1950's renting pieces from famous artists, but the town decided to begin replacing the pieces with those of local artists.  The first replacement pieces were blue heron sculptures and they are fantastic!  We loved this beautiful park and the spirit of the community that places a strong value on art.  Gananoque is not big or fancy, but it is a city with pride, charm, and heart.  We really like it.

 Heron sculpture 2005

 Heron sculpture 2006

Practically living tree sculpture 2010