Day 13: Thurs., June 25: Hanging out in the Eastern Townships

Storm video 1

Storm video 2

Well, I slept in until 8:00 a.m. this morning! Imagine that!

After some coffee and a nice continental breakie here at the Inn, I set off about 9:30 to visit the local cemeteries in (faint) hopes of finding some of the resting places of my Dad's relations -- no such luck. After visiting two, it was sooo hot and humid, that I was soaked and had to hit the local McDo's for un cafe glace before I could carry on with the next part of the program, which was to visit the local Historical Society and Museum in Stanbridge East.

I was hoping to meet up with the archivist, with whom I have exchanged emails on various subjects, but sadly she was off today. (Note to self: Let people know you are coming!)
I had a great time in the Museum (I know, I know, I'm reverting to my library/archive type persona -- but I just cain't help myself -- must be in the genes or something!).

After that, I stopped in to the Mill Bar & Grill next door (which the sign said opened at 11:00 a.m.), at 1:30 p.m. and the 4 staff members were very surprised to see me. They said, 'nobody comes in here till evening!' and I said, 'then why the heck are you all here???' They laffed merrily and invited me to sit down for a drink (I think they'd all had at least one or two themselves by then!). When I ordered a diet Pepsi, they all fell about laffing, 'What a tough biker woman ... eh?'

I laughed along and we had a good old discussion about cross-country riding -- they were fascinated with the idea of the Conga and said they would all follow along on the blog ... punctuated by the local barfly asking for a ride on my bike, to which I politely said no. In fact, every time there was a lull in the conversation, he asked for a ride on my bike ... and I politely said no ... several times LOL Eventually, he went home to his 'afternoon nap', he said. Too funny.

I've encountered a least 15 lady bikers in the immediate area in the last two days. There are tons of bikes on the roads and obviously, lots of women riding, which is nice to see. They don't do the biker wave here, though ... it's more a gracious-type head nod -- much more practical, in my humble opinion, especially ripping around a sharp curve LOL

I'm not posting a link to photos for today, as I don't want to bore you all to death with a ton of architectural pics -- I've just inserted one I like at the beginning of the post -- hope you all enjoy it - it is the Stanbridge Mill (now the Museum and Archives) and weir.

BTW, that Brahma beer is a perfectly fine substitute for Corona!

On a more sober note, I've heard from Big Daddy that his brother-in-law is currently in Royal Columbian Hospital, in New Westminster, having just had a (semi-emergency, I think) triple bypass. So, everyone, please spare a positive thought for Terry's quick recovery. Sending much love to Jill, Terry, Natalie and Sandra at this difficult time. Wish I was there to give everyone big hugs XXX

Well, tomorrow I am setting off for New Brunswick. I will be splitting my journey there over two nights -- hoping to get as far as Montagny, possibly farther. With any luck, I'll at least get to one day of Atlanticade ... and then on to Nova Scotia and wild times with my buddy, Rhonda :-)