Days 28 - 30

September 11, 2010
We awoke to another beautiful clear day. We broke camp and headed for Montreal. We had a pleasant drive until we hit Montreal. The freeway was bumper to bumper, almost all the way across downtown due to a traffic accident. Then it moved ok for a couple of miles until just before a tunnel under a river that we had to take. Then it was bumper to bumper through the tunnel and until we hit the next freeway interchange, where most of the traffic cleared. We just relaxed and did laundry for the rest of the day. Our main reason to stop in Montreal at this time is to visit the Botanical Gardens, as we will be returning here in about 10 days with our RV Caravan for a four day visit.

September 12, 2010
We knew that two days of sunshine in a row was too much to expect. We woke to solid cloudy skies, cold & wind. We did make our trip to the Botanical Gardens despite the on and off showers. We spent several hours at the gardens, then headed back to the rig for dinner. At 7 PM, there was a Japanese Lantern Festival at the Gardens that we had planned to attend, but about the time we were planning on leaving to go back to the Gardens, the sky opened up. Needless to say, we stayed home. Tomorrow, we head back into the states to meet up with our RV Group in Stowe, VT.


September 13, 2010
Another day of cloudy skies. It started to sprinkle as we left the campground. We had a pleasant drive with on and off showers for most of the trip, but the rain stopped just before we arrived at our destination. We stopped in Waterbury, VT for fuel. It looks like we can make it on the first part of our tour without having to buy fuel in Canada this time. After we settled in, we met our Tailgunners, then the sun came out in time for Happy Hour. The last of the rigs arrived during Happy Hour, and the Wagonmasters showed up just before Happy Hour. They were doing another tour in New York City. They put on a Breakfast for that group this morning in Jersey City, NJ, then drove straight through to Stowe, VT. We have 2 Staff rigs and 14 Customer rigs in the group. Not too big. Tomorrow is the official starting day of the tour. We will have our rigs inspected and have a group orientation to get thing started.

September 14, 2010
Today is the first official day of our tour with Adventure Caravans. The only official activity is our Orientation this afternoon. Everyone introduced themselves, told a little about their lives & interests. A rundown of what to expect on the tour was given, by the wagon masters.
In the morning, folks went shopping, or just explored the area. Did we mention that we had rain?

September 15, 2010
This morning started out early. A tour bus came into camp, and we were on the road by 8:30. Our first stop was at the Morse Farm Sugar Works. We had a presentation by the owner on how they collect sap and turn it into Maple Syrup. There were samples and the obligatory gift shop. Then, we went to Montplier, VT and took a tour of the State Capitol. After the Capitol, we went to the New England Culinary Institute for lunch. After a great lunch, our servers, who are students there, told us a little about themselves and their schooling there. Then the head Chef came out and spoke to us. We got on the bus again and went to the Rock of Ages plant in Barre, VT. They are the largest manufacturer of Granite Monuments. We picked up a guide on our arrival and went up to the Granite Quarry, where we were able to see the workers cutting Granite. This is the largest Gray Granite quarry in the world. The size of this quarry is 2 miles X 4 miles X 10 miles deep, and has been mined since the mid 1800’s. They say that it will take n4200 years to completely mine this Quarry. After leaving the Quarry, we stopped at a cemetery a few mile down the road. Most of the monuments there were manufactured by Rock of Ages. You may have already guessed, yes, it rained today.