Arrival

Multi-day road trips can seem never ending. The scenery changes gradually, the truck stops all start to look alike and these days I’m constantly checking Google Maps to see how much longer till we get there.

Rebecca, confused and resigned to life in a truck was getting more and more clingy the further we traveled. This was not the adventure she hoped for.

As Ontario led into Quebec I was oddly shocked by the sudden nonexistence of English. I expected, like most of Canada, for there to be a mix of English and French, but this was not the case. My mind had to do a sudden shift to French, only taking in about a third of what was posted on road signs, as I negotiated roads filled with aggressive drivers.

Aggressive driving is not new to me, but I was unprepared for what I experienced near Montreal: cars speeding up to close any amount of perceived space on the road only to pass me on a double yellow line in a construction zone.

Once outside the city, I managed my way through a drive-thru with my limited French for a sandwich of jambon et fromage. A little further away from Montreal, all of the radio stations were also in French. Quebec seemed to last forever.

Finally just as I passed into New Brunswick, where I could read the signs without having to think about it, the snow began. It was getting dark but I carried on. The road skirted the American border just north of Maine, and gained in elevation. This increased the snow fall. By the time full darkness had fallen, the snow was heavy. I hugged the white line on the side of the road and periodically turned on my flashers to let the truckers know they should pass me.

Visibility became more difficult in the snowy ascent, but I tootled along at a slowish pace, remembering I was driving on my Summer tires.

Finally, my exit came, and I was led along a country road to the house of my employer. Rebecca was ecstatic to be in a new place with new smells and other dogs to socialize with. She made friends quickly and seemed to have a renewed hope that this would be an adventure after all.