Eric' Monday entry

I must apologize to my loyal readers for not making an earlier entry. As is usually the case, virtually all of the prep work for the trip was properly left in my hands, leaving me somewhat exhausted on the first day.

We have had a wonderful time, particularly if you like driving motorcycles over bad roads with torrents of rain and tropical storm force winds. The weather was so bad that the people who ran the ferry would not allow us on for fear that the bikes would be tossed by rough seas into Lake Champlain. No matter. We did a 225 mile detour around the south side of the lake and arrived soaking wet in lake placid after going through the pass near Keene where the temperature was near 35 degrees on my bike thermometer.

So this is a different type of trip. Perhaps some other comparisons are in order. From a technology standpoint we are far ahead. George shows no reticence in taking out the iPad even in the most elegant of restaurants and seems oblivious and indifferent as the glow of the pad interrupts the candlelight of the couple sitting at next table. I also added a droid to the trip. It has been a mixed blessing. I spent an hour dictating (voice recognition) a prior version of this entry only to delete it by pressing the wrong key).

The addition of motorcycle intercoms has also been a welcome addition, allowing us to amuse each other with various inane banalities as we battle through the weather. The range is five miles so we often have times of silence since George prefers a slower pace, usually on the shoulder with the emergency flashers on. But the intercoms have been positive, particularly since they allow us to make phone calls or listen to our music when we are not sufficiently distracted by the atrocious weather conditions and oncoming eighteen wheelers.

Well we can no longer make phone calls since we are now in Canada. I never considered Canada a serious separate country, but they now require passports and other papers to get in. We almost did not get in since George's attempt to charm the customs officer was met with a stony glare. Also it turns out that they don't like US money which is all that I bought (in keeping with tradition, George brought nothing). So far, our credit cards don't work since we neglected to notify the banks and we can't call them because, as stated above, our phones don't work. It is unclear whether we will be able to pay our hotel bill tommorow or get gas so this may be our sole entry.

Other traditions continue. Virtually any problem is appropriately left to me. When George's motorcycle broke and I had to drive 75 mile to get the proper wrench to fix it, I found George sitting under a tree sound asleep. Some token effort was offered by him to help me fix the bike but it was rejected as insincere.

Om the forgetfulness front, I would say we are on par with last year. Scarcely an hour goes by without the loss of a key, wallet or passport. The reader will remember the incident last year where I falsely and loudly accused a homeless man at McDonalds of stealing my motorcycle keys, when they were actually in my rear saddlebag. In Plattsburgh NY, I accused several sketchy teenagers of stealing my handlebar GPS, only to find it wedged into the front forks of the bike some sixty miles later.

Complaints about physical infirmities has decreased, due in large part that we have probably not walked more than 100 yards for the last four days. Long gone is any pretense that we will engage in some ancillary physical activity although George insisted I bring his hiking pole and a backpack (both of which fell off my motorcycle today) but he brought no hiking boots.

So all is well. I have, as usual, acceded to George's fear of the dreaded interstate and we have been content to take massive diversions from the direct route that the highway offers so that we can experience night time driving in freezing downpours and have giant trucks barrel right at us instead of joining us collegially in one direction in the adjoining lane. So we are making steady progress.


Monday
George has become obsessed with Amanda Knox. Maybe he has been obsessed for a while. I thought he was obsessed with northeastern sports and the patriots but we are not allowed to watch the baseball playoffs or Monday night football. It's all Amanda Know on the Today Show and CNN.

For what it is worth,here are my thoughts. What happened to Amanda sounds awful, but does it justify this type of juggernaut tv coverage?Sounds like she was not a murderer but she was no saint either. Why do we not hear much about all the thousands men and women locked up for years in US prisons under our draconian mandatory sentencing drug laws? Or the slaughter,rapes and dismemberments of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo?There is obviously something about the Knox case that I am missing.

Anyway, another great day. There fewer disagreements about going on the interstate, as I have given up. George's speed has actually picked up and we make good time on circuitous secondary roads that take twice the time. George had me program ten hamlets into the GPS that had us going up near the Hudson Bay but we ended up in a gas station where my super french allowed the "patron" to explain a more direct route. Unfortunately, we arrived at Quebec at rush hour, and the traffic terrified me. Strangely, George thinks nothing of it, weaving seamlessly through the chaos at 50mph. I don't get it.

I love Quebec and we had a great dinner and walk around the City. The Queen Mary was on the river, all lit up. If my knee and George's hip cooperate, we may try to scale the cliffs up to the Plains of Abraham tomorrow, hoping our fate will be considerably better than those of Generals Wolf and Montcalm. Yes I actually remembered that without reference to the guidebook! It's great to speak French again and I've had a few chuckles with waiters and hotel staff about George's assumption that English is a universal language. Well it ain't here and they sure don't like it if even a charming American does not "essayer" - try- to speak a little French.
-Eric

- Posted from George's AT&T
iPhone