… had me tickled pink, as it clearly had several other people too. Because there really were some people who believed that the rocket really was being carried on the trailer of this lorry.
I went out for an early morning constitutional, like you do, and noticed the rocket on display on a plinth across the motorway. And so I waited until a convenient lorry drove past.
I had meant to go for a closer inspection after breakfast but somehow, Brain of Britain forgot.
I was up and about early – and by “early” I mean 04:00. So that gave me plenty of time to catch up on my notes and photos of yesterday and even some from 2011 too. Can’t take a shower too early.
And yes, we’re back in a Quebec motel. The C and F on the taps doesn’t stand for chaud and froid like you might think. It means “Cold” and “Freezing”.
But the towels were something else completely. So luxurious! I had no end of trouble trying to close my suitcase when I left. Makes a change from some motels where I’ve stayed, where they actually stole the towels from the guests (and YES – I have had this!).
Shopping was next. And never having been to Laval before, I had done my research. It didn’t take long to find the Canadian Tire, Walmart and Home Depot, located quite close together down the road.
And a Dollar Store! They had packets of seeds on sale at three for $1:00 – including some sweet corn! I was tempted by that kind of offer – after all, growing crops at my altitude is challenging – but seeds destined for the short Canadian growing season sound just the job to me.
Finding a bank was something else, though. No trace of a Scotia Bank (where my UK bank has an arrangement) in the vicinity so we had to resort to the telephone directory and the Lady Who Lives In The Satnav.
I’d seen a supermarket – an IGA – on the side of the motorway last night driving down here, and I’d made a mental note. But seeing it was one thing – finding my way to it was something else completely.
All of that took me until lunchtime, would you believe. And those raisin buns that I had bought in the Dollar Store were delicious. Went down a treat
This afternoon saw me at my storage box at Jarry. Regular readers of this rubbish will recall that I rent a storage box in one of these self-store units. Just 1m³ but I keep my bed, my camping stuff and my fittings for the Dodge in there.
I spent most of the afternoon fitting out the Dodge and then hitting Highway 40 east.
Straight into the rush hour.
If that wasn’t enough to be going on with, the temperature suddenly plummeted 10°C as I sat and watched, and we were greeted with the most tremendous downpour. Nothing that I had ever seen in the Auvergne came anywhere close to what we were having just then.
And with the traffic having sat stationary for about half an hour we were joined by a pile of fire engines, ambulances and police cars. That prolonged our stay.
We eventually moved off, four lanes compressed into one – in the rush hour – due to a major fire on the hard shoulder. And it was black as pitch, torrential rain and freezing cold.
I slipped off the motorway, wondering if it would be quicker to advance by going via Repentigny, but a Motel welcoming sign greeted me with rooms reduced to a special price “for tonight only”.
copulatum expensium, as we Pompeiians say
So here at the Motel des Pinions Rouges at Bout-de-l’Ile it gave me an opportunity to charge up the Ryobi batteries that I had bought in Home Depot, and to cook myself a meal in the slow cooker.
I’ll organise myself better tomorrow.
