HOMEWARD BOUND - 1992

Our return journey wasn't particularly exciting. No photographs were taken in Vermont or New York. Perhaps a memory of a clump of ground beef on a piece of bread during a previous visit to the Green Mountains via Granby PQ as a teenager had something to do with it; there was no mustard, no relish and no bun and they had the audacity to call it a "hamburger". Maybe it was the thought of a possible repeat of our overnight stay at the Journey's End Motel in Cornwall ON at the beginning of this trip which influenced our return route. In any case, a couple of place names have been added to the map of our trip East, and that should suffice as a reference.

Thus, we had reserved a stay in Barre, Vermont, for the night of Friday, August 28, before we left the Days Inn Motel in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Our drive along the I-89 was pleasant enough to Exit 6 on VT 14, but construction caused some delay before we reached the motel. We were truly ready to relax in their jacuzzi and pool when we arrived. That's where Doug met a uniquely chubby American fellow at poolside, while Pat continued to enjoy the jacuzzi.

Here's Doug's version: "The conversation began quite innocently. Where are you from? Where have you been? Did you enjoy the marvelous scenery? (In my mind, I was thinking back to the rock formations at Hopewell Provincial Park, the majestic scenery along the Cabot Trail of Cape Breton Island, the tidal bore at the Bay of Fundy, etc.) Yes, we were enjoying our trip. Thus, the next comment from our chubby fellow came as a shocker, when he observed, "I bet that Canadians would like to become part of the United States." He became quite agitated when I replied, "Not really." "I know some young American lads who would give you a fight over that kind of statement," he glared. I kept my response of "No doubt!" brief, but I was thinking about all of the many things that Canadians enjoyed which made us different from the USA. A basic health care plan. A direct election of our parliamentary representatives, and no middle-man (electoral college) to vote for us. Gun regulations. A peaceful history in the development of our country. A general respect for the special rights of our First Nations People. Two official languages (by which separatists often reveal a theme or motto of 'Divided we Stand'). I tried to sooth our chubby American's discomfort by suggesting that Quebec might like to join the USA one day, but Americans would be pressed to learn French and the correct spelling of the units of measurement (e.g. metre) in the Système International. The thought seemed to distress him even more. At this point, Pat rescued me by suggesting that it was time for dinner."

After breakfast, we arrived at Burlington, Vermont, and took a ferry across Lake Champlain. Here is a brochure about the ferries at Lake Champlain for reference. At our destination of Watertown NY, on August 29, we had dinner (US$20) at O'Tooles Restaurant in the plaza near the Days Inn Motel. Then it was breakfast on Sunday morning in the Denny's Restaurant at the motel and onward to John's Restaurant in the Niagara Falls NY outlet mall, where we enjoyed a NY sirloin strip steak before heading back to Toronto.