July 8th
Its been a grueling couple of days.It has been in the 90s, humid and constant sunshine, but everyone is happy and excited for the biking ahead. We spent a whole day exploring Burlington, VT and swimming in Lake Champlain and now we are in Plattsburgh, NY. The day started off with a gorgeous ferry ride from the shores of Lake Champlain in Burlington, across to Port Kent. The hour long ferry ride was refreshing and breezy. Of course as soon as we got off the boat, the heat returned and lasted throughout the day. We rode 10 miles on route 9 until we decided to stop for lunch and get out of the sun. Luckily we found a Stewarts and we all got ice cream sundaes and root beer floats to cool off. Just 12 more miles and we arrived in Plattsburgh where we spend the rest of the day lounging on a beach, reading, napping and swimming. Our campsite at Cumberland State park was probably the best campsite yet. We got a huge tent space right near the water front and close to the showers. For dinner we all went to a NY pizza place and splurged on cheese and veggie pizzas and salads. Tomorrow we are crossing the boarder into Canada.
Bienvenue a Montreal!
Its July 10th and we just arrived in Montreal Canada. After mastering the skillful art of following Canadian bike paths we found our way onto the Pont de Victoria where we waited in a queue with 40 other cyclists until the bridge, which had been temporarily closed so that boats could pass, reopened. We rode along a well traveled bike, pausing to take a picture with the city behind us. Once in Montreal we wove through the streets into Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) where we perused the boardwalk and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After a relaxing afternoon and a 15 miles bike ride we made our way to the HI Hostel on Rue de Mackay in the center of town, passing by Notre Dame de Basilica and numerous parks. After a home cooked dinner of chicken vegetable stir fry and blueberry pie, the trekkers found a ukulele, guitar and djembe. They brought the instruments back to their room to sing and tell stories before bed. Tomorrow we will be wandering the lovely city, visiting Rue de Saint Catherine and hopefully some art museums.
