It's been a minute. . .

We have been away. For quite a while. We took a trip to Duluth to see our younger daughter and her partner. Driving. From Maine. This is, of course, kind of a crazy thing to do in March, but we wanted to see them and their new home, and we have time. It's odd how when you're retired, you realize that you don't have much time in a larger sense (years), but that you can Take Time because you don't have so many obligations. I made a piece once called "Taking time (like a thief in the night)". It is an odd phrase, isn't it? Taking Time.

Anyway! We had a terrific trip. We drove northwest out of Maine and into Quebec Canada, a bit east of Montreal. I'm amazed at how much wonderful hiking there is all along the way. Googlemaps has helped us find trails more easily. To be fair, not all were navigable (pack ice was mostly the problem), but many were, and Jasper, once again, served as both our exercise machine and our seeing eye dog.

Our first night was in Broussard, which is a town just East of Montreal. It's being developed as a destination shopping/eating/etc. place. The "etc." didn't include hiking, unfortunately, but we had a terrific meal, a twelfth floor suite, and a good night's rest before heading on. Hikes included a beautiful park in Ottawa (comparable to Central Park in New York, I think), and we saw soil that day. The whole point of our taking a trip in March has, in the past, been to See Soil, which is necessary for both Jasper and me (Jasper does more than see it), but we really wanted to see Sarah, and our previous destinations to the south didn't feel right this year.

The Canadians were unfailing kind to us. There is a good bit of evidence of the troubles the U.S. has caused them. The tariffs and their effects are on the nightly news, as are many of Trumps most recent tantrums, and "Buy Canada" signs are everywhere now. We didn't see those when we visited Quebec in November. We intentionally spent money whenever we could, and I also took what small opportunities that presented themselves to apologize to folks we ran into; usually hiking or eating.

We drove West on the Trans-Canada highway until Sault-St.-Marie, where we took a left, and crossed the Upper Peninsula. It was in going across the UP that we were glad that we hadn't brought the EV with us. Where Canada has quite developed charging infrastructure, the UP doesn't. . .in fact, many places even in the East of the United States lack charging infrastructure. A sad comment on our dealing with climate change. Small sigh.

We drove along the south side of Lake Superior and reached Duluth. There is no doubt that Lake Superior is very ocean-like. I wondered why these lakes aren't called "seas", and it turns out that a sea is, by definition, salt water. Duluth is an industrial city. . .perhaps more in the past than now, but it remains very industrial looking. The city itself is very bohemian in feel . .  . we stayed in a beautiful old hotel called Fitgers, and could walk to The Duluth Trading Company. 

This proved handy, since John needed a particular pair of their trousers that were actually in stock! We could walk out the door of the hotel, and go to the long stretch of harbor-walk. I think we could have walked for miles, though our walks were shortened by the wind. Fortunately, it wasn't terribly cold.

After 5 great days with Sarah and John-the-younger, we came back via Thunder Bay and the northern route through Canada along Lake Superior. We had some truly epic dinners in Canada, going in both directions, but the Most epic was at Grotto, in Thunder Bay. This is another industrial looking town that does a good job of being liveable.

The northern route along Lake Superior proved to be absolutely beautiful.. . one stunning view of the lake and the surrounding mountains after the next. It was long, though, and finding food and lodging in some of the rural towns along the way was tough. We agreed that we were glad we did it, and would not likely travel that way again.

Our last night was spent in St. Jean Sur Richelieu, east of Quebec City. It was a really great small city/large town with lots of restaurants and a wonderful canal trail that ran between the canal and the Richelieu River. Onward the next day, now seriously leaning toward home. We had the interior of the house painted in our absence, and I have to say it was truly wonderful to come home to that. Our last day of travel was the only one that was a little dicey weather-wise, but all told, we were incredibly lucky with the weather, with our children's happiness, and with Jasper's extraordinary travel ability.