Something Fishy: Part 1

NB-bound again!

This weekend brought some driving delight as we (my daughter and I) took to the roads of Quebec and Maine to head east to the Maritimes once more. 

This time it was a bit of a different adventure, as we were providing route guidance to my lovely aunt and uncle who happened to be visiting Canada from the UK, and were making their own driving pilgrimage from Montreal to see my folks.

Who better to lead them through the nice roads and small towns of Maine than us in a bright red chase vehicle?

Another bright (and hot) sunny day greets us as we hit the road from Ottawa, escaping the snarl of rush hour traffic only to hit it again entering the largest city in la belle province.

No matter, as the schedule is relaxed and fluid, with a full two days ahead to make it to NB if we wish.  

We meet my relatives with their rental Toyota hybrid (or hire car as they called it). Decent enough for tripping, comfy and all, but clearly the GTS would not be taxed - rather would be kept reined in - to ensure we stayed together for the drive.

Together, we fight our way out of Montreal traffic and construction chaos to the open road towards Sherbrooke.

A fuss-free drive takes us through there and on to the Maine border where an easy crossing means we are well on our way to Bangor to overnight, with lots of daylight left for the woodland drive through Maine.

I had suggested overnighting in Bangor, as that's about the halfway point from Montreal, and then thought taking the coastal route from there to Calais would be a nice diversion from the regular 'airline' route through Maine. I'd not been that way in decades, so it would make a nice diversion for me too.

A few small twisties around the long lakes mean the Boxster gets to stretch its legs a little, knowing that we won't lose the little Toyota behind us. The snarl of the rev-match with each downshift, and the growl as the revs build is intoxicating, so I do lots of shifting just for fun. You could leave it in fourth the whole way through and the big motor would pull effortlessly, but where's the fun in that?

With a decent set of kilometres behind us, we pull into Bangor for the night and grab a reasonable meal before bunking down. 

No rush in the morning as we've decided to take the coast road for a change and see a bit of the  northern Maine coastline. 

Perhaps a few fishing villages? An ice cream? The sights and smells of the ocean!

I've not been along there in 40ish years, so it will be rather nice for a change.

Looking forward to the second leg!

~ Luke