I got up early on June 14 as I had decided to get more diesel and the cheapest was 30 minutes away in Rutland. The reviews said they had DEF too; well, they did not but the extra time was so worth seeing a beautiful Vermont morning without the rain.
Brandon, Vermont was the closest little town to my campground. It had a really cute vibe and some really pretty churches.
I waited to hitch up until after 10am as I was trying to get a campsite in Schoodic Woods, which is part of Acadia National Park. They release sites 2 months from the date at 10am. Sadly, I struck out. So, hitched up and was on the road sometime after 11am. The plan was to take Vt 7 up to Burlington, to I-89. I’d gone to Burlington the day before, as they have a Costco there. It was crazy busy.
From I-89 the plan was to head north to Swanton and get off onto VT 78. This joins up to US2. All of that went swimmingly. However, there is a point in VT after crossing lots of water (as Lake Champlain is all through this area) where I should have gone north on US 2 but turned south. I realized my mistake quickly, but there was no place to turn around. My Google maps and RVLife GPS offered up routes, many unviable as they involved a u-turn, which you can’t do towing. I ended up driving 9 miles up a Lakeshore Road that was literally on the banks of Lake Champlain to get back to US 2. I was stressed to the max!
Luckily, I got back onto 2 North, drove through Rouse’s Point, NY and onto NY 11 which very quickly put me on I-87. I stopped at an Irving Oil at this junction for diesel and DEF, which they DID have at the pump. Then, I drove to the border where there was exactly no wait at all for a lane. The Canadian border agent was a bit concerned about my stated destination of Montreal (“you’re taking that-pointing at the fifth wheel- into Montreal????”). I assured her I was going to a campground and meeting friends, which prompted more questions about these so-called friends. She was also surprised at the length of time I’ll be in Canada, but after these few questions she wished me well.
I got to the KOA at 2:30, the very last person on the tour to arrive. We were to have a meeting at 3pm, which I was late too as my site was too short to fit my truck and fifth wheel without some tires in the grass.
While I was slightly late to the meeting, Jerry, Wendy, Charlie and Rae were very, very late. They’d gone to the Botanical Gardens and got stuck in traffic. Montreal is really hopping this week, as the Formula 1 race, the Montreal Grand Prix, is this weekend. Apparently, you can’t find a hotel anywhere near the city and there are tons of tourists flooding the area. So, traffic is a bigger challenge than might be otherwise.
Given that I was absolutely exhausted at this point, I said goodnight to all and went to bed. We were scheduled to do an all-day bus tour the next day and I knew I’d need some sleep. Stay tuned for some amazing pics of Montreal!
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