In Maine, I decided to take time to enjoy the back roads. I had been a little disappointed that I had not seen a moose, until suddenly I saw one just off the road! I hit the brakes hard and grabbed my camera. Unfortunately I had to change lenses. I hoped I had time to capture it. I also hoped that an aggressive mate or relative would not be waiting nearby. I also had no shoulder on the roadside to work with so I had to be cautious about that as well. I did manage to capture it and I was quite pleased.
The road took me into New Hampshire and through Dixville Notch, famous for its midnight elections. There I saw The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, which had an amazing location and pretty architecture.
I dreaded the border crossing as always. This one seemed friendlier because it was small and no one else was there. I explained the same things as before. As normal, the guards wanted to search my car, and I consented. They conversed in French and one of them called someone and got approval to let me through. I was getting ready to deal with the mess they left of my things, but it turned out that they had been put back in far better order than they were when I arrived! Now I was in French speaking Canada, and it was actually very easy to get around. Most things are the same and common sense is enough to figure out most words.
I looked for a bank in a few of the small towns across the border since I needed more Canadian currency. When I did find one, I discovered that it was Sunday. I would have to conserve what I had until I got to a larger city, which by my route would be Montreal.
Driving along the Trans-Canada highway was easy and fun, at least for highway driving. Quebec had mostly rolling hills and distant mountains. Much of it was scenic farmland.
Eventually I did arrive in Montreal, and I did find a currency exchange on my map. Parking was a bit difficult to find. I spent the last of my Canadian money for some time at a meter and hustled to the currency exchange. Everyone in the city seemed upbeat and polite. I looked around where I could, and I liked what I saw. Montreal seemed to be a very pleasing mixture of old and modern things. When I got to the currency exchange, the woman who did the exchanging started chatting with me, which I thought to be unusual. She was downright friendly, also unusual. She wanted to hear about my travels when I hinted at the scale of my trip. I gave her a brief summary. I felt happy that someone at a currency exchange would be so nice.
From there, I moved west, stopping for nothing but fuel (and the occasional photo). I came into Ontario, which was nice, if boring. I understand that is the reputation is has among Canadians. Night fell, and I kept driving on and on. I checked to see what would be the closest big city, so I could find somewhere to stop. That ended up being the Sudbury area. I was exhausted when I exited the highway and found a shopping centre that looked a decent place to park and sleep. The temperature dropped below freezing and it was not a restful night. All together, I had driven something like 600 miles in 11 hours.
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