FULL CIRCLE , FACTS AND FIRSTS!

Well... LL and I wrapped up our Thelma and Louise road trip, clocking in at 3330.03 KM driven together.   Add on another 450 km for me and 900 km for her, to get to our meet-up place at my sister's, and you see, we did a LOT of driving. Or I should say, Linda did all the driving. I drove about thirty km ALL TOLD. The minute I stepped on the gas, to pass a transport truck near Cornwall, and Linda grabbed the door handle, I KNEW my time at the wheel was VERY limited. I didn't mind... I don't particularly like driving. :) She does!  She is a phenomenal driver too.  Even if someone did give her the finger, and another truck driver mouthed the F word at her.

Linda met F-I-V-E of my cousins.  When she told me my family was phenomenal, (our new word instead of awesome), I told her that she had only met roughly one-twentieth of my cousins.  You see, my mother is from a family of sixteen children, and my father, thirteen children.  I have OVER NINETY first cousins. I could do the same trip again, and visit cousins in Toronto, Montreal, Québec, Trois-Rivières, Ottawa and heaven only knows where else, because I don't know where they ALL are now.  I know that I would be treated like royalty ALL OVER AGAIN.  They would all be like Jeannine, Hélène, Annette, Monique and Michelle... wonderful!!

Of course, LL and I had to end our trip with an another adventure, wouldn't you know it?

After a long day's drive from Farnham, QC to Edmundston, you would think we would have been content to stay at my sister's and chill. RIGHT? WRONG!  LL, aka Imelda Marcos, wanted to cross over to Maine to go check out the shoes at Mardens. We took my car, since it had nothing in it.  We go across and of course, we were pulled right over, and made to wait fifteen minutes while Jiminy Cricket was searched.  WHY?   There could have been many reasons, but when you ask, border security always says the same thing, "It is random."  POPPYCOCK! I think they were into green cars that day, because the one ahead pulled over as well, was bright green. Or could it have been because we were three women, from three different cities, and LL had a Nexus card with her OLD address on it?  Now normally, in a situation totally silly like this one, I would just go into fits of giggling.   WELL... you don't do that in the US Customs office where you are being detained. No way, José!  Anyway, it was TOTALLY annoying, but heck... it was a slow day I guess.

We spend ALL of thirty minutes shopping at Mardens. Does LL buy shoes?  No, I do.  Me, who hates SHOPPING,  and only went along for the ride, bought a $4.58 pair of water shoes. Hermanita doesn't buy anything either.

I do gas up, and then we are back across on the Canadian side... where... we were PULLED OVER again, and Jiminy Cricket was searched again.  Now both Hermanita and I say to LL, "Get a PASSPORT!"  We have to blame someone, geez, for the fact that in less than forty-five minutes, we were DETAINED on BOTH sides of the border. THIS, we all determined, had NEVER happened to any of us before, EVER,  colline de bine!!!  All three of us have lived in border communities for over fifteen years, and so crossed over fairly frequently.  How could they possibly think that three boomers would have anything undeclared? They may have thought we were drug runners? LOL  Another first to add to my list.

OUR frustration disappeared after we wrapped up the evening,  indulging in wine and Pizza Delight's Big Crave pizza, on Hermanita's deck.

We had to finish our road trip with a bang, I guess. This bang was the LEAST harmful.

LL and I have M=A=N=Y wonderful memories of our ten day road trip - but best of all, we are still friends, and Vimy still loves me.

Day 8 - Found an old friend in French's ketchup!

Pour de VRAI!  LITERALLY!!!!

Much to my chagrin and consternation, my simple FB posting a year ago, showing an empty Heinz bottle of KETCHUP alongside a full bottle of French's ketchup, was shared over twenty THOUSAND  times.  I almost regret having expressed a "Buy Canadian" attitude except for the fact that  O*N*E  share by a son-in-law WAS seen by his mother-in-law.    That mother-in-law recognized me as HER French teacher at a night school class thirty-eight years prior. Can you believe this? I barely can!

Need I say more? She messaged me. We reconnected online, (THANK YOU FACEBOOK!) and when I knew I was doing my Thelma and Louise road trip, I let her know I would be in the area and would love to drop in and visit.

All of which I did, after LL and I left Barrie.  Lynn so graciously welcomed us into her home and family, where she had laid out coffee, pastries and fruit for breakfast. and where we caught up, in an hour or so, on almost twenty five years of living.  The years flew by, as they ALWAYS do, and Lynn and I picked up where we had once left off. We couldn't even remember when we had last seen each other. NOT that it mattered one iota!!

I left, NOT only with a picnic basket full of goodies for our continuing Thelma and Louise road trip, which Lynn insisted on giving us, but with a heart FULL of new and old memories.  IE: Lynn throwing me a wedding shower back in 1979.  Her eldest daughter's best friend NOW living in the same town as I do. Lynn's sweetly precise and calm way of talking.  Jennifer's comment, as a young six or seven year old, on something being "Excellent." Husband Paul, the same affable fellow as always, in a house full of women, but now with the added blessing of a grown-up grandson.

Meetings like this REJUVENATE me, and remind me of the following quote by P.D.James "Not so much two ships passing in the night as two ships sailing together for a time, but always bound for different ports."  

DAY 7 - HOMEWARD BOUND GAFFES and little glitches.

On rebrousse chemin - we are on our way home!!  To circumvent Toronto and visit family that LL has in Barrie, we took the Express Toll Route 407 again.  So convenient and stress free.   I highly recommend it. Mind you, I might not when we get the bill by mail. It isn't cheap.  Apparently the 407 when it was built was the only electronic toll highway in the WORLD. It may still be...

I had found us a sweet little basement apartment on Airbnb, in a residential area.  Google Maps brought us right to the door.   There was no side entrance, like in the picture, so I try the back gate.  I can't get it open. No one answers the doorbell.  Beginning to doubt the address, I check my email and realize we are at #346 and NOT #246.  Meanwhile, Linda has just come back from trying to break into the back yard herself, so when I tell her we are at the WRONG  address, her reply? "Let's get the HELL out of here. I didn't come all the way the way to Barrie to friggin' get arrested for trying to break into someone's house."  Of course I was paralyzed, NOT with fear, but with laughter! I needed to go to the washroom so badly, which made me laugh all the harder. I can't move. Thank goodness no one was home. Airbnb is wonderful, but pay attention to the numbers in the address, folks.

We had a short, sweet and special visit with Linda's uncle and his wife in their nursing home. I saw on the wall, on a board, an example of all the locks, devices, straps, ties, etc that are used to keep the residents "secure." I wanted to take a picture, but I didn't.  It was heartbreaking. Linda and I were both in tears when we left. Her uncle is one sharp cookie, and truly delightful.  Mind you, I almost fell off my chair when I heard him say none too nicely, to a nosy resident who was lingering near his door,  "Get the F^*! out of my room!"

Some great Ontario wine, bought from The Wine Store, because we couldn't find an LCBO store to save our lives, and prepared take out food from Sobeys, rounded out our day, along with a few hours of downtime in our sweet enclave, where everything sparkled, for the princely sum of 64$ total.

La vie est belle!!!

DAY 5 and 6: FAMILY is everything!

How ABSOLUTELY wonderful it is to spend time with extended family i.e. cousins, their children and grandchildren and in the case of my cousin Jeannine,  her GREAT grandchildren. We don't get to see each other often, as we live 2000 km apart.  Jeannine is MY age, sooooooo..., VERY young to be a great grandmother. She is an awesome GG, by the way, which is what her grandchildren call her, "GG."

I actually managed to do quite well figuring out all the familial ties.  Linda blended in like a dirty shirt. At one point in the introductions though, when she was introduced as my "companion", I felt compelled to add "WE are NOT a couple!"  I thought having an uncle six months older than me was unique, but GG's son, is a grandfather to children who are the age of his own children.  ALL four of these children are UNDER the age of six.  This special role he accomplishes with great love, caring, wisdom and aplomb!

The 45th wedding anniversary celebration took place in a huge, beautiful back yard, where there was a memorial garden to both deceased grandmothers, pristine landscaping and flowing fountains, comfortable decking, large canopies, gorgeous weather, and a delicious catered dinner for over forty guests. Just as evident, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, were the hugs, kisses, stories and LOVE that filled the sweet summer evening air, all of which made for a MAGICAL evening that I shall ALWAYS remember.

Time is fleeting, and as the song says "We may never come this way again..."  L-O-V-E with your whole heart, LAUGH, HUG, and KISS, the ones you love, as much as you can, as often as you can.  THAT is what life is A*L*L about!

DAY 3 and DAY 4: WOULD YOU BELIEVE...?

TWO cars ran a red light at a four way intersection, one going south and the other north? The northbound car swerved around us on our right, at high speed and THEN swerved AGAIN to avoid colliding with the southbound car which was turning left.

 I am sure that all the occupants of the other eight cars at that intersection, GASPED collectively.  I know Linda and I did. It happened SO fast. The northbound car, at the speed he was going, would have rear ended us, as Linda had just slowed to a stop as the light turned red. Linda's first words? "OMG, we would have had to be first responders to that mess!"

Weigh stations for truck axels look like cemeteries without the grass?

You can visit a former neighbour from 23 years ago, and be treated like royalty... and it doesn't matter that you are no longer young, married mothers, but two separated/divorced boomers in your sixties?  The years slip away and you happily pick up where you left off.

The great generosity of some people? Take an old friend whom I have known for over fifty years, for example.   He is undergoing chemo and has an ingrown toenail that requires surgery the next day, but he still finds time to take you and your friend on a long, Cook's tour of his town.  At a famous local farmer's market, he treats you to lunch and snacks, even buys your friend a hat, and plies you with small gifts before you leave? His generosity knew no bounds.

A third visit for tea, as only an Englishwoman can brew it, along with homemade cookies, with a former colleague of thirty-five years ago... where her soon-to-be husband has exactly the SAME name as Linda's father- Richard Kelly? Both their dogs... named Daisy. :)

On busy and congested highways in southern Ontario, in construction season no less, AND during the work week, we have yet to come upon standstill traffic?

We will have traveled 1650 km from Lac Légaré, upon reaching our destination in two hours... Windsor, Ontario.

Thelma and Louise will have arrived!!!

Day 2-Day of Discovery

WHAT did I discover?  I discovered that on a long road trip, you have to make JUST as many pit stops to pee, as you did when you traveled with young children.

I discovered that I can't get away from semi-tropical storms.   We arrived in Beloeil just ahead of a huge thunderstorm, which was in fact a tornado that touched down in Lachute, two hours away.  There was debris everywhere, electrical wires down, flashing lights on Hydro Québec trucks seemingly at every turn, and roads closed. Our restaurant of choice had no power. So finding a place to have supper turned into an hour long adventure.

I discovered I can juggle TWO cell phones, and using Google Maps, be a really good navigator for
my driver Linda.

I discovered I was still terrified of cats, but that I could make myself a cat cage with the cushions off the sofa bed, to prevent Prout-Prout or Shadow, from jumping on me while I was sleeping. I also discovered that Linda never slept all night, and basically stayed awake keeping an eye on those two marauding felines.

I discovered THE perfect man for  my 83 year old, long widowed mother. He is a total charmer; he is Linda's uncle. ONLY problem? He lives in Montreal, DARN IT!!

I discovered that transport truck drivers, REALLY don't like it when you cut them off on the 401.  EVEN if you blow them a kiss, which I did, they still give you the FINGER, which he did to LINDA. :)

Pseudo "Thelma and Louise" Road Trip...

... remember that movie? Well, we WEREN'T Gina Davies and Susan Sarandon, nor did we drive a convertible, kill someone or drive off a cliff! However, we did have an excellent adventure.

DAY 1 - THE GOOD- First pit stop was at "Hermanita's" (aka Loulou,) at her lakeside retreat, on a hot, hot day. We  took a dip off  the dock, then did two  turns around the lake kayaking, where we were  joined by a completely tame cormorant and a king fisher guiding us ahead. Listen Linda wanted to try kayaking for the first time but was very hesitant. Well, Loulou and I had her in the kayak in no time flat, after supper and a glass of wine or two "veut ... veut  pas". She was some proud of herself after. She wants to buy one!

THE BAD- Which was really just SILLY AND STUPID! When transferring all my stuff from my vehicle to LL's, at the meet-up point, we spent a good ten minutes trying to find my car keys so I could lock up my car. Never mind that I would need them upon our return. SUDDENLY I turned to Linda and said "Look at me." I had tucked my keys into my left brassiere cup, where they were firmly lodged, with the keychain hanging out.  Twenty years ago they would have jiggled around madly, and I would have heard them.

THE UGLY - A stop at an ubiquitous Tim's turned into a heartbreaking incident. As I stepped outside Tim's with my coffee, to cross over the drivethrough section to my car, I was already very distracted. I was meeting someone, and I was nervous. As I was almost past the car that had stopped to let me cross, I glimpsed, out of the corner of my eye, a small cocker spaniel puppy crossing DIRECTLY in front of the right front tire of the car waiting for me to finish crossing. OMG! My first and instinctive reaction was to yell stop, throw my hands up slightly, which I did...but I did not stop. All I could think was "This puppy is going to be run over. I can't look." I RAN, instead of STOPPING dead in my tracks. Trouble was, I wasn't in the middle of the road; the driver had had no way of seeing that puppy AT ALL, so he was rolling slowly forward, anticipating I would be out of his way completely.  I ran and cowered at a picnic table, my hands half covering my ears, waiting for more screams, yells, something TERRIBLE. Nothing!! When I looked up, a woman was standing in the middle of the road, yelling at those careless people who had let their puppy off its leash in such a busy business area. She was telling them to get their OTHER dog on his leash. He was a kind of pit bull and was running madly all over the place. Would you believe he ended up right by me, as a young boy chased him. I put out my hand for the dog to smell, and when he came close enough I was able to grab his collar. I looked up in time to see the owner scoop up the spaniel in a blanket into his arms, and deposit him on  the back seat of a truck. He then LEFT him there with the door WIDE OPEN. I was SOOOOO relieved to see his head poking right up, that I forgave him for leaving the door open.  The rest of the family and the other dog then jumped in and they sped off. I had to hope he maybe only had a broken leg, and not internal injuries. I had asked the little boy if the spaniel was his, (he was) and would he be okay, but he said he didn't know. The child looked terrified. What a traumatic incident!  I know... it's only a dog that got hurt, and NOT a child. However, that dog is still one of God's creatures.

I couldn't go around asking other people there milling around if THEY knew what had happened, as my meet-up person joined me just as I handed over the pit bull. I do feel that I redeemed myself in a VERY small way, by catching the second errant dog. I have to tell myself that anyway, because I
never slept much that night... reliving the whole episode in my mind, over and over again.

THE EXCELLENT- I found out that a dear, old friend remembered me in her will. Bless her!