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Ok now i have a bit of time on a computer at our motel.
So from our last update we made our way to Richford Vermont...it was kind of a wierd little town. Slept in the park which at first i wasn't too keen on, but it worked for a free place to throw up the tent. It rained really hard for about an hour. And then cleared up. The next day we got up and should have gotten an early start but were feeling a bit lazy and weren't too excited about doing this part of the river as we had drug the boat up rapids and really shallow areas the whole day before. Not fun. So we started asking for a ride somewhere, either to Newport or to the border of Quebec which was about 7 miles away. After many people said they would love to but not that day we finally got a guy who said he would take us either place. When it got down to it we just couldn't skip that much of the trip. At first we were thinking that we weren't too excited about going into Quebec as many of the people we had met or tried to talk to that were from there seemed a bit snobby.
As we started up river from the border we soon realized we were really glad we did not skip this part of the trail! It was the best part of the river! It was very green, the water was clean, and the current was slow. Very few homes which makes it feel a bit more remote.
We saw a canoe rental place off the river and stopped to chat with the guy. Had we had known he was there and allowed people to camp in his yard we would have skipped up from Richford the day before. Oh well, wish we could have stopped there but we needed to put some miles down. Headed to Mansonville...and yes the people who founded it did have the last name Manson. Not Charles' though. Anyways we were afraid we wouldn't be able to find a place to camp. But as we walked up the hill Brian went to ask a guy if he knew of a place and a guy walked by and i asked him and they both offered for us to throw up the tent in their backyards! We suddenly liked Quebec a lot more! Anyways we went with the guy brian asked as his place was right there and offered first. Ended up his neighbor came by as we were setting up and he had a basement with a bedroom and a bathroom. He kindly offered to set us up there if we had liked! Of course! Anyways we had a wonderful night of eating pizza and chatting with Serge, Jeanette and Armond. Wonderful people! Really helped us out! Armond (the one who let us stay in his basement) even made us egg sandwiches and coffee in the morning! Amazing! Also Quebec was quite beautiful and reminded us a lot of Europe!
Next day we had the Grand Portage which is about 6 miles but we extended it as the river was really low to about 7.5. I think this was the first time we got the most offers for rides, and Brian was determined to say he did the Grand Portage so he declined...i totally would have taken them. But in the end we passed by a little general store right before we put in. We have been tasting ice cream (tour de creme) everywhere so we asked for a local brand but they only had half gallons so we were sad. But then they offered to give us some of theirs (they live there). And then offered us spaghetti for lunch as they had just finished up. Really delicious spaghetti and since Brian is such a spaghetti fan we got the recipe! Great ladies! Lovin Quebec now! Maybe we'll go back to visit sometime!
Got onto Lake Memphramagog and paddled on down to Newport, VT. We just bummed it at a loading dock and woke up to rain! As i mentioned in the earlier post. Never seen so many big trucks pass by and not even stop to see if we needed anything. It was depressing. But our cheap/huge breakfast really helped, oh and staying in a hotel that is dry is great too! Also this morning as we got back to the dock from our unsucessful attempt on the water Brian found 31 dollars on the ground! So that made up the difference for us to sleep in a hotel.
Have to skip some upstream rapids tomorrow...or at least try. We're hoping to find a ride past them as it would be another long walk. We'll be finishing the Vermont section in a few days and then into New Hampshire!
Doing well, getting tan, building muscles, and plenty of fresh air. Talked to the property management place today think it might turn out ok. Thanks Carla for the advice...definitely learned our lesson on this one!! Your son handled it very well and was very nice to the lady, buttered her up pretty well, just hope she passes that along to her supervisor which is the person who makes the call. Crooks! Think we'll at least get out of what they said about breaking our lease...long stupid story. But think we'll just have to suck it up and pay for the crap we didn't do. Gotta learn our lesson somehow, never making that mistake again! Thanks for your prayers!
Sandy, we're keepin up all the muscles we made at Fitness Ridge by all our portaging! We miss everyone there too! Tell them all we say hello!
Till next time...
Ahab and Starbuck!
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Lori
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Good Times :)
Sounds like ya'll are having quite a nice time, good for you! I'm impressed with how many kind folks you're meeting along the way. Kinda gives you hope for humankind! Keep the postcards coming, they are very welcomed updates! Be safe and remember to use sunscreen :)