I was woken up by a leader at exactly 5:37 a.m. I got out of my tent, got my gear together, and soon my tent was taken down. At 7:30, we left the site with our gear. About halfway to the bus area my sleeping bag fell off my pack, and I had to carry it the rest of the way. I made it to the bus area, and by 8:00 our charter bus arrived. For breakfast we had juice boxes and granola bars. Around 8:30 we departed, about an hour earlier than we originally planned. We were soon on the Confederation bridge entering New Brunswick. (So long, PEI!) We watched the rest of Dr. No, then we watched Wayne's World. After three hours, we arrived in Fredericton.
In Fredericton, we stopped at Burger King, located on Smythe Street just off of Route 2 (now part of Route 8). There I picked up The Globe and Mail, so I could find out if Toronto had been awarded the 2008 Olympics, as the decision was supposed to have been made the day prior. Of course, the paper said that Beijing won the Olympics. There was also the usual news about Stockwell Day and his dissidents in the paper. I ate a Double Whopper meal, since we had had so little for breakfast this morning. We departed Fredicton, and we headed towards Quebec. The scenery of New Brunswick was beautiful, as we rolled through hills and then along the majestic St. John River. We had a couple cloudbursts of rain, and after a couple hours we were in Quebec on Route 185. I changed my watch back to Eastern Daylight Time. I watched eagerly for Saint-Louis-du-Ha!-Ha!, and I laughed as we passed it.
At Riviere-du-Loup, we joined Autoroute 20 westbound, and eventually we stopped to refuel the bus at a Petro-Canada station on the side of the highway. It cost $390.00 to fill the bus. Some of us waited outside, while some of us waited in La Depanneur. We got back on the bus, and we continued west to La Pocatiere, where we got off the highway and stopped for supper at McDonald's on Route 132. This McDonald's had video games instead of the traditional PlayPlace. I had a Bix Xtra meal there. We departed and went to Quebec City. We went across the Pont Pierre Laporte, onto Boulevard Laurier/Route 175. This road took us to Old Quebec. We saw the historic Plains of Abraham, and our bus went right down to the St. Lawrence River. We saw beautiful 17th and 18th century buildings made of stone, as well as some statues. As a Canadian, I found this to be a very historic place to see. There were people riding around in horse-drawn carriages. We also passed by a Burger King housed in one of the historic buildings on Grande Allee Est. It looked like such a formal environment for a Burger King that one of our Scouts commented that it was a "Gourmet Burger King."
We left Old Quebec, back across the Pont Pierre Laporte and back onto Autoroute 20. We changed bus drivers in a restaurant parking lot near Route 116, where we had a final picture taken of our group. We then proceeded towards Montreal. We watched Wayne's World 2 on the way there. It was 10:30 when we arrived in Montreal. This time we stayed on Autoroute 20 and we saw a spectacular fireworks display on the St. Lawrence River. We crossed onto the island via the Champlain Bridge. Somewhere past Dorval International Airport, I said goodbye to the "world beyond Ontario," and I fell asleep.
Please click 'next' for the conclusion of our journey home. |
