Aug 10 - on the road, then in the air

On the road -- left the cottage around 9:30, a tad behind schedule but not much.  It was actually an easy drive; less traffic on 17 than I'd expected, and we arrived at Sheryl's before 5:30. 

We took a different route this time, not diverting towards Cornwall, the 401, Valleyfield and Ormstown.  We followed the NAV past Ottawa, 417/17 to 40 in PQ, the new 30 then 205 to Hemmingford.   That probably cut 1/2 hour out of the trip.  We added 10 minutes back in by missing 417 at one point and driving 17 through Hawkesbury after which they came together again.

Although it's a dim memory at this point, when I was working for Ontario Hydro on a survey crew one summer, we spent a few weeks working in that area -- Plantagenet.  My memories are of the drives down, leaving North Bay on Sunday evening, picking up one member of the crew south of Mattawa, stopping at a hotel for several beer, hitting the road again with me driving because I was the only one capable of driving / too young to be served beer in the bar.

Although we spent our Sunday evening driving to the sites, we left early Friday to be home by 5pm.  We were "entitled" to a one-hour lunch, so we'd leave the site at least 1/2 hour beforehand to drive to lunch (steak every day), hour lunch, then 1/2 hour back -- you get the idea, short working days.  The crew consumed a lot of beer in the evenings ...

From that summer, I remember three survey sites -- Plantagenet in the middle of the summer; somewhere on Guelph Line in the Hamilton/Brantford area near the end of the summer and, for the first week or two, a few hours north of North Bay in the mosquito infested bush.  Jason met me at one point when I was in his area, with his then-girlfriend Mickey (sp?).    The '55 Chev, as I recall ... wow, it's amazing what you remember -- not sure if the memories are actually correct, but I do have memories !

Back to Hemmingford -- we got here just before it started to rain; good timing.  Sheryl did a roast pork for dinner, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans ... very good.  After supper, I did online check-in for our flight and Jim printed them off.  Today's agenda is light on activities until we head to the airport, have dinner in the area, check in, hang around, board, fly to France.  That's enough !

Onward !