Day 57 Montreal, QE Area to Ausable Chasm, NY

Today we left Canada and entered back into the good old USA. As well as the Canadians treated us the past week or so, it is still good to be back in your own country.

Today did not start out good for me. Within the first 3 miles I had 2 flat tires. That doubled me flat tire count for the whole trip to 4 total. My flat was caused by a tiny piece of glass that I must have picked up on Saturday and it finally cut into the tube. Dan and I changed the tire kind of fast and apparently did not have the replacement tube seated all the way. When I flagged down Julie as she was going by, I used her pump and pumped it up. Suddenly as I got it to 115 lbs, the tube exploded like a gun shot. At the time there was a dog from a nearby house with us, barking. When the tube popped, the dog was so scared, he took off for the house and did not return.

Also for the day, we were told in advance that we would have 2 sections of gravel roads, 3 miles in total. The first was not so bad, but the later one was terribly bumpy and loose. Also, some sections of the paved roads were in terrible condition with busy traffic flying by. I felt the breeze of one passing car, it was so close to me. Later, before getting to the border crossing, we had a long section of paved trail, that was more meant for snowmobiles, but it was nice. We got in line at the border and it took about 40 minutes to get across.

Our camp was nearby the Ausable Chasm, a deep gorge with a fast river going through it. The area is private and requires an entrance fee to tour or use. We arrived to late in the day to do any of that.

Just before dinner, our kitchen received a replacement food delivery from Sysco. They back up to our kitchen trailer and unload. As the semi was about to leave, he became stuck in the sandy soil and could not get out. We took one of our tractors, and hooked up to the Sysco truck to pull it. Now, I must tell you that I pack almost everything I might need when we go on a trip and Julie usually accuses me of overpacking. Well, guess what I had packed for just such an occasion.....my heavy duty tow strap!! It was just what we needed and with a little digging in front of the wheels, we got it out. You never can be too unprepared!!