En direction de Montreal

We headed out for Montreal.  A few traffic issues, but nothing we couldn't handle.

We were talking about how much better it was in Canada, as opposed to Illinois and Indiana with all their road construction issues.  We didn't have any trouble until..... we find out that our exit, #3 for Guy Street, is the only exit of 1-through 6 that is closed.  That was only the beginning...  Here are some collages I made.

 I think you get the jest of what I am trying to convey.  Anyway, we made our plans and pretty much stuck to it.  We stayed at Hotel Espresso.  An older hotel, but very clean, and I guess because of the name, they offered unlimited Expresso and Coffee American.  It was the best coffee I have ever had.

Our first day we did a hop on hop off bus tour.  Second day, we focused on shoppiong for my family.  I want to say this.... the first day we were there (mind you we were in the car for most of the day driving...) we took 8,500 steps.  The second day, when we did the bus tour then our own walking excurion back to the hotel, we made 19,000 steps, and our last day there and on the way back we made 10, 488 steps.  I must say.... it was all I could do to keep up with "She who has no idea what stroll means".  

Here are some pictures

 There is a dedicated portion of town for the alternative life style.  I don't think that is politically correct... but what ever.  We had the best lunch there, and not only that, it was the cheapest.

 Duck so you don't hit your head....

Sheila on the far left top of the busl

Begging for food from the tourists

 I prefer to take pictures without people in them.  It does, however, skew ones perception of the city.  There are tons of high rise (50 floor is the limit on the height) that are NOT office building, but actually are condo/flat/apartment buildings.  There are tons of people that don't own cars, they choose to walk, take a train, take a bus, take a taxi, or ride a bike.  This is typical of what we saw during lunch hour all over downtown.

We came back and became a "normal" house guest.  Drinking John and Jo's beer, eating their food, and so on.  Sheila, Jo and I have walked the local cemetery a couple of times.  It is so beautiful and peaceful.

We've also played their lotto.  Jo won $100 on a $.50 scratch off.  So far, I have invested $30, and won some.  I spent $3 of my earnings on paper clips, the rest I have reinvested a couple of times, and am still playing with about $18 I need to cash in.  We just reinvest in more tickets.  When I leave, I'll do a final cash swap.

Yesterday was Father's Day, so everyone came here for dinner.  I made us a BBQ Brisket, Borracho Beans, and we served it with store bought potato salad.  They were all impressed with the taste of the meat. They should have been.... it cost $10 per pound.  WOW!  Rib eye steaks were only $34.99 a pound.  Now you know why I went with brisket.

Later, we are off to dinner with Mark's sister, Liz.  Again, no spell or grammer checks.  Too busy living large to do that crap.