Greetings from Montreal

Just a quick entry before bed -- drove today from TO to Montreal, with a nice little stop in Kingston to have lunch with Lisa Zeitz and Peter Thoms from UWO's English Department, who are fortunate enough to summer in a condo on the lakefront.

We made good time today -- not counting our 3-hr stop in Kingston, we were on the road for 5 1/2 hours and put 560 km behind us. Best $160 I've ever spent? My new iPod adapter for the car! I made an eleven hour playlist that made the drive much less painful. Mind you, we blew through half of it just today -- we'll have to start in with some of the books on CD for the 8-10 hour haul we have tomorrow to Fredericton. Ack.

I'm writing this from my friends Mike and Amanda's place in Montreal. Unfortunately, we won't be staying another day, as had been originally planned -- which is too bad, because (to my shame) I've never properly experience Montreal. I had a taste tonight, heading downtown for dinner at this amazing thai restaurant and then going to harass Amanda at Chapters (where she works). Only this city could make a Chapters store a funky place.

But alas, the full Montreal experience will have to wait until November, when Kristen and I will be back to see U2 (oh, are you reading this, Selma? that was a deliberate eat-your-heart-out dig. heehee).

So now, to bed! In preparation for an extra-long day on the road. Ack redux.

TODAY'S STATS:

Departed Toronto: 7:20 am
Song on the iPod: "Peace, Love, and Understanding" by Elvis Costello
Arrived Kingston: 10:30 am
Distance: 265km

Departed Kingston: 1:45 pm
Arrived Montreal: 5:30 pm
Total Distance: 560 km

Things I've Learned:
(1) People responsible for warning you about construction up ahead are much more conscientious in Kingston. I swear, there were LED signs every half kilometer counting down our distance to the road work, which didn't actually prove to be that extensive.
(2) People's fashion sense in Montreal is vaguely disconcerting.