The day began with good (and free) coffee, courtesy of Larry and Linda. I enjoyed talking to them quite a bit. Larry asked a lot of good questions - I think he was trying to figure out if I was a fool for doing this and headed for certain peril, or just a fool for doing this who would work his way out of the Canadian weather mess he was headed for. In the end, I think I got the benefit of the doubt. That may turn out to have been generous on his part.

Shortly after saying goodbye to them, I was passing through some low hills just west of the border between New Brunswick and Quebec. The rain that I thought I saw wafting out of the clouds ahead turned out to be sleet. Oh yeah, my absolute favorite type of precipitation while on two wheels. I scanned the sky, trying to figure out if I should find a bridge to hide under. I also checked my thermometer. Based on both observations, I figured I could press on.

I came upon a cager dragging a trailer, none too carefully, behind him. When I say came upon, I guess that implies some action on my part that caused us to meet. It might be more accurate to say that the idiot pulled out right in front of me as I was passing him on the left. When I did get by him, his apparent age, and difficulty hauling a trailer in high wind, let me know that he was not out to kill motorcyclists out in the middle of nowhere, he was just completely oblivious and unqualified to operate heavy equipment, as are most teenage males.

Sometime between the onslaught of the sleet and the onslaught of the teenager, I lost my directions for the day. I decided the otherwise useless cup holder that came with the bike was good for holding maps and directions. I guess it's good as long as the wind is from dead ahead. With crosswinds of 40 mph, it wasn't good enough to hold my stuff. Luckily, I decided to bring all of my plans along on the laptop. When I ran the tank dry, I decided to stop in the town of Montmagny, QC. There, I found a restaurant in the old part of town that was warm and french. I was able to find a table with an outlet under it and get permission in the presence of an absolute language barrier to plug the laptop in. My goal was to re-read the directions for the day and put notes on a new piece of paper. While I was there, I decided to get something warm to drink and something to eat while I was using the table. I guess I always wanted to say frommage. Good thing it means cheese. So I had a cheese omelet with toast. I was hoping that second word meant home fries, but no, it meant toast. All I can say is thank goodness no frickin' snails arrived at the table.

Apparently, my destination for this day was Quebec, and I would arrive there way earlier than I would normally stop for the day. I mulled over just pressing on. I was definately cold, and I was definately interested in laundry, internet access, and a cheap bed. I figured Quebec should be able to supply all of that. So I decided to hang it up at 1300 and find all of the above in Quebec.