A Long Overdue Update

Much like the opening chapters of a certain classic literature trilogy concerning a troupe of unwashed males of varying height trying to get a refund for a piece of jewelry, Emily and I found it almost impossible to leave the Shire that is Ontario. The delays were many, but enjoyable for the company of friends and family we'd been missing terribly during our summer of farm. 

Blackie stares us a "Goodbye". 

A day and a half later than we'd intended, we had a packed SUV, its back seats occupied by a pair of Queen's engineering students catching a ride-share from Kingston to Montreal, where they're starting a small tech company. We dropped them off in la Belle Cite and grabbed some happy-hour beers at Foufones with Em's likewise-dreadlocked ladyfriend Zoe. After burgers, beer and some tromping around, we left Zoe and her eternally-guitar-weilding husband Julien at their open mic joint to go meet our Couch Surfing host, Max. 

Max is a bike riding, photo taking, freelance web designer who built his own media shelf out of plumbing using a plan he found online. In the morning he produced a tray of chocolate croissants and cooked us porridge with fixings. Feeling indebted, Emily granted him a pumpkin soup recipe from her repertoire as thanks. Before we left, he gave us one of his photos - one of a dog he met in Costa Rica who looks adorable professionally. Apparently our "borderline creepy obsession with dogs" and their business is obvious after knowing us less than a day.

Uplifting, though mildly ominous coming from a bathroom wall.

(Click to enbiggen)

Max biked off to work while we strolled through the park in search of chiens. We didn't find many dogs, but there were some curious squirrels, including a white-furred monsieur who was happy to pose for us.

Even the squirrels have more style in Montreal.

We checked out the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Art history is a subject I've been wanting to learn more about so it was great to have Emily, a classy educated woman, give me a personal tour while we walked around. We had to get going before I saw everything, which is fine by me as I definitely intend to come back.

From there, we navigated Montreal's labyrinthine highway system and made for the border to 'merica. It was election day, and we weren't sure what kind of country we were going to wake up to in the morning. 

A photoshoot on Lake Champlain

Next time: Vermont, and More Farming