Back to Rochester, NY

On her way out, M reminded me to lock up as I leave. Unfortunately I let the door slam with still one item of my baggage in the flat. As luck would have it, it was the one with my passport. I couldn't get back into the States without that. I didn't want to bother M at the office and I couldn't stand the idea of staying in Montreal another day. So I tried the landlady. Unfortunately she was out shopping. The neighbours didn't know when she would be back. The neighbours didn't speak English well, so it was fortunate that I could make conversation in French. To my relief, the landlady appeared in a few minutes and didn't make any fuss about having to open the door for me. I felt bad about bothering the landlady because M was already under suspicion of not being a "nice tenant". The night before she had let the sink overflow and she thought some water might have leaked into the landlady's flat.

I had promised to buy a six-pack of beer from Canada for my housemate J so I picked up half a dozen Molson Goldens in a little village before the border. I crossed on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain because I wanted to pass through Burlington and visit the original Ben and Jerry's there. The border official was a woman and waved me through after looking at the contents of my trunk.

Ben and Jerry's make some of the best ice cream in the northeast. Their secret is lots of cream. Their ice cream contains much more butterfat than normal ice cream and is noticeably heavier. Their Burlington's shop gives a 10% discount because they feel that they should give a little back to the community. I also had a late lunch at the local Woolworths before desert.

I crossed into NY at Crown Point, near a campground where I stayed several months before on my way to Boston. My route was through the Adirondacks and back to Rochester via 104. I had underestimated the amount of time it took to drive through the park and was still in Watertown by nightfall. It was the longest day of driving I had done in a long time. I didn't reach Rochester until about midnight.