Day 13

Click the following link to see the video talked about in the Day 6 post about our third night campsite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FJRPEnj6s4&feature=youtu.be.

The exhilerating Prescott Russell Trail (just outside Quebec)

En route to montreal via the Prescott Russell Trail. We crossed the Quebec border around 7 pm. We had a new personal best of 120 kms (with headwind all day). We ended up camping just across the street from a campground, because it was closed. We are pretty sure we camped on somebody`s private property. Either way no one bothered us, with the exception of a very hungry raccoon.

When we woke up the next day it was raining and we had to ride in the rain for the first time. Our end goal for the day was montreal so we decided to not take that many breaks and we made it to montreal by 4:00. Will`s mom was in town on business and she was generous enough to get us a hotel room for two nights. The hotel room was a refreshing change of pace after a long day of rain and numb hands. We went out for a night on the town and ran into SAC old boy Raffi. good times.

The following day we had off to run a few errands and enjoy the sights of Montreal. That night we were treated to dinner with Will´s family at a japanese restaraunt with the hockey game playing. One thing that was cool about Montreal and Quebec in general is that no matter how fancy the restaurant is, they will have a tv screen and they will be showing the hockey game. This is Quebec, and the restaurant industry has figured out that the food will taste better when the patrons compare it to the terrible play of the habs.

Leaving Montreal (matching orange jackets because we are ballers)

We left the following day en route to Quebec City (over three days), along the south side of the majestic St. Lawrence river. Every 30 kms or so there would be a small town, and in between it would be farmland and auto repair shops. Tons of auto repair shops. What does that say about the drivers in quebec? Probably that they are very responsible car owners and they take car maintenance very seriously. It was raining the entire day again, so we decided to stay in a motel room in Pierreville.

The next day the weather was beautiful for the first time in a while and we had two days to finish 175kms. We were still biking alongside the St. Lawrence and around 5 pm we had the best view of it so far when we arrived in St. Pierre les Becquets (watch the video at the following link 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJgsH1mJoeI&feature=youtu.be). At the end of the day we made it just outside of Leclercville where we found a hiking trail that we camped on.

Camping just outside of Leclerville

After an incredibly cold night we had about 80 kms to Quebec City and a beautiful day to do it. The biking was relatively uneventful and we arrived in Quebec City at about 3:00. After crossing the bridge we happened to run into Will`s aunt and uncle who we would be staying with on Sunday night. That night, however, we were staying with Alveric, Will`s friend from his trip in Senegal. We also met up with another friend of Will`s, Melina, the inspiration for this trans canada trip as her and her friend had done it a few years earlier.

The next day we saw the famous sights in Quebec City and some of the locations of the Samson family history. Quebec city is really nice. Its not too big and has a lot of history. Harrison`s french has improved dramatically. he can now say complete words like merci and bonjour, a feat most-everyone thought would be impossible for him to accomplish.

walked all the way to quebec city while carrying our bikes