Mega-Trip Log #7: The Road Trip Home

Finally, it was time to go: my friends and I were headed back on a one-day road trip to Montreal. But first, we had to actually get a vehicle. We headed off to the rental place and discovered that we'd been assigned an SUV. This was great news! I'd have much more space in the back seat than I originally thought; I'd be able to get my computer out easily, do some work on the way back...

And then I proceeded to sleep almost the entire way home. I was very tired.

We did stop at a few fun places, though! We got brunch at a place called the Red Arrow Diner, which was wonderfully scenic and also the tiniest roadside diner I'd ever been to. We squeezed in at the end of the bar and had giant plates of eggs and toast and waffles as I contemplated the cup-headed mascots of the diner, Dinah and Moe (one of the meals was called the Dinah-Moe, and it's the only one I remember because of course it's a pun).

We also got to visit one of my co-travelers' friends in Burlington, Vermont! The city turned out to be wonderfully scenic and very friendly, though sadly I didn't get to see chief meteorologist Tom Messner while I was there. (As I grew up in Quebec City, a lot of our English-language TV channels came from Vermont, so I got to see him on the news quite often.)

The highlight of the trip home, however, was stopping at the Ben & Jerry's factory. We got to eat some exclusive ice cream! And see very colorful displays! And off to the side of the building proper, up a tiny hill, we tracked down the Flavor Graveyard, where discontinued flavors were put to rest. One of our crew, a former Ben & Jerry's employee herself, went to a flavor that had been quite difficult to scoop in the past, and proceeded to dance on its grave.

And I can think of no better way to end my mega-trip log than with that mental image. We passed the border checkpoint quickly and without incident, the sun set, we arrived in Montreal, and after three and half weeks on the road, I came back to Chez Zandra to find it just how I'd left it. I got to sleep in my own bed that night, and that's a feeling I'm going to cherish for a long time - at least until I take off again on another adventure.

Thank you so much for your support; I couldn't have done all this without you. And I still have so much to share! Expect more art and some exclusive merch info soon; until then, let's keep making wonderful things together. 💙