With (a) great car comes (a) great responsibility (to go on road trips)

A few weeks ago, long before we'd even thought about acquiring a car, my friend Nicole mentioned that at the end of August she would be in Montreal for a few days.  At the time the distance, though it is only 200 km, seemed almost unimaginably far.  And while I hadn't completely written off the idea of somehow making it to Montreal for a visit, it certainly seemed a little unlikely.

Of course once we had our car in hand travelling the 200 km to Montreal didn't seem so challenging (and what better way spend time with a new car than by taking it out for an extended test drive?).

So with the transportation issue out of the way I now just had to play catch up and get the dates of Nicole's visit.  Amazingly, after what seemed like just a few minutes I got a response back from Nicole indicating that she'd just arrived that day.  Within a few emails we'd arranged to meet for lunch the following day.

Though we had to deal with a few construction related delays while making our way out of Ottawa, the trip went relatively smoothly (though had our air conditioning been working it would have been even more pleasant).  The only noteworthy aspect of the trip, which was remarkably straight forward, was the traffic.  Though I haven't made the drive before it seemed that there was a fair bit of traffic for a Saturday morning in August (though this feeling may just be because I'm still unfamiliar with the traffic patterns).

In just about two hours from our time of departure we were in the Mile End neighbourhood of Montreal.  Despite the fact that I hadn't spent much time in the area there were a few names and locations that were familiar.

After a short stroll around the surrounding area we made our way meet Nicole (it being a hot and sunny day we were looking forward to not only our rendezvous but also the restaurant's shade and water).

It was really great to catch up on post-library school goings on a hear a little about life in New Zealand.

After a very pleasant lunch and chat we made our way over to my old stomping grounds.  I was able to show Jeannette where I used to live, work, and shop.  Unfortunately because of one-way streets and an unfamiliarity with streets from the perspective of a driver the trip to this part of town took a fair bit longer than it should have.

Despite the fact that I tend to think that I don't really miss Montreal all that much it was really nice to see the place again after about four years.  Despite the fact that there have been quite a number of changes in my absence, there are a remarkable number of similarities.  Maybe now that we're only a two hour drive away I'll have the chance to head back a little more frequently now.