Wow
What a day!
- After a hearty continental breakfast at the hotel, I left Sherbrooke, Quebec to lightly dusting snow (which weather.com is saying will accumulate 5-8 inches before the end of the night)
- I filled up my Subaru with gas at $1.13 a liter (if my math is right with 3.785 liters = 1 gallon and USD$1 = CDN$1.02, the gas came to $4.20 a gallon, which sounds right as it cost about CDN$55).
- Drove southeast into a winter storm, with snow the whole way through Quebec’s so-called Eastern Townships full of grain silos, Christmas Tree farms, and spotted houses.
- Crossed the border about 30 miles northwest of Stratton, Maine (home of the Sugarloaf ski resort). I was asked to remain sitting in my driver’s seat while two US customs agents rifled through my suitcase and car, though the irony was when a border patrol officer who heard I lived in Newburyport came out and said his cousin was a Nbpt minister (who I happen to know).
- Hit traffic on Route 27 as I passed Sugarloaf.
- Didn’t see the end of the traffic until I crossed the Maine-New Hampshire border, which lasted some 5-6 hours amid a winter storm warning that will dump some 12 inches of snow before the night ends.
- Due to the treacherous driving when speeds were reduced from 65 to 35, I lost control at one point and spun out a complete 180, watching my Subaru tail go WHAM! against the median’s snowbank. Luckily, no damage but it took about 15 minutes to maneuver myself to do a 3-point-turn in the middle of the highway.
I’m home now, relaxing in my pajamas. I just took a hot shower and will be asleep by 9.
