All that jazz

This morning I awoke to the sounds of campers, dogs and chit chat. The sun was shining, there was no rain and it was warm…in fact almost too warm but I will never say that after the rain we’ve recently experienced.

Zach was first up and off to the showers while Connie and I rested for the what seems to be the first time in the past 2 and 1/2 weeks. After returning from the showers, Zach expressed his displeasure with the campground lady coming into the men’s washrooms/showers to chat with a US traveller about which route to take to their next destination. He said he felt particularly bad for another guy who was sitting on the throne trying to be quiet, while the conversation was going on.

Upon returning from the shower, Zach got to work on repairing his bike. Connie made the two of them breakfast and I sipped my coffee. It was a very relaxing morning until the campground lawn crew showed up. When we pulled in yesterday I commented on how long the grass was and wouldn’t you know it today was the day they cut it. Now these guys were not exactly safety conscious and seemed to care less if sticks, rocks and grass spewed in our general direction.

At this point, we decided to pack up and drive to downtown Montreal. I searched for a parking lot near to the Jazz Festival and Old Montreal and plugged it into the GPS. The GPS lady was good at getting us to downtown Montreal but she was clueless about the construction underway. What a nightmare! Once we reached the downtown core it was bumper to bumper so Zach decided to hop out of the truck and walk to meet with his friend David. Connie and I made our way to the obscure parking lot. Upon our arrival we discovered it was full. Further, we checked a number of other parking lots on the way and found they were either full or were underground and maximum height between 6 feet and 6 feet 4 inches. Unfortunately for us in the Tundra, the underground lots were not an option. After driving around trying to find the next closest outside parking lot – the GPS lady and iPhone maps were not at all helpful – we stumbled upon a lot at the corner of Bleury and Concorde.

I drove in and the attendant greeted us. I asked if he could accommodate and us and he said yes. He asked me to wait a minute then walked away to find a suitable spot before he returned to ask if I’d like him to park the truck or was I okay doing so. I said, I’m good and he said I’m sure you are. His name was Dito (deet toe) – I introduced myself to him – and he was most pleasant. Parking was going to be $20 until midnight, which was perfect for us. I slipped him a little tip (which he tried to refuse) and we were on our way to Old Montreal.

After spending 90 minutes trying to find a parking spot, we were in need of a washroom and after walking for 20 minutes, we were now in need of a drink. Within a few minutes we found a nice little spot to have lunch.

After lunch, Connie and I toured Old Montreal in the 33 Celsius heat with high humidity. Apparently, we arrived in the middle of a heat wave and Montreal residents were being asked to check in on their neighbours regularly. I thought this was wise, so decided to stop at virtually every watering hole to see how the locals were faring.

Zach was having a great visit with David, touring McGill University and other parts of the city. We left Old Montreal about 330pm to check out the Jazz Festival venues and take in a few performances.

Zach joined us at about 430pm and we listened to several more performers before going for dinner at 745pm. After dinner, we decided to head back to the campsite.

We arrived to a hot and stuffy trailer, so turned on the a/c and as I write this we are cooling down before bed. Tomorrow we head for Oakville (Zach will stay with the Dias’s and we will camp in Milton about 30 minutes away).