We awoke this last morning in Canada in a somewhat foul mood (see previous, angry post about The BackUp plan). We decided that a free Dunkin Donuts egg sandwich (courtesy of mama Uttings gracious gift card) would fix the situation, so we looked up the nearest location, packed up the car, and headed out.
Then we ran into a series of set backs. First, Montreal traffic makes no sense. Delivery and construction vehicles stop in the middle of the street and apparently the right lane is for parking? We drove in circles for about 30 mins before deciding that the Dunkin Donuts was likely inside the mall, which is why we couldn’t find it from the street. After some angry gesturing from a cab driver Casually Kissing Cowboys and I headed in to stock up for our trip back to America.
Once locating the elusive DD we were told that:
a) they did not have 4 croissants
b) they don’t have chai or tea in Canada
c) they wouldn’t take our gift card
This set back led us to another American chain, Starbucks to get the drinks we desperately needed. The one redeeming thing about this morning was this hilarious graffiti:
So clearly, we needed a drink. We tracked down a vineyard famous for their ice wine. I wish I could capture the rap video gesturing we made every time someone said ice wine this trip. Instead ill give you this more polite picture of us with the actual wine:
Suavest of the Seas then led us through the border with slightly less anxious sweating than Techtalking and Walkin, even though I’m pretty sure neither one of them has even broken a law in their lives.
Back in gluttonous America, we headed straight for the Ben and Jerry’s factory. While waiting for our tour to start we read a little history of the dynamic duo that brought you Phish Food and Chunky Monkey. Apparently they’ve done a lot of good work around social awareness, fair work conditions and fair trade. Go you B&J.
We took a tour with a young, kinda nerdy guy who had clearly delivered all his lines way too many times as he rushed/mumbled through them all. Suavest of the Seas and I then spoiled our dinner sampling flavors unique to the factory.
Back on the road we saw some of beautiful Vermont.
Continuing on our unplanned Burlington stop we found a restaurant supplied by all local farmers for dinner. We realized then that the Burlington 4th of July fireworks were about to begin so we follows the throngs to the waterfront to see the spectacle.
Us New Yorkers were unfazed, unfortunately that was not the case for one very upset policewoman who kept starting fights with drunk people. What we witnessed next was hands down the best fireworks show any of us has ever seen. Seriously Burlington, you KILLED it. And this is why our flex day was the best day.
Traveling back to the car we decided to stop for a night cap to avoid this:
It was like a scene out of a zombie apocalypse movie. We survived though and found our way back to our favorite sleeping accommodations, the Holiday Inn Express.
All in all it was deemed a successful day and we can all agree we are now just a little more patriotic. Go America, and happy freaking birthday!
Forever Yours,
The Gringo Gaucho
Teacher Road Trip 