July 6th Quebec City to Watertown, New York
Route Hwy. 40, 401, 81 via North Shore of St. Lawrence, Montreal, Thousand Islands

First, I'm off to a nearby Internet Cafe to ship text and, hopefully, photos to Pooh Central (AKA John G.). The experience did not cost a dime and was worth less...nothing. Not only did not one of the employees have any knowledge about their computers, they were all different and differently configured, all in the French language (not a basic problem as icons are icons) but more than a challenge for this Anglo when the (previously) badly beaten up keyboard yelled ouch! Another hour of life sucked into the illusionary world of internet service and communication...not.

Before we leave it's off to Monsiour Lub (Mr. Lube) for an oil and filter change and lubrication ($1.99 for less than 10 nipples...we have 8). Promised in 15 minutes, it takes more than 45, including their insistence that the Mini was full with 5 litres of oil (just happens to be the volume specified in their advertising). All Mini owners know that an oil change with filter needs 5.5 litres of oil. Monsiour Lub could not wrap its mind around the fact that I might know this well from many, personal oil/filter changes...go figure!

Retracing our steps, we head for Lancaster County in eastern Ontario. This time we use Hwy. 138 along the St. Lawrence river and not the green tunnel of the divided Highway 40. The sights of villages, farms and their people, bring back fond memories from 1967 (remember the undertaker's big yellow Monarch Ralph?).

In late afternoon, not far into Ontario up pops the 4th LINE ROAD (formerly Curry Hill Road) exit from Hwy. 401 which we take enroute to learning about Elaine's family roots in Central Canada. Almost instantly we locate the Curry "mansion", built after the United Empire Loyalist arrival of James Curry from Albany, N.Y. in 1782. We determine to overnight and press on with the "research" in the morning.