Numbers have real world signifiance.

75 - kilometers traveled my first day.
15 - of those wasted on a wrong turn in Longeuil (I hate Longueil).
110 - kilometers traveled today.
2 - States visited today.

I probably wish that I had biked about 35 kilometers less today and stayed at Great Isle National Park but the prospect of a bed, shower, and amenities at my friend Jake's mother's house proved very attractive. I was also eager to make up for my "poor showing" yesterday - leaving so late in the day combined with a wrong turn, terrible head-wind, and a gimpy knee all combined to make a less than stellar first day (distance and attitude wise). There were definitely points where I thought about turning back and living incognito in Montreal for 2 weeks with no-one the wiser as to my return but I pressed on.

Somewhere south of St-Jean I came across a man fixing his patio and I asked him if I could pitch my tent in his yard. Secretly I wished that he would invite me in to his house and feed and shelter me for the night but he merely grunted permission as he eyed me suspiciously. I pitched my tent in his back yard as far from the house as possible and "cooked" my first meal. The process is as follows - put boiling water in a pouch and wait 13 minutes. Ta-da!

The night passed uncomfortably but uneventful. The promised rain arrived at 8 a.m. leaving me with the unpleasant task of packing a wet tent but otherwise unscathed. I began the day very gingerly for fear of re-aggravating my knee but a few adjustments before leaving seemed to have solved whatever the initial problem was.

I arrived at the US border in good speed and spent 5 minutes chatting with the border guard about medical insurance (so far in 12 hours I've had 2 of these conversations - very topical at the moment!) and getting directions. I spent all of 20 minutes in New York state before hitting a huge bridge and entering Vermont. The terrain was lovely and my route took me through the islands of Lake Champlain. Around 1 I took a break from the oppressive heat, sun, and humidity at a boat launch and swam for half an hour and relaxed. It was absolutely wonderful.

I'll gloss over the rest as I spent much of the next 5 hours climbing hills in a desperate bid to make Burlington. As much as I hated that last leg and as exhausted as I was - it turns out to have been a good decision. Kathleen (Jake's mother) is a gracious hostess and took me down to a local swimming spot where we swam and watched the sunset over the hills.

Burlington is an amazing city but will have to be described another day. My self-imposed 15 minutes of Internet is up. A bientot!