| Another windy, cold, dark day made it hard to leave the comfort of the hostel. But alas it is our chosen holiday (and I would not change one thing for the world)... okay maybe a little sun would be nice! We travelled HWY 132 for hours before making our first rest stop (60km into our day)! Carlin was a machine and was afraid a rest would effect his turbo legs. I on the other hand, believed that a lack of rest would surely make my legs fall off or explode! (Neither of which I was willing to chance!) We stopped at a "Metro" in a mall and once sitting down on one of the mall's center benches, we realized how hungry we were. We sat in silence, consumed by the food we were consuming! Going back outside, reminded us of the warmth and comfort of the inside. ... not pleasant. But once out, we were smiling at the incredible views we were seeing for the first time in our lives. We arrived in Rimouski around 3pm and of course checked out the local movie theater - all in French, so we decided to get some late lunch and play some more cards in a near by cafe (to keep warm and dry for a while)! We knew we were going to have to start thinking about finding a place to spend the night, so we headed out into the rain and down to the Information Center. We noticed 2 more touring bikes (loaded with panniers), so we excitedly entered the Info Center scanning and smelling for people of our kind. I was thrilled to see two chicks with bike shorts and approached them with my fingers crossed that they spoke English! YAY they did! Tereza & Irene were touring from Montreal to Rimouski. They hooked up by couchsurfer.com and it turned out that they live only a few hours from one another back in Eastern Europe! (Too cool.) After speaking with them briefly, we noticed that they may also be looking for a place to stay. We already knew that the closest campground was 6km East and the local Hostel was $29 per person; we suggested that we all split a cheap motel room. I called the closest one and for $76 we got a room with 2 double beds, free internet, TV, long-distance, and breakfast! The weather report says 70% chance of thunder-storms so the 4 of us agreed YES to the motel room! After getting warm and dry we ventured to the near-by grocery store and had dinner in bed while making fun of Romney's speech. What a great night with two great, new friends! |