Ready. Set. Go. Canada.

If you had asked me on Monday if I thought I'd be traveling this week or this month I'd have replied "no way."  On Tuesday my answer to the same question would have been a maybe, but by Wednesday my travel was booked and I was headed for Canada Thursday morning. That's how things roll at work.  I like that aspect of my job, fortunately Michelle was in town and willing to watch Gillie while I headed to The Great White North.

I've been told Canada can be a bit particular about letting folks into the country for business related purposes and because of the short notice I opted to fly into Montreal and drive two hours SW to the small town of Brockville to avoid any issues at the border. When I arrived in Montreal they barely even gave me a look before waving me through, to their credit they did ask "what type of work I was doing?" to which I simply replied "work related meetings."

After going through customs and picking up my bag I found the National Emerald Isle where I picked up my rental car and began the two hour drive south toward Brockville, ON. For the most part the drive was rather easy with about 100km on the same road, however getting out of Montreal where nothing on the Garmin matched the newly constructed roads and my three years of high school french was rusty at best, made reading the road signs a bit interesting but I prevailed.

I took the scenic route through town upon arriving in Brockville to become oriented, identify landmarks if I got lost, and scope out good places to run. Gray skies threatened of rain but I decided to brace the elements and head out for a run, fortunately I threw in a long sleeve pullover in my bag while packing as the temperature was just about 50 degrees. Running is one of the coolest ways to explore a new place as it allows you to take in the smells and sounds you may miss when riding in a car. While running I was disappointed I chose not to bring my phone as there were plenty of opportunities for cool photos of buildings and sights. I made up for this on my second run in Ontario retracing most of my previous run snagging photos as I went along.

First was this sign, it was in the middle of an on ramp to the interstate which required some careful traversing to get to.

I took a photo each way down the main street, I don't remember seeing a single chain store as I ran along.

Looking the other direction.

During my first run on Thursday evening I ran across what appeared to be a greenway but choose to forego exploring it as my goal was get in around 7 miles. Friday's work schedule allowed for a longer run in the evening and while I wanted to grab photos of the sights from Thursdays run, I decide to explore the trail.

The Brock Trail

The trail connected several public parks as well as wound through a mix of residential and commercial areas, most of which were along a creek.

I ran into General Brock along my run...well a different type of general.

This was something I had seen on TripAdvisor before heading to Brockville, it was right along the Brock Trail as the trail went along the perimeter of a peninsula.

Unfortunately, it was a short trip and with a long work day on Saturday there was no time for running or exploring. Sunday morning I was up early to make the trip back to Montreal to fly home. 

Bienvenue Quebec!

Run Data for those interested:

Thursday's Run

Friday's Run