Homeward

This morning (Sunday) I'm starting to head back, having come some 2374NM (4397km). I've spent 3 nights in Quebec City, which is a great place to visit. Especially if you have a cousin who owns a house inside the old city walls (Thanks for putting me up, David & Matthew!).

The weather has been really wild here - extremely hot & humid with thunderstorms overnight the day of arrival, a huge mid-day thunderstorm with 1/2" hail and blowing rain downpour on the 2nd day, followed by sun, and then very windy today with lots of dark cumulus cloud Saturday which eventually blew way. I had hoped to take my cousins for a sightseeing flight over the city, but it didn't work out. We watched the hourly weather observations and the updated airport forecasts and I could see the weather was improving, so we headed out to the airport about noon. On the way I talked to a weather briefer, who told me that lightning was just detected about 15NM to the southeast, and that the next update would be calling for possibility of showers and ceiling to 1500 ft. So I had to cancel - disappointing for all 3 of us. The showers and low ceiling never materialized , but it doesn't pay to take chances flying in an area you're not familiar with.

Walking around Saturday, it seemed the city just suddenly filled up with tourists - every street and outdoor venue is wall-to-wall people. The Nouveaux France festival areas are especially packed.

Sean, I've tasted a few fine local beers here, as requested :) Belle Gueule is a light blonde draft beer that was one of sponsors of the festival. It was fun to be served from French barmaids drawing from wooden barrels set up on street corners (no problems wandering around here with beer or wine in your hand). I've also had a fine wheat beer called Cheval Blanc, and a dark (imported?) draft called "Le Leffe Brun". But the award goes to a local beer called "Le Fin Du Monde" (translated: The end of the world), which is thrice-fermented and checks in at a heavy 9%. Tastes like some of the yeasty beers we used to home-brew. The server says every batch is different.

This morning the weather is calling for lighter winds, and progressively lighter as I head west, with Few clouds at 5000-6000 ft. I have a flight plan that is ready to take me as far as Sault Saint Marie, with fuel stops in Ottawa and Sudbury (~2 hour legs). The route is basically follow the St. Lawrence to Montreal, then follow the Ottawa river all the way to North Bay, then TransCanada Highway 17 to the Sault. Depending on how bad the head wind is or how tiring it is, I could stop sooner, at Elliot Lake, Sudbury or North Bay. In fact, I probably will, as the flight plan calculates out to 6.5 flight hours, a bit of a stretch if it isn't absolutely smooth, and there is some lower cloud and possible showers coming to the Sault by the evening.

I'll call Pete tonight and see if he might be able to re-join the trip somewhere on the way back.