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718 Life: Something Fishy: Part 1

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2024 11:12 am
by lukesward
718life.blogspot.com

A little trip to the east coast for a visit home again, this time as convoy leader.

My lovely aunt and uncle are visiting from the UK and have come up with the plan of renting a car and driving from Montreal to visit my folks in New Brunswick. Who better to lead them through the nice roads and small towns of Maine than us in a bright red chase vehicle?

Another bright (and hot) sunny day greets us as we hit the road from Ottawa, escaping the snarl of rush hour traffic only to hit it again entering the largest city in la belle province.

No matter, as the schedule is relaxed and fluid, with a full two days ahead to make it to NB if we wish.

We meet my relatives with their rental Toyota hybrid and fight our way out of Montreal traffic and construction chaos to the open road towards Sherbrooke.

A fuss-free drive takes us through there and on to the Maine border where an easy crossing means we are well on our way to Bangor to overnight, with lots of daylight left for the woodland drive through Maine.

A few small twisties around the long lakes mean the Boxster gets to stretch its legs a little, knowing that we won't lose the little Toyota behind us. The snarl of the rev-match with each downshift, and the growl as the revs build is intoxicating, so I do lots of shifting just for fun. You could leave it in fourth the whole way through and the big motor would pull effortlessly, but where's the fun in that?

With a decent set of kilometres behind us, we pull into Bangor for the night and grab a reasonable meal before bunking down.

No rush in the morning as we've decided to take the coast road for a change and see a bit of the northern Maine coastline.

Perhaps a few fishing villages? An ice cream? The sights and smells of the ocean! I've not been along there in 40ish years, so it will be rather nice for a change.

Looking forward to the second leg!

~ Luke

Re: 718 Life: Something Fishy: Part 1

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2024 11:58 am
by blueline
That sounds so fine. I badly need a getaway...

Re: 718 Life: Something Fishy: Part 1

Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2024 10:23 am
by Bruinfn4lf
I’m sure that is a great scenic trip you’re on and driving your Porsche is a huge bonus. My wife and I want to go out to the Canadian east coast next spring. Still trying to decide if we will drive the Cayman from southwestern Ontario or fly and get a rental car. I would love to drive the Cayman on the Cabot Trail roads and all the other scenic twisty roads out there but getting there is a long haul. It would be an almost 20 hr drive and my old arse would be numb.

Re: 718 Life: Something Fishy: Part 1

Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2024 9:03 pm
by lukesward
Yeah I'm planning on a Cabot Trail drive next summer with my dad. I drove it with him and my grandfather 40+ years ago, in Dad's Toyota Tercel 4WD wagon. I remember taking in the sights and stopping in multiple little fishing villages along the way, all the while enjoying the curvy coast road. There aren't a ton of great driving roads in eastern Canada, but this one is nice and smooth and reasonably sinewy, with some spectacular scenery. We thought it would be fun to reprise the trip together in the Boxster, but ran out of time this summer. Bring on 2025!!