I have to be in Cornwall Ontario on Friday afternoon for a meeting and I was thinking of heading to Montreal for Saturday and possibly Sunday to check out the city. I can see myself spending a couple of hours photographing the extension of Autoroute 30 for a couple of hours. I am posting thus here as an invitation for anyone who might care to join me.
I'll be there if I'm not skiing. You have my phone number.... I think.
How much have you seen / are you looking for recommendations?
Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on May 02, 2012, 07:00:37 PM
I have to be in Cornwall Ontario on Friday afternoon for a meeting and I was thinking of heading to Montreal for Saturday and possibly Sunday to check out the city. I can see myself spending a couple of hours photographing the extension of Autoroute 30 for a couple of hours. I am posting thus here as an invitation for anyone who might care to join me.
Sorry, I have a prior commitment for Saturday. Hope to see you some other time, perhaps the potential Ottawa meet later this year.
@Dr... I can't believe you can ski in May. You could barely ski in februrary in New York. I'll give you a shout.
@Steve. I am pretty familiar with the project. I checked some of it out in September. I am hoping that there are no construction workers on site when I visit. I plan on walking some of the more interesting sections.
Actually, yes. I just got a confirmation regarding the skiing thing. (And it'll probably be my last day. :p )
Um. So I'm available all weekend EXCEPT for Saturday from 8 AM to 4 PM. :/
Regarding the potential Ottawa meet... I'm curious as to how many people are interested. To be honest I've been busy and I haven't had time to plan it yet. :/
I had been planning to attend the Ottawa/Gatineau meet but I might be taking a job outside of the GTA in the next couple of weeks that would be too far away from Ottawa to attend.
I'll probably cover some of the highlights this weekend myself too. I could see myself driving back from Montreal along the A-50.
Well, I already have a roadtrip planned for Sunday, but count me in if this happens. It's not like I'm that far away.
As for Ottawa, I'm interested but attendance is dependent of whether I'm available on a given weekend.
Well, I'll be in Montreal for sure. I haven't booked a hotel yet, but I am thinking of staying in Dorval for two nights, but I'll likely spend most of Sunday on the return trip to Ontario.
I am going to bring my mountain bike and am planning to cycle as much of Autoroute 30's alignment as i can
I will be in Montreal Memorial Day weekend but not this weekend (too far away for such short notice, and I have other plans). As for Ottawa, I have every intention of attending that. Any ideas whenabouts it may be?
I was actually thinking about Memorial Day...
AsphaltPlanet: I have Friday evening, Saturday evening and all of Sunday this weekend.
Just let us know if/when the mini-meet is going on ASAP; I can move my Sunday trip to Saturday if need be but I have to know in advance.
I am staying in Montreal tonight and on Saturday night. I don't plan to hang around Montreal for too long on Sunday to give myself some time to drive back to Toronto. If you want to come to Montreal you could meet me in the afternoon and then catch up with SmDr. Frankenstein later and grab some dinner.
Sounds good; just let me know a place/time to meet up. It will actually take me about 3.5 hours or so to get there as I plan to cross at Ogdensburg, take ON 401/A-20 to A-540 then take A-40 in. At some point I'd like to take A-15 down to exit 2 (fudging a clinch at the border) and then back up. Going back I plan on A-20 and A-40/ON 417 to ON 138 crossing at the Seaway Bridge, with spurs to clinch ON 34 and ON 417 (maybe; depends on time) to Ottawa.
We could probably explore some of the roads in the area before meeting up with Dr. Frankenstein, though I don't actually have a map of Montreal on me (will bring my Ontario atlas with me, but that doesn't help much east of A-540).
Ok. Well why don't you suggest a time and we can meet somewhere adjacent to the 40 on the west island.
According to Google, it will take me 2 and a half hours to get to the west island from Potsdam via Ogdensburg. Add in half an hour for customs, so if I leave at 11am, I should be there at 2. Is that good? I could also leave at 10 and aim for 1.
Quote from: deanej on May 04, 2012, 12:35:40 PM
Sounds good; just let me know a place/time to meet up. It will actually take me about 3.5 hours or so to get there as I plan to cross at Ogdensburg, take ON 401/A-20 to A-540 then take A-40 in. At some point I'd like to take A-15 down to exit 2 (fudging a clinch at the border)
You could use that one grade crossing immediately north of Customs, much less of a fudge
Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on May 04, 2012, 01:43:03 PM
Ok. Well why don't you suggest a time and we can meet somewhere adjacent to the 40 on the west island.
Could you let me know soon if you prefer 1 or 2 (I prefer 2 because then I don't have to get up as early ;)) and where we'll meet?
Quote from: Steve on May 04, 2012, 06:44:09 PM
You could use that one grade crossing immediately north of Customs, much less of a fudge
Indeed, exit 2 appears to be a lot further from the border than exit 43 of I-87 now that I look at it more closely!
Let's say 2. I prefer 2 as well. There is a mall at Exit 52 from the 40 in the northwest quadrant of the interchange. I was going to see if there was a coffee shop out in front but I hadn't made it there yet. Do you want to say in the parking lot adjacent to the freeway? I drive a silver Pontiac vibe
I'll meet you at 2 around the mall then. I believe the most recognizable landmark (from street view at least) is the main entrance that says "Fairview Pointe Claire". As long as I get exact details by 10:30 tomorrow things should be fine. I drive a dark red 97 Honda Accord.
why don't we meet at the entrance off of Boulevard Saint-Jean in the parking lot to the north of that entrance.
http://g.co/maps/hj4wt
Sounds good.
So apparently visiting a friend in Montreal for only a few hours invites lots of questions with customs (both Canada and US). That or they were bored.
as for Ottawa...I was hoping for sometime later in the summer, perhaps july or late june at the earliest. that was just me.
Quote from: yanksfan6129 on May 06, 2012, 12:51:13 AM
as for Ottawa...I was hoping for sometime later in the summer, perhaps july or late june at the earliest. that was just me.
That would not work for me, since around that time I'll almost certainly be on the road far from Ottawa.
Memorial Day weekend would work for me, since I was already planning a separate trip to western Ontario around then. But I'd need about a week's advance notice, since I'd have to bend my schedule and route a little to work in a detour to Ottawa.
It was a good mini-meet. Very low-key but that's OK. It was deanj's first time to the city, so we toured the A-720 from end to end, crossed the Saint Lawrence from downtown via the Cartier Bridge (the oldest dedicated vehicle bridge), then headed back across the river, this time underneath of it, along A-25 following it into Laval onto the 440. Clinched the 440, up north along the 13, (the old blue sign for Autoroute 13 still stands), and then headed west along Autoroute 640 until its end. We then backtracked along 13 and 40 to the A-30 construction site for a few pictures of the new Saint Lawrence crossing. Then it was back to the mall through Dorion along the 20. We lucked out with great weather. Montreal is a beautiful city.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asphaltplanet.ca%2FPQ%2FMTL%2Fmontreal_aaroads.jpg&hash=09991471557445e0b1f832137bc18ccbd8d6d856)
On Ottawa, memorial day weekend could work, but my family also gets together for memorial day, so I'd have to squeeze it in.
June may or may not be good; I have grand jury duty in Rochester that month, though. July I'm pretty busy with Honors summer research day trips (ironically, one is to Ottawa).
August I'll be home some weeks and at Clarkson others, so it depends on the week.
September works very well for me though.
September is not good because I'm in Washington. Virtually any time between June 13 and August 31 is good for me.
I just got my jury duty rescheduled, so June is good except for the weekend of my family picnic (currently unscheduled).
Customs will be interesting though, due to a personal issue a few here are aware of, depending on the state of me updating some documentation when the meet happens.