As mentioned in the Utica meet thread, I've officially booked the trip for Wednesday, April 22 through Monday, April 27. I ended up picking the Hôtel Brossard right off A-15 at the interchange with A-10 and A-20. Here's how I currently have everything planned out:
Drive up: I-87/A-15, clinch QC 134 (stop for Krispy Kreme? I usually do when I pass through their territory, since there haven't been any in upstate NY in a long time), QC 138 to QC 125, QC 125 and A-440 to A-25 (with a couple loops since the interchange is so large that it almost counts as 3-4 interchanges), clinch A-25, loop back to A-640, clinch A-640 (loop the eastern end), QC 148 to A-13, A-13 and A-40 to A-30, clinch A-30 (with a loop to clinch part of A-530 and QC 201 to A-20), QC 104 and A-15 to the hotel
Day 1: A-10 and A-30 to A-930, QC 132 ouest (loop to clinch A-730), QC 138 ouest (turn around when the border station is in sight, probably at one of the houses;
this lot is a bit too close to the station for comfort, especially since I'd be doing this outside my own country), take local roads over the QC 132 near the border station (that works out conveniently), turn right onto QC 132 est, continue and take QC 138 est into Montréal, quick diversion to Rapids Park, continue on QC 138 to QC 335 or QC 134, head back over to Mont Royal, take QC 112 over Pont Victoria back out, loop over QC 116 to clinch the freeway portion, back to the hotel
Day 2: Drive the new Pont Champlain, clinch the end of A-10, visit the Montréal Museum of History and Archaeology (the big, touristy one), walk around old Montréal, possibly visit the Librairie Bertrand bookstore (time permitting, depending on what's available in the museum's gift shop; I wouldn't mind picking up a book or two on Québec and/or Canadian history); not much roadgeeking this day, but not none, either!
Day 3: Take A-15 and A-50 (loop to clinch the end of A-50), then QC 344 towards Ontario, contnue on ON 34 and ON 417 towards Ottawa, loop to clinch the Queensway, head back into Québec, re-clinch A-5, head back down QC 105, take A-50 est, stop at Chutes de Plaisance, take A-50 and A-15 back to the hotel
Day 4: Clinch A-15, take QC 117 sud (loop to make sure everything is clinched around the end of A-15), loop to clinch the spur from A-15, probably stop at Chutes Wilson, continue on QC 117, take A-40, Av Papineau, clinch A-19, continue on QC 335 nord (loop to clinch through A-640 along the possible future A-19 corridor), possibly stop at the old Pont Athanas-David (just est of the QC 335 bridge to Laval), continue down QC 335 sud, drive Boul Notre-Dame and Av Souligny (possible future QC 136?), take QC 138 back to QC 134, QC 134 and A-20 back to the hotel
Return: Take A-20 and QC 123 out to Sorel, clinch A-30, take A-10 est and A-35 sud to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, stop to view a historic lock on the Canal-de-Chambly, QC 223 sud, properly clinch the northern end of US 11 (let's hope CBP doesn't give me too much grief), stop at the overlook for Fort Blunder, I-87 south back home
Hopefully that isn't too much. A few questions do come to mind:
-For the bridge toll on A-30, has anyone had experience using a US credit card there? Especially since this could be my first transaction in Canada, I'm wondering if it would be better to use the staffed toll lanes and/or pay with cash rather than the credit card only lanes.
-Speaking of cash, bother covering, how much, etc.? I've favored paying by credit card in the past, as converting cash is inconvenient and costs even more since there's always some lost with each conversion, but I've never stayed this long or explored to this level of depth on my own either.
Regarding food, I haven't figured anything out yet beyond stopping for lunch of the way up at Jreck Subs in Champlain (another chain I like to stop at when I have the opportunity) and probably just getting the hotel breakfast on Day 2 to make things easier with the museum. I usually get take-out pizza every Saturday (essentially continuing the tradition my parents have of going out to get pizza every Saturday) and continue the tradition at (usually) local places while traveling (though the day can vary, as most of my overnight trips are roadmeets), though from looking at pictures on Google Maps, what Québec calls "pizza" doesn't quite match up with what would be considered pizza in the US.