Green Acres turns into Hudson Nostalgia tour

 G. T. Bishop is joined by A. T. Lane and Louis Rubenstein on the early morning train to Vaudreuil for a fixture through Hudson and the back roads of Monteregie finishing off with a return ride along the Soulanges Canal.

G. T. recounts his recent sailing week in Scotland (https://www.yachthavens.com/largs-yacht-haven/explore/cruising-destinations) followed by A. T.'s recent trip to Boulder, Colorado where he and Queen Victoria stayed at a Chautauqua cottage (https://www.chautauqua.com/2021/chautauqua-movement-history/) followed by Louis' mesmerizing account of the number of trains that pass through the Montreal West level crossing per day (70).

Disembarking from the train, a discussion ensues as to the best place to grab a coffee. Louis is overruled and the members turn in at the closest café located in one of the myriad strip malls along the Station road. What the café lacked in ambiance, it made up for in good coffee and one of the better English muffin breakfast sandwiches.

The caffeine needs met, the members crossed over the 40 and headed toward the hallowed grounds of Louis' beginnings in Hudson, managing to get past the guard posted at the town limits.

At this point, A. T.'s thespian demands back in town required him to branch off and jump onto the Oka ferry for a quicker, solo journey home. He has kindly offered some of his pictures from the ride and we will add our imagined commentary.

G. T. and Louis carried on past the Willow Inn, stopping at the home of his daughter for a quick hello.

Pushing on into the centre of Hudson, the real nostalgia trip began as Louis commented on the various buildings and how they had changed from the days when he spent his formative years here some *&Y years ago. There were also new homes being built and signs of a more diverse population in the area.

Turning left onto Montee St Charles, Louis pointed out the home where his grandparents lived by the golf course and, a little further on, his parents home where he was the apple of the eye of the five young girls who lived next door, daughters of the school principal.

As they were leaving town, G. T. gave Louis the option of cutting off a few kilometers from the planned route, which he readily accepted. 

The shortcut coincidentally brought the pair onto rue Poirier and a sign for a Canine Training School, which Louis knew of and suggested they visit.

Louis searched around for signs of a dog he thought he might know but all the animals were strangers to him so the members continued on their ride.

By this time, we presume that A. T. had passed through Oka along the Vagabonde bike path and come upon the continuing construction of the REM line and station at Deux Montagnes.

One can only imagine what the local residents think of this behemoth being built at their doorstep. If the artist's design is anything to go by, it will seem like sitting at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.

A. T. carried on into Laval via the dam and the interesting refurbishment of the old Deux Montagnes EXO bridge as he was greeted by the friendly security personnel who have come to know the MBC crew almost by name given how often the club has passed by surveying the construction progress.

Meanwhile, G. T. and Louis continued along pleasant, wooded roads west of St Lazare before turning south and hitting some bucolic scenes of corn fields, some already being harvested.

Louis kept encouraging G. T. to shorten the short cut but, undeterred, they turned west towards Les Couteaux (as opposed to Coteaux du Lac or Couteaux Station - who knew there were so many cuts), which chanced them upon a garage specializing in restoring classic cars.

Carrying on, G. T. and Louis finally turned south again towards Les Couteaux and the start of the Soulanges Canal. Before jumping on to the canal path, it was time for lunch.

Louis was not impressed with the upscale Casse Croute offerings at Ben's Spot and surreptitiously munched down on his banana sandwich while G. T. enjoyed an excellent Spot burger and fries. Meanwhile, A. T. was searching high and low for his own lunch spot.

Fueled up, G. T. and Louis picked up the Soulanges Canal path, relieved to get some shade from the trees as the day was starting to heat up.

It often happens that people take old bikes and turn them into a folk art sculpture. This one seems to be heading for the open skies with Louis not far behind.

The suspense was building as Louis looked forward to his favourite sight along the route, the Roman aqueduct. G. T. wasn't quite gullible enough to believe his story that it was built by Romans who stowed away in Jacques Cartier's vessel in the 15th century but it made for a distraction from the heat and the sore muscles.

A. T., by this time, was rolling into Montreal along one of the more scenic paths in town.

Hopefully, he had some energy left to contribute to the evening's rehearsal.

G. T. and Louis finally arrived at Pointe des Cascades and decided to stop for a break and a depanneur ice cream in order to decide on their next move. With time to spare before the next EXO train to Montreal, they decided to push on past the Dorion station and continue back to Vaudreuil and a celebratory pint (or two) at the Irish pub near the station.

They managed to stay upright between the pub and the station, and hoisted their steeds on the 17h00 train. It is still unclear why the ticket machines do not allow use of the OPUS card to purchase the correct zone ticket. Louis paid some type of fare but it was unclear what exactly he paid for and whether it would have been accepted if checked by an inspector.

Fortunately, no inspectors were on the train and G. T. said farewell to Louis at Montreal West while he continued on to the terminus at Lucien L'alliers.

Total distance on the fixture from Vaudreuil to Vaudreuil was 84K.

 A. T.'s ride from Vaudreuil to Montreal via Hudson/Oka/Deux Montagnes and Laval was quicker, slightly shorter but, apparently, just as enjoyable.

G. T. Bishop