Driving north to Gaspe May 1-3

In early May Lisa was off to Ireland and I stayed behind to keep Woody company (he's getting old and more anxious when we're away). Because Lisa's trip was a home exchange, with someone coming to stay in our Asheville house, I had the opportunity to leave early for Canada and our house in Le Bic. A major attraction was getting an early start working the landscape, including establishing several new beds, best done in early spring.
On the other hand, early May is an especially pleasant time to be in Asheville and our garden was so very nice, with meals and conversation on the back deck overlooking our back garden and forest. Of course, it would also have been nice to accompany Lisa on her trip to Ireland.
With mixed feelings I packed up the car, and with Woody in tow, headed up the highway on the first day in May towards our Canadian home in Quebec Province.
All went smoothly during the three-day drive north, spending the first night in Harrisburg, PA, and the second night in Plattsburgh, NY. Early the third morning, Woody and I crossed into Canada, just north of Plattsburgh, at almost exactly 1,000 miles. Le Bic was up the road another 6 hours and 300 miles, making the total distance covered from Asheville, NC to Le Bic a little over 1,300 miles.
Driving north was a bit like going back in time, at least from a seasonal perspective. Asheville was well into spring, with the forest completely leafed out and many wildflowers already past bloom. As I got further north, into Pennsylvania and upstate New York, it felt like early spring as the trees were just starting to leaf out. Soon after crossing the border into Canada, the trees and other plants were still dormant and it looked like winter, including the scattered patches of snow on the ground.
The silver lining was that I got to experience the transition from winter to spring in Gaspe in the month of May. More on that in future posts.
I guess I was mono-focused on driving north as I did not stop and take photos of the change in vegetation as I headed north. My only photos were of the charming small historic town of Kingston
in upstate New York.

Woody about to exit the car. I brought along two bicycles,
one for Lisa, the other for me.

The downtown area of Kingston in upstate New York.

Downtown Kingston

One of several large churches in Kingston