Location: Saint-Hélène -de-Bagot, QC > Trout River, QC > Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QC > Cornwall, ON > Potsdam, NY (170km + 40km + 64km + 54km)
Date: October 15th, 2022
Today was the big day. Time to truly kickstart our adventure by venturing into a strange new land called the United States of America. At least that was the idea…
The drive from Saint-Hélène-de-Bagot to the border in Trout River was delightful. The fall foliage was stunning, the roads smooth, and the rural farmland a delight. We arrived to the smallest and most quaint border crossing we had ever set our sights on and were quickly processed. Passports stamped. Fingerprints taken. The glow of New York shining on the horizon. Alas- that would have been too easy.
They didn’t quite have the stamp they needed to approve our cargo full of puppets- so unfortunately we had to backtrack back into Canada all the way to Ontario to another border crossing and back into the USA.
After some more rigamarole and back and forth we were finally able to cross into the Empire State! Needless to say I have never been to the States so many times in a day. Throughout the entire experience I was very grateful for the kindness and patience of border patrol (on both sides). It was a humbling experience grappling for a day with the relentless bureaucracy that so many have to deal with for much longer stretches when crossing borders.
In our travels we stopped at a Deer Reserve in Quebec for our first ‘pee in the woods’ of the tour! I faired a little bit better than Ivy- who ended up with a tick on her stomach that didn’t get caught until later in the evening (to much fanfare). Is fanfare inherently good? Can there be negative fanfare? Who knows.
After finally arriving in Potsdam we temporarily crashed at the hotel (a Hampton Inn which felt luxurious compared to some previous accommodations). We even each got our own room courtesy of the theatre we were to perform at (they would continue to treat us like rockstars)! We had a lovely company dinner all three of us at a very tasty Indian restaurant (I had the spiciest pakora of my life- it was wrapped around a whole hot pepper- and some amazing Aloo Gobi).
Then it was time to get as much rest as we could… Tomorrow is our first load in and performance at the Sarah M. Snell Theatre at SUNY Potsdam!!
Is the formatting of this post weird? I honestly don’t have the energy to make it look nicer. It’s mostly a time capsule for me anyway, right?
Apologies if you’re actually reading. It’s for you too- promise!
xoxo
Lo
Logan Robins 
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