We surprised my sister-in-law, Susan, this morning and invited her out for breakfast before continuing on our journey. We are always thrilled when she makes the trip to Concord and we were excited to reciprocate with a visit, if only for a brief while. Our primary destination for the day is the magnificent Montreal Biodome where visitors walk through replicas of four ecosystems found in the Americas. A variety of animals live in each simulated habitat, ranging from the macaws in the Tropical Forest, to the lynx in the Laurentian Forest, to the penguins in the Antarctic, and the different kinds of fish that inhabit the waters of the Saint Lawrence River. I took hundreds of photographs of the wildlife most of which were free to roam their respective habitats. The dome is suspended by dozens of cables that emanate from the massive cantilevered tower that rises above the flying saucer-shaped building.

We spent the late afternoon exploring Old Montreal and searching for a place to stay for the evening. After calling a half dozen hotels only to discover they were fully booked, we decided to drive on to Quebec City where Nicolai was able to locate a terrific B&B with a single room remaining.