I introduce myself to the Inside Out family by telling a little story, with visuals.
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The road to Roberval
posted by smyles at 22h13 EST on Sep 22
We begin with a little collage we'll call: "Road signs you WON'T see when you head down to the Bell Centre".
No moose (meese) were collided with as the Gazette/HIO dispatched me to Roberval, to keep you in the loop about everything surrounding this major event.
But let's face it, it's a long, long way to drive for an exhibition game.
Not quite as far as Toronto. But then again, that's not a two-lane highway.
The trip basically divides into three equal parts.
First is Montreal to Trois-Rivières, or where the 40 ends.
The second is the Highway 55/Route 155 connection, where the 450 morphs into the 819, and there's a lot of roadwork going on.
When there's roadwork on a two-lane highway, you just stop for awhile as they let the other people coming from the other side go through. However long it takes.
But it's beautiful, too. Basically Rte 155 is an afterthought, going around lakes and little mountains and slowly weaving its way northeast.
Eventually, you get to the end of part two of your journey, the town with one of the best names in the province:
At this point, the 514 to the 450 to the 819 is starting to morph into the 418.
And occasionally, you run into a problem. Nowhere to go but wait.
It's getting chillier. And you're getting a little tired of turning this way, and that way, and this way again. Past every turn ... is another turn. And for some reason, 75% of them are to the right, which makes you wonder how the heck you're not actually going in a circle, and how you're not ending up right back in Shawinigan.
Once you get past the lakes and the beauty, there's some not so picturesque stuff, right as you're getting into the 418.
But you're getting close.
And then, finally, you see it: Lac St-Jean.
Never having been anywhere near here, I was absolutely flabbergasted by the sheer size of the thing.
It's one thing to see it on the map; in the context of the province, it's a puddle.
But it's absolutely huge.
The town of Roberval is actually a little bigger than you'd think; population is about 11,000.
And every business along Rte 169 (which is called Boul. Marcotte through town) that has a sign out in front welcoming Hockeyville and the Canadiens.
They've been preparing for this since they won the contest last winter. Already on Sunday, 5,000 people took a gander at the Stanley Cup. Thousands stood in line for 90 minutes to get an autograph from Reggie Houle or Guy Lafleur.
In case you wanted to stake out the Habs' hotel tonight, it's kind of a big secret around here, (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
But here's a hint:
Don't even think about it.
Your newly-minted Inside-Out correspondent had a confirmed reservation with Travelocity - or so she thought.
When I arrived at the front desk, the receptionist just laughed.
"We've been sold out since last winter," she said. I was at least the 10th person, if not more, in the same boat.
(The lady in question, without a doubt, got her hair done today in
anticipation of the arrival of a couple busloads of hockey
milliionaires. Can't say I agreed with the look, but I admired the effort).
No rooms. No closets, even. Nothing anywhere close by, either, not even at a couple of places that looked as though I'd have to pay by the hour.
Since the first thing I saw when I walked into the Chateau Roberval was a guy getting out of the elevator, on his way to the pool, wearing a gut, and a Speedo, and nothing else, I figured this wasn't the worst thing in the world - other than the fact that I might have to sleep in the Habs' dressing room.
Didn't that guy know THE HABS ARE COMING???????
But the driver/minder who is going to pick up Habs prez Pierre Boivin at the airport was there – all spiffied up, too. Practically had his moustache waxed.
He planned to give Pierre a "quick tour of the town," which I'm sure Pierre will greatly enjoy.
So I'm ... well, I'm not sure exactly where I am. It was dark. It took awhile. It's a lovely place, and they have high-speed, and there's apparently a big lake outside my balcony.
I think it's the same big lake that's in Roberval. But anything's possible at this point.
So I'm here. I'll be bringing you photos and video and everything else I can from this happening.
I'm presuming Don Cherry will be here (there?)
One of the big Dome Productions trucks almost hit me as I was exiting Roberval for ... wherever I am. So the RDS telecast is in safe hands.
Until tomorrow (after probably the longest first post in I/O history).
SMyles, Robervaloise.
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Stephanie Myles???
I have been to Roberval summer 2003 spending one night in a comfortable Motel (forgot the name). Beautiful Lac Saint-Jean!
(Then travelling to Chicoutimi along the Saguenay River, all the way to Tadoussac, the super place watching whales...)
Go Habs Go, in Lac Saint-Jean!
Stephanie Myles! I always though you were one of the best sports writers at the Gazette, and I've wondered when they'd finally put you on the hockey beat (I mean...Baseball? Really, Stu Cowan? You want to keep wasting that talent on a sport that no longer exists in Montreal?)
Welcome, Stephanie!
I've been busy.
This isn't my first kick at the blogging can.
Check out www.opencourt.ca.
Many moons ago i worked in Roberval for 3 months in the dead of the winter and travelled to Montreal every weekend with the exception of one. The route you took is very familiar to me and is very picturesque but you'll never find a straight away so i changed to the train which was a blast with the rest of our crew. Roberval though small was the Telephone Toll office for the whole Lac St.Jean region , all long distance calls went through that office and it was a big job and accommodations were few so i know how you feel. Enjoy the marvelous food and culture and but for a few racists the people are just great , that said i'm sure you will have good memories of your trip and consider yourself lucky it's now and not in the middle of the winter with those damp winds off the lake and believe me super sub-zero temperatures , the coldest place i ever worked at. Welcome aboard Stephane and there's no infield fly rule on this site but theirs a few Bill Lee's.
an awesome part of quebec. my aunt and uncle live in shipshaw,near jonquire.went fishing on the river there.my uncle worked at alcan around there for 30 plus years and both my parents grew up in town then called kenogami.small towns like these are hockey hot beds.
Welcome Stephanie........great pics and writing style. And I'd love to hear the podcast from the Chateau Roberval. I bet THAT would be a "keeper".
Welcome and thank you!
This site just keeps getting better and better!
1. www.flickeringpictures.com - not a hockey site, but still kinda neat
2. Josh Gorges on Montreal's attack: "They're comin', they're comin' and they keep comin'. Just line after line, wave after wave..."
Great debut on Habs I/O Steph. I appreciate your style and sense of humour.
... hey Steph. Good to see you here with us Habs fans. BTW, your photos make it look like Roberval could be smack dab in the middle of New Brunswick; looks like home to me, complete with meese.
Welcome, Smyles. Your pics and prose gave me a few chuckles. Thanks for putting Roberval on the map. And look out for those nasty meese! I hear they perch like vultures upon street signs, pouncing upon the unwary traveler.
Gilbert
2008/09 is the season of the Habs
Hi Stephanie! Nice to see you on HIO. I had to laugh, though, at the rustic journey shots. It looks like that everywhere we go here in Newfoundland!
And pity the poor guys who ended up in the Reggie Houle line instead of the Guy Lafleur one.
http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com
Good one J.T.,
are you actually saying they have moose signs on the Rock ?
I used to have a "Gotta get me moose by" t-shirt.
I believe Reggie has a few "cousins" up there !
Not only do we have moose signs, but there are large wooden cutouts of moose in Terra Nova National Park, as a kind of real-life driving and reflex test. "Did you see that moose? No? Well...you'd be DEAD if that was real!" It's not a joke though...they also have up-to-date numbers posted of the number of moose/vehicle accidents, and there are a lot.
http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com
Awesome!
1. www.flickeringpictures.com - not a hockey site, but still kinda neat
2. Josh Gorges on Montreal's attack: "They're comin', they're comin' and they keep comin'. Just line after line, wave after wave..."
it's only 12:30am here in san francisco so i'm not a cracked out habs fan in montreal (do they exist?). i won't be checking this site come 4pm today cuz i'm recording the game on my dvr and i will be watching the game upon my return from work with some food and some beer and some jameson whiskey. all i gotta say is our split squad lost 8-3? so what? i was a huge expos fan (errr very bitter about losing OUR team) and spring training means SHITE! the positives was tanguay got 2 assists, which makes me happy cuz he's a playmaker and that's good. halak letting in 4 goals? well, i give that to being rusty and he's our backup...so, it's all good. i'm SO psyched to watch the game on NHL network tomorrow. i'm bleu, blanc, et rouge in my blood. this is our year. no negative talk at all ... unless you're the typical negative habs fan out there, which makes you not real fan so go "f" yourself.
Don't mean to be knit-picky, but I really think this is a bad sentence:
"I introduce myself to the Inside Out family by telling a little story, with visuals, in advance of the Canadiens' game against the Sabres Tuesday night at Centre Benoît-Levesque in picturesque Roberval, the city that won the CBC's Hockeyville contest going away"
Besides being REALLY long, it's full of passive language and it's a run-on sentence. But most importantly, what does the end mean? "...the city that won the CBC's Hockeyville contest going away? Who's going away? The contest? I don't get it. I normally wouldn't post it, bt I'm actually curious what that means...
How would you like a job where, every time you make a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?" ~ Jacques Plante
You could not get any "knit pickier" if you tried. You are knit-picky, knit-picky, knit-picky, knit-picky, and you are even knit-picky.
Wow, Bobby,
Nice to meet you, too.
I thought I was doing okay - considering I had just spent seven hours in the car, been ousted from what I thought was my hotel, wondered if I'd be sleeping at the rink, drove another 45 minutes in the dark hoping I wouldn't drive right into Lac St-Jean, found a hotel, found some high-speed, looked at all the photos, figured out how this blog software worked, only spelled "Canadiens" as "Canadians" once, and posted everything.
How's that for a looooooooong sentence? ;-)
Bobby,
Here's your answer: When Steph says "the city that won the CBC's Hockeyville contest going away," the going away part means that Roberval easily won the event, as in by a landslide or by a large majority.
Nobody is going away, it's just an expression to denote a large margin of victory.
Hey, Bobby. You "pick nits." That's where the expression comes from. "Knit-picky?" Don't get your barbed needles in a tangle.You then go on to criticize the writing? It is to laugh. I guess tv producers can't write either. :)
Gilbert
2008/09 is the season of the Habs
It's NIT-picky. Learn the language, man!
So you don't mean to be knit-picky, I guess it just comes naturaly..?
Welcome to HI/O, SMyles! I used to love interacting with you on the Fanhome Expos board.
Amazing post...thanks again.
Great post Stephanie! I admire your spirit of adventure! Look forward to your Roberstories!
Very cool....thanks for the info...
Do you think you added enough pics? :P
Welcome Stephanie.
Laraque will make them Pay the Price!
A travelogue is NOTHING without pics.
Or would you prefer a podcast of the language I used in the Chateau Roberval tonight? ;-)
Hehe Stephanie, now that you mention it, HIO has recently moved into the video age. Perhaps your readers would prefer that, we could see what kind of drinking you journalists really partake in. ;)
Laraque will make them Pay the Price!