"All set for the road trip! Let the adventure begin!" That was the whole plan for the day — no fixed itinerary, just a full tank of gas and a highway heading north through green mountains, with a truck rumbling along in the next lane.

The drive came with the essentials: sunglasses on, a boomerang in the front seat ("Even the sun knows it's time to shine when I'm taking a boomerang ☀️😂✨"), and a coffee stop that didn't go quite as planned — the cup came back labeled "Loopsie" instead of Roopsi. "What is this behavior Starbucks? Who's Loopsie? 😂"

Somewhere In The Adirondacks

A scenic pull-off gave the best view of the day so far — a wide blue lake framed by layers of mountains, captioned simply "And the view 🫶." There was a stop in the little lakeside town of Schroon Lake for a coffee break past a string of flag-draped storefronts, and another quiet stop parked at a scenic overlook, just to sit on the rocks and take it in.

A wide lake surrounded by forested mountains, seen from a scenic overlook in the Adirondacks
"And the view 🫶"

Bonjour, Montreal!

By evening, the highway signs had switched languages. "Welcome to Canada 🇨🇦 Bonjour, Montreal!" — glass towers and a tree-lined downtown street came into view as the sun started to dip.

A downtown Montreal street lined with glass skyscrapers and trees at golden hour
"Welcome to Canada 🇨🇦 Bonjour, Montreal!"

Loved It: Dinner At Restaurant Siam

"Super hungry and then found this Thai gem" — dinner landed at Restaurant Siam in Downtown Montreal: a green curry, a noodle dish topped with bean sprouts and microgreens, a bowl of rice, and a white Chanel bag set down on the wooden table between them. "Loved it! Good food, happy heart. 😌❤️"

A Thai dinner spread of green curry, noodles with bean sprouts, and rice, next to a white quilted handbag on a wooden table
Dinner at Restaurant Siam, Downtown Montreal

Gelato Break At Angelini Café

Dessert came a few blocks later — a scoop of dark chocolate gelato held up against the chalkboard sign at Angelini Café. "Dark Rich Gelato 🍨 Yes Please 🙌"

A hand holding a cone of dark chocolate gelato in front of the Angelini Café chalkboard sign
"Dark Rich Gelato 🍨 Yes Please 🙌"

A Little Magic Outside Notre-Dame

The night closed out at Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal, where a street performer twirled through a flamenco routine in a flowing yellow dress under the basilica's lit facade. One word summed it up: "Beautiful!"

"Beautiful!" — Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal

Also Today: Calories Calories Calories

Before hitting the road, a dessert reel went up from an earlier restaurant outing — two slices of cake, one chocolate, one pistachio, and a caption that said it all: "When money isn't the problem anymore, but calories are. 😂"

Roopsi Bansal at a restaurant table with two slices of dessert cake, one chocolate and one pistachio
"When money isn't the problem anymore, but calories are 😂"

Mountains, a border crossing, Thai food, gelato, and a flamenco dancer under the basilica lights — not a bad way to spend a Thursday. Follow along for the day-to-day on Instagram @roopsi_bansal.