We're in Bismark, North Dakota. What a trip it's been these past four days driving from Maine! I thought the roads in Nova Scotia and PEI were bad but Quebec and Ontario win the prize. They also win for worst signage.
Tomorrow we'll meet my sister Bonnie and brother-in-law Alan in Yellowstone and we'll continue the party for a few more days. It's an unexpected but delightful way to end my trip.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
We left Cindy and Jim’s on Sunday morning and drove to just south of Montreal. We took route 91 from Vermont to Canada and then went west toward Montreal, then south to the KOA. Taking that route was a big mistake it turns out, not only because the roads made you seasick, but also because the KOA was right on route 15, which I could have taken from New York (instead of going through Quebec). Long story short, on Monday morning I must have wasted about 2 hours following the directions they gave me to get to Ottawa without going into Montreal (how many constructions zones can one province have anyway?). I ended up going through the border crossing at Elvira NY and then back into Canada at Cornwall.
Monday was a very long day driving (13 hours) and we only got to Sudbury, Ontario. The last few hours were horrible. The roads were all torn up and under construction. It was raining and pitch black. Impossible to see. We drove around Sudbury for a couple of hours trying to follow directions to the campground but I couldn’t see the signs. Finally found it at around 9:30. I had a huge surprise waiting inside Tabette. The curtains were on the floor, the cabinet with the clothes had opened and the clothes were on the bed. The knob to shut the ceiling fan vent was on the floor and I couldn’t reattach it without taking the entire assembly out. The vent cover was stuck open too. All in all, it was a very bad day. Probably the worst day of this entire trip.
Tuesday was a better day. We drove across Northern Ontario and into Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie. Then we drove along the southern shores of Lake Superior on route 28. Most of the time the drive was very scenic and the road was pretty good. Here are a couple of pictures taken from the highway around Espanola in Northern Ontario. From Sudbury to the western border was very nice; lots of lakes and lots of folks with canoes on top of their cars.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
We left Cindy and Jim’s on Sunday morning and drove to just south of Montreal. We took route 91 from Vermont to Canada and then went west toward Montreal, then south to the KOA. Taking that route was a big mistake it turns out, not only because the roads made you seasick, but also because the KOA was right on route 15, which I could have taken from New York (instead of going through Quebec). Long story short, on Monday morning I must have wasted about 2 hours following the directions they gave me to get to Ottawa without going into Montreal (how many constructions zones can one province have anyway?). I ended up going through the border crossing at Elvira NY and then back into Canada at Cornwall.
Monday was a very long day driving (13 hours) and we only got to Sudbury, Ontario. The last few hours were horrible. The roads were all torn up and under construction. It was raining and pitch black. Impossible to see. We drove around Sudbury for a couple of hours trying to follow directions to the campground but I couldn’t see the signs. Finally found it at around 9:30. I had a huge surprise waiting inside Tabette. The curtains were on the floor, the cabinet with the clothes had opened and the clothes were on the bed. The knob to shut the ceiling fan vent was on the floor and I couldn’t reattach it without taking the entire assembly out. The vent cover was stuck open too. All in all, it was a very bad day. Probably the worst day of this entire trip.
Tuesday was a better day. We drove across Northern Ontario and into Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie. Then we drove along the southern shores of Lake Superior on route 28. Most of the time the drive was very scenic and the road was pretty good. Here are a couple of pictures taken from the highway around Espanola in Northern Ontario. From Sudbury to the western border was very nice; lots of lakes and lots of folks with canoes on top of their cars.
Northern Michigan is also very beautiful. They have lots of places to stop and view Lake Superior.
We stopped at a lovely campground just outside Michigamme. Roxie had a good walk and we relaxed before it got dark. The time change is tomorrow at the Wisconsin border. It poured all night and even though the vent cover was stuck partially open, it didn't get wet inside Tabette.
It’s interesting the different questions asked by the border guards at the border crossings. My first crossing into Canada was at Port Huron; the guard asked if I had any guns or other weapons like mace or pepper spray. He wanted to know if I was taking any alcohol into Canada too. When I crossed from Ontario into NY at Cornwall (the first time), the woman basically read from a script, wanting to know if I had made any purchases in Canada and what was my place of residence. When I crossed into Canada at Campobello Island, the guard asked where I was going in Canada and why. He also asked about weapons. I was asked to pull over and a female officer looked in the trailer, checking for people being smuggled in I presume. We had a delightful conversation about the size of the trailer and she said to have a great vacation in Canada. Coming back to the US from New Brunswick, the US border guard asked where I had been and if I had made any purchases. Then he said “Welcome home.”When I crossed into Ontario from Vermont on my way home this time, the guard asked if I had any guns, rifles, or automatic weapons. I said “No.” Then she said, “Do you own any guns, rifles, or automatic weapons?” After hearing my response, I noticed a trace of a smile and she sent me on my way. By accident, the next day I crossed into the US again at Cornwall. The Canadian guard was very helpful, telling me how to get going back toward Ottawa without backtracking, but it meant I would have to cross back into the US. The young lady at that crossing (which was only several feet away from the Canadian crossing) was very friendly, but she opened the back of my car and took the keys to Tabette. She opened the door and peaked in but didn’t make any comment. I suppose she was looking for illegal aliens, weapons, or undeclared purchases, but she didn’t explain her reasons.
Today was my last crossing into the US, at Sault Ste. Marie, over the big bridge. The crossing guard asked where I was from, how long I had been in Canada (that was hard to explain), and what I had purchased in Canada.
It seemed that the Canadian guards are concerned about weapons and alcohol, while the American guards are concerned about what you purchased. I don’t remember that any American guard asked about weapons. It was kind of surprising.
