So I'm off again on another journey. This time a near cross
continental road trip from Toronto to Vancouver Island. My sister
Kaitie and I will be traveling over 4400km through the United States to
finally reach BC where we will end our adventures in Kelowna, where I
will hang my hat for the next few months.
Ruby (my mazda 3) is
packed to the brim with my personal possessions but this task was not
easy. Our journey began with a small but mighty test of mine and Dad's
patience when it took us over 4 hours to install the roof rack on Ruby.
Eventually, defeated I took the car over to the a bike shop where the
guy installed it in less than 10 minutes! For the price of a new bike
lock, to pay him for his "time", we were finally up and running! After a
late start at 4pm i had already learned three important lessons.
ALWAYS read instructions, don't leave installations until the last
minute and be kind to your father when it comes to working on black
assault on a 30plus degree day!
So we were off! Flying down
the highway, against crazy winds and the bike held up! A great test to
our many hours of effort. Phew! Our emotions were quickly soothed when
we drove through Muskoka, Ontario's famous cottage country and laughed
at the Inukshuks (Native rock sculptures) dressed as construction men!?
We stopped for dinner in unmentionable Sudbury at Tim Horton's for
chilli and tea. A quick left and we were heading west on top of the
North Channel of Lake Michigan. We spent the final hours of the day
driving into the most amazing sunset of orange and red, twinkling atop
the trees. Alas, the Bovarian Inn. A quirky motel in Bruce Mines, the
site of the first successful copper mine in Canada. A quick take-away
dinner from a dodgy diner and a shower and it didn't take us long to
both be asleep. Day one complete!
Day 2 started with the most
beautiful clear skies and sun reflecting off the the North Channel. I
met the cutest couple from Florida while loading up the car at the
Motel. She gave us a pot of coffee she had brewed and didn't want to
waste! I stood at their door and chatted about their travels while her
husband stood behind her asking if she had found out what day it was
yet! As soon as I filled him in that it was Thursday he asked his wife
if standing at the door talking was what she meant by getting off to an
early start! lol
Reaching Sault Ste Marie we pushed on to the USA
boarder. Ruby got her first x-ray here and passed with flying colors!
Yeha we entered the states with no hitches! Driving along hwy 28 we
stopped for Kaitie's first lesson at driving manual. She did very well,
learning quickly and I'm sure by the end of our trip she will be a
star! Still some confidence to build i got back in the driver's seat
and drove us clear through Michigan to Wisconsin. Wisconsin was adored
by both Kaitie and I especially Ashland where in the late 19th century
millions of tons of timber and iron ore crossed its huge docks. Many of
the homes there are made of timer that are situated on the lake making
it a very cozy and beautiful place.
Pushing on we entered
Minnesota. With very impressive navigating by Kaite we got through
Duluth and found ourselves starving and stopping to eat at Country
Kitchen. I think the fatigue had gotten to us at this point as we
laughed at our fellow patrons. A small, but heavy boy eating take-away
butter next to his sister who was drinking half and half while their
mother was on her iphone. Finally the kids stopped when their dinner of
cheese sticks, fries, and pizza arrived! Through our tears of laughter
from this scene we noticed the old man behind us showing off his hat
that read "Boondocks USA". Thank goodness we got a workout on our abs
from laughing cause when our "homestyle" meat loaf arrived and turned
out to be unidentifiable meat and instant mash and gravy, neither of us
really ate. A great diet for our a**s that we have been sitting on for
the last 10 hours.
Well now we are in our cozy hotel after a
well deserved hot tub and swim thinking of the other funny things today
like the giant totem poll, animal pelts and doggy paw earings. I can't
wait to see what happens tomorrow!
Total distance 900km 1.5 days
Talyho!
Kaitie
and Jen
