After 5 and a half days.......

After 5 and a half days of driving (almost) like a mad man we arrived in Windsor. It was interesting to see that big trucks crossing the border in 3 minutes, for us it took 30, probably because of the "gas tourists". Fuel is so much cheaper in the US that they have built a gas station right on the other side of the bridge just for Canadians, you don't even have to cross the border officially to fuel up. It was good to see our 84 year old Oma, she is still living on her own with her companion: Rusty, probably the most spoiled cat on Earth. We usually call her every week and she always said: it would be so nice to see you one more time in my life, how could you say no? It was 8 years ago when we visited, there is so much to talk about, see every body in the family, we had a very nice dinner ( thanks Barb ) and finally time for a family picture. Unfortunately a couple of people could not make it from another part of Ontario, at the time we let them know when we are coming they had something important scheduled. Don't worry John, we catch up but now it's your turn to drive. Or Tammy and Mike will maybe hijack a cruise ship next time and visit us on the Island. We wanted to stay for 3 days only but left after four, had a very good time and left for the border to come home trough the mid western states, more about it in the next post.


The Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit.


Our 84 year old Oma lives in Windsor....


...with Rusty, the most spoiled cat on Earth.


At 84 she had to bake a cake for my wife's birthday.


Birthday kid in Windsor, Detroit in the background.


The picture from 8 years ago.


And the one from 2011. Our Great Granny passed away since and a couple of people could not make it

Almost there.

Ontario is HUGE, it takes days to cross and there are many nice places to pull over. Some of them even would be a nice overnight spot but there is the famous sign: No Overnight Parking. After about three decades in the trucking business we don't have any problems spending a few nights at Truck Stops. We pull in and ask the staff: is it OK to stay here for the night, our rig is really small? Some of them said 10 bucks, some said 15 we always said thanks and kept going and always found a nice and safe place somewhere. After some bad experience with wildlife the first night we decided not to drive much after dark. So many roadkill on the side of the Trans Canada, if we hit a big deer with our small RV it would mean "game over" for our trip. That's the reason the trucks are equipped with "cow bars", they have to protect the front of the truck and the radiator in a crash with wildlife. If you have a damaged radiator in the winter and help is coming from a hundred miles away you have plenty of time to think about investing in a cow bar. Thanks God we didn't have any problem with wildlife although have seen a lot and around lunch time the next day we crossed the border to Michigan. Since we wanted to go to Windsor we decided to take this shortcut rather then driving around Lake Huron.


Driving around Lake Superior. So many nice places where you would like to spend the night but.......


.....there is the famous sign right behind you....


....so you carry on on the never ending strip in the bush called the Trans Canada Hwy.....

a
....and there is a lot of roadside attraction.


Not every body's story with wildlife has a happy ending .


The Agawa trading post is a nice place for a brake.


The bridge to Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie. Tomorrow we are in Windsor.