Some Additional Thoughts

We arrived at our home in Toronto today (Sept 17th) after covering 12,768 km of this wonderful country as well as our neighbour to the south.

During our trip, we rode along each of the Great Lakes- Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario, in that order. We zigzagged across 5 provinces and 7 states along the route in the picture below. We smelled this country-freshly cut wood, hay and grass, fire, overheated brakes, livestock trucks, farm manure and more. We had fabulous weather during the past 35 days with only a few drops of rain but not enough to get wet as we rode across the country. We rode under every colour of sky and formation of clouds, including the big blue skies of Montana  and Saskatchewan. We learned more about our history which Canadians tend to ignore and our appetite was whetted for more. We realized as we rode that we were travelling at a great time of the year, with less traffic and brighter colours as a result. I tried to capture in my photos the colours of the the golden grain crops against the bright green of the hay field next door or the red barn sitting at the edge of the field. We learned so much and were able to visit a number of friends and relatives along the way .

For those of you who have been following our trip...many thanks. I have had lots of fun writing the blog each day and in fact, we now think that doing the blog added to our daily enjoyment as we talked about what we saw and what pictures and events should be mentioned in the blog each day. I need to thank Evan, my DH, for being a wonderfully safe driver and the best tour guide. He has a knack for finding the best picnic stop and accommodation for the evening. He also spent a lot of time deciding on which pictures to post. There were just too many good ones for me to decide.

I would like to thank my good friend Judy for setting up the blog idea for me. BTW- the blue shirt that I wore for the entire trip was given to me by Judy. We also have Judy to thank for the wonderful bottle of champagne that I'm sipping as I write these last notes and you can see in the previous posting the note she left for us to see upon arrival home, which was very special.

We are especially grateful that our four grandchildren have been reading our posts and learning more about Canada and the US and the beautiful landscapes that the 2 countries offer to us, as well as their grandparents.

Regards to all and until next time.....
Anne

Day 35 Toronto Ontario... Home

Back home to Toronto (Sept 17th) after 12,860 km travelled:
On our final day of travel, we again had cooler but dry weather. That makes 35 days without getting wet. E started the day by changing the oil in our motorcycle. We then had a very good ride through interesting farm country on our way to Port Dover located on the sandy shores of Lake Erie. After that, we rode to Stoney Creek where E's mother and father gave us a warm welcome and we got reacquainted with our Cat. We had seen the perfect sign in a shop that suits our Cat...."if you don't like my attitude, get a dog".
Then the final journey home past the last Great Lake on our journey (Lake Ontario) to Toronto, where we had a pleasant surprise waiting for us on our dining room table....
regards to all,
Anne

 Oops - but thankfully, they wern't there to stop us!

 Scenic farms across the country, including here in southern Ontario ---

 --- growing a variety of crops including tobacco

 --- and pumpkins

--- and ginsing

 Viewing Lake Erie at Port Dover, a motorcycle haven

 Riding down the Niagara Escarpment at Stoney Creek

 Getting reacquainted with our Cat, Cali

 Riding into Toronto - with the CN Tower high in the skyline

What a wonderful greeting from a very good friend, whose poem reads:

Welcome home

Put down your bags

Kick off your shoes

Pour a couple of glasses of something bubbly (look in the fridge)

Sit down and put up your feet

Drink a toast to a road trip well done

Now Celebrate

  

Day 34 Tavistock Ontario...... back with family

12,575 km:
After visiting with other friends in Chatham, we headed out to Mitchells Bay to see Lake St. Clair. We now realize that we have visited and taken pictures of all the Great lakes except Lake Erie which we will be able to see before our journey is over. Today, we took Hwy 2 to Ailsa Craig and then Hwy 7 to the Stratford and then Tavistock area where my parents and brother and his family live. They were
very much relieved to see that we were safe and sound and closer to home.
Again, we had a great weather day without rain, although on the chilly side.
Tomorrow, we will travel to Stoney Creek to visit with E's parents and also to see our cat who has receiving lots of loving care from them.
regards to all,
Anne

 A stop at Mitchell's Bay on Lake St Clair - the smallest great lake

 Still growing tobacco in the Chatham area

 --- and drying it at harvest time

At the family farm near Tavistock  

Day 33 Chatham, Ontario .....visiting with friends

12,234 km travelled:
We started our day by walking along the main street of Frankenmuth. It's a lovely town to walk in with flowers along both sides of the street. My DH bought a sign "Big Boys Toys" for his big steel that is home for many of his toys at the cottage...how appropriate.
We then drove to Port Huron by way of Sandusky(Mi) and Port Sanilac. The drive along Lake Huron was again spectacular. We had a very easy crossing over the Bluewater Bridge and into Canada. By the St Clair River in Sarnia, we stopped for our last picnic lunch. We had sea gulls dancing around us just waiting for any crumbs to drop and a view of large ships as they travelled the St Clair River from Lake Erie to Lake Huron. We had a bit nostalgia as we drove along the St. Clair River (where we had sailed many years ago) and stopped in Sombra for a break. Finally, we arrived in Chatham, where we were married many years ago, and proceeded to get lost on our way to see the house that we had built there. We stayed overnight with our good friends, Jana and John.

A typical building in Frankenmuth



--- and a view of the plants all along the main street 

Driving across Michigan 

--- and the view when we reached the Michigan shore of Lake Huron  

Crossing the Bluewater Bridge back into Canada  

The view during our final picnic lunch (that is an ocean going ship in the river)  

Sarnia's petrochemical valley 

 More ships travelling the St Clair River

 Farmland in the Chatham area - flatter than the Canadian prairies

Viewing the house we built and the trees we planted in Chatham





Day 32, Frankenmuth, Michigan.....another great day crossing Michigan

11,982 km travelled in great weather:
Another wonderful drive today, although still much cooler that last week.
We drove across the very long Mackinaw Bridge this morning. Since our side of the bridge was under construction and down to 1 lane which was mostly steel grated, E rode on the concrete "closed" lane for as long as he could. I was expecting severe winds but they were much lighter and as a result, I could take some pictures.
After the bridge, we rode to Cross Village where we started a fabulous drive south along Hwy 119. This part of  Hwy 119 is known as the "Tunnel of Trees". To our right through the trees, we saw glimpses of Lake Michigan shore line with big waves as well as beautiful homes on both sides of the road.
We took a short break at Harbour Springs which is a very picturesque resort town. After Travers City, we headed southeast on Hwy 115 through Cadillac (where McDonalds was serving up "free" medium sized coffee much to our surprise and delight) and then on Hwy 10 to Bay City.
By spending time putzing around in Bay City trying to find a room for the night, we missed an hour's worth of rain in Frankenmuth, where we ended up.
We have been extremely lucky in terms of  weather. For the past 32 days, we have only had a few minutes of rain, but not enough to get wet.
Tomorrow, we are planning to return to Canada by way of Sarnia and head to Chatham to visit with friends.
regards to all,
Anne

 A tribute to the men killed building this 5 mile long bridge with 42,000 miles of cable

 Looking down through the steel grating - see the water below?

Along the roadside (as we rode by)  

Legs Inn - a local landmark named after the visible stove legs along the roof  

Riding through the famous 26 mile Tunnel of Trees   

--- with occasional glimpses of Lake Michigan 



 Boating on Lake Michigan at Harbour Springs

 A townhouse in Harbour Springs overlooking the harbour

 Areas of vineyards and orchards along the way

 --- as well as some farms along the way

 Parked for the evening at our hotel in Frankenmuth

 Beautiful Frankenmuth

 --- with the main street lined with flowers

Having fun in Frankenmuth....E as Bo Peep?



Day 31 St. Ignace, UP, Michigan...... a drop in temperature

11,486 km travelled since August 14th
Although we started the day under big clouds with various shades of gray, we were able to ride into bright skies for the entire day. However, according to the US TV weather commentators "a cold front from Canada has moved in". The temperature dropped by about 20 F for us overnight...from almost 90F on Sun into the 50-60's today.
Today, we saw many more trees that have changed colours on our drive through the Michigan UP.
We fueled up in a small village called Christmas and yes, there were a few shops devoted to the Christmas theme. We saw a large flock of wild turkeys on the side of the road. I tried to take a picture but they moved faster than I did.
We saw 2 of the Great Lakes today- Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Both lakes are beautiful to view but also, different. There were lots of waves on Lake Superior and the sun was setting on a calmer Lake Michigan.
We are planning to head across the Mackinaw Bridge tomorrow.
regards to all,
Anne

 Riding into Marquette with Lake Superior straight ahead

 Lake Superior with dramatic waves rollling in

 Stopping to enjoy Lake Superior

 Passing a "torch run"

 A beautiful entrance to a golf course along the way

 Then, riding along northern Lake Michigan

 --- with beautiful shorelines

--- and a wonderful sunset



Day 30 Hurley, Wisconsin....staying ahead of the rain

10,983 km travelled on two wheels with Tubby behind us....
We are staying tonight in Hurley, which is located in Wisconsin next to the border with the Upper Peninsula, Michigan.
We covered a lot of miles today as we head home. We started to see the reds, oranges, yellows of the fall leaves in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The temperature is still high for us....low 80's F today. The landscape that we travelled through today is very similar to that of Ontario. We stopped at the statue of Minnesota's Paul Bunyon for a photo op.
As we were getting closer to our planned destination for tonight, we started to pay more attention to the skies as they darkened. We managed to keep ahead of the rain until we got to our accommodation for the night and then it rained for about thirty minutes. We look forward with anticipation to tomorrow's skies.
Regards to all,
Anne

 Minnesota - a state with many trees ---

 --- and lakes

 --- and farms.

 Yes, there are also cowboys in Minnesota

 --- and it is the home of  Paul Bunyon

 During a rest stop

A home with a carpeted drive and muraled garage doors

Another picnic lunch at Hill Lake next to Hill City