Today was my second day on the road and was quite a busy one! I woke early again, this time at 4:45 am, and was on the road by 5:15. I love leaving early before the morning traffic begins and watching the sun come up. It’s cool and calm and the miles pass quickly for me in these early morning hours.
I did learn two lessons this morning. The first is to review the next day’s route the night before… I have been very pleased with the Rand McNally RV GPS but like many GPS systems, it often takes a bit to get going and uses the famous phrase “proceed to the highlighted route and the route guidance will start”. Well, if it’s 5 am, dark, and you are in a different country, you may not be sure which way will take you to the “highlighted route”!  Fortunately, there was little traffic and I could have turned around if I had guessed wrong but I hadn’t so I didn’t need to… Phew!

The second thing I learned was to get cash in the currency of the country you are visiting ahead of when you need it. I didn’t anticipate needing any Canadian cash before I reached Chilliwack but it would have been nice to have some on hand to purchase coffee this morning since the hotel didn’t have any Joe made at 5 am. I tried one coffee shop and they did not take American dollars. It wasn’t until a few miles down the road that I realized I could just go to an ATM and it would give me Canadian Dollars…it was a lightbulb moment. Gone are the days where you have to go to a currency exchange or a bank to get foreign currency! So now I have a small stash of Canadian cash I can use when I cross the border. Live and learn!

I left the Travelodge Bonaventure Niagara Falls ON, and headed down Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) to Ontario Highway 403 past St. Catharines, Hamilton, and Brantford.  Then I picked up Ontario Highway 401 West through London to the border crossing at Sarnia. The roads in Canada are pretty much the same as in the USA so travel is easy. The signs are all in English and easy to read and navigate. Distances are measured in Kilometers instead of Miles and speed is expressed in Kilometers per Hour (KPH) instead of Miles per Hour (MPH). Fortunately, my truck will display either so I just switched to Kilometers per Hour display mode while in Canada. That made things simple.

I crossed back into the USA on Interstate 69 at about 9:00 AM. I was able to ride further today without stopping since my back and legs are handling sitting in the car better.  Again, no problems at the border just curious looks when I told the customs agent I was headed to BC to pick up my new travel trailer! He looked just a bit wistful and wished me luck!  I69 took me to Flint, MI and with speed limits of 75MPH on this highway, I made good time.

Now that I’ll be traveling several days without crossing into Canada, it was time to stock up on food. You can’t bring fresh fruits and veggies or dairy products across the border and since that’s mostly what I ‘m eating I decided to wait until this leg of the trip to stock my new RTIC Cooler. I picked up Interstate 75 in Flint, MI (also 75 MPH highway) and headed north.  When I reached Saginaw, MI I used Google to find a “grocery store near me” and it guided me to a small run down local shop in a sketchy part of town so I aborted that attempt and got back on the highway until I found an exit with lots of restaurants and gas stations. I had better luck there and found a Super Walmart. I stocked up on peanut butter, apples, nectarines, cheese, yogurt, boiled eggs, lunch meat, and water. I had made a big batch of trail mix before I left with assorted nuts, raisins, and chocolate covered almonds (just a few!) so I’m all set for food for a few days. After a tailgate lunch in the Walmart parking lot I was back on the road heading for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

• Today’s Driving Stats:
  • 509.8 miles
  • Average MPH 60
  • Average MPG 19.6
  • Driving Time 8:28

 

• Yesterday’s Driving Stats
  • 459.6
  • Average MPH 61
  • Average MPG 19.5
  • Driving Time 7:16

I’m listening to Sirius Radio and an Audible book for entertainment while I drive. I like the 70’s and 80’s music, Garth Brooks Channel, and the Jimmy Buffett Channel on Sirius Radio. I’m listening to The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware on Audible. I’d like to find some good podcasts too…any suggestions? I loved S Town and Serial Season 1.

I arrived at Aurora Borealis Motor Inn in St. Ignace, MI about 3:15 pm feeling a bit tired and stiff so I decided to take a walk down the hill about a mile to the main street of St. Ignace. What a charming place! The lighthouse, harbor, and park along the boardwalk are beautiful and the water is a brilliant blue. Small shops dot the street opposite the boardwalk and I can see Mackinac Island just across the harbor. I purchased a Star Ferry ticket to go to Mackinac Island a few weeks ago online and a free shuttle will take me from the hotel to the ferry dock tomorrow morning. I picked up a bottle of wine while I was on my walk tonight and now I’m ready to put my feet up, have a glass, and watch my Somewhere In Time DVD to put me the proper frame of mind for my visit to Mackinac Island tomorrow!

Enjoy the photos and don’t worry about the ones taken from the truck …I have hands-free photo control on my Samsung Galaxy S7 smart phone! The phone is in a holder and I just say “Smile” and it automatically takes the photo! How cool is that!!