Mentor Ohio to Sudbury Ontario

The weather channel this morning showed a line of rain along the south side of Lake Erie. The funny thing was that, when I stepped outside, the skies were blue. Go figure. We loaded up, got gas ($1.95 per gallon) and jumped on I-90 headed for Buffalo.

We traveled the NY Thruway and Sandy noted as we got off that the tolls were increasing on May 15. That’s going to be strange since we have been paying $2.10 for the stretch from Buffalo to Pennsylvania as long as I can remember. Then we proceeded to the Peace Bridge where the tollgates on the US side seemed to be missing. A free bridge. How nice.

Traffic was light at customs so I chose one of several lanes that had only one car waiting. With my unique knack of choosing wrong, we watched the fellow in the booth have a protracted discussion with the officer. Then documents were passed over and the talk continued as car after car went through the adjoining lanes. Finally, he was sent to impound and it was our turn. I declared the hitch and explained about the cut tire replacement. This may seem naïve but I survived an RCMP investigation into motorcycle accessory smuggling years ago because I had been above board and declared all my purchases. This was when my lawyer explained to me that, with customs and taxes, you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. Anyway, the pretty young lady welcomed us home and released us. This was when I discovered where the new tollbooths were.

We headed up the QEW to Hamilton and, not willing to pay the exorbitant toll on the 407, jumped on the 403 through Oakville. It’s been a long time since I went through here and even longer since I ran it right through to the 401 in Toronto. There have been many changes along the route. We caught the 400 north off the 401 and stopped at the service centre just north of Canada’s Wonderland for lunch and gas.

As we headed north of Barrie, a large black cloud was threatening from the west. We headed at it for a while and finally started catching some light rain near Waubaushene. It quit, but we encountered the same thing again near Parry Sound. If we had been a little later, it looks like we would have had a much worse time. Finally, we reached Sudbury without having to fuel again. This tank covered 363 kilometers and it took 23.5 liters when I topped it up.

The new credit cards arrived while we were away. The grass is green and long and needs to be mowed. After I sharpen the blades. Tomorrow is a chore day since we leave again Thursday for Port Dover.