Day 11 - May 19
Border
Crossing
We got up this morning,
figuring to make up a little for yesterday's Side-trip to Alfa Heaven, and that's pretty
much what we did. It was another beautiful day, warm, windows rolled down to let in the
wind and the...
Bugs! Gawd, the atmosphere is
full of 'em! We've added the word "splat" to the computer's spell-checker. Our
windshield got so splattered that it looked like we were in a paint-ball war, and lost. We
started buying gas three gallons at a time just so that we could use the window squeegee!
But we did put on some miles
today, driving up the northern coast of Lake Michigan and crossing into Canada at Sault
Saint Marie, and then taking Canada's Route 17 eastward.
At one point we passed a
roller blader, followed by a couple of support trucks festooned with signs saying that the
guy was roller-blading across Canada coast to coast. Not sure which is more
strenuous—to do it on roller blades or in a 27-year-old Alfa Romeo.
Speaking of whom, she
continues to perform flawlessly—it seems that she's going to like the east coast.
Tonight, we're in the
"city" of North Bay, Ontario, on the northern shore of Lake Nipissing, a good
lake but not a Great Lake. We spotted no Alfas today, buy we did spot a big black bear out
in a field while driving between Sudbury and North Bay.
This is where
we went today
(Sorry, our mapping software only covers the USA.)
Lake Michigan
The Great Lakes are truly that—they're vast—no way can one see to the
other side.
Customs
Here we are waiting our turn to fake our way through Canadian Customs. The
inspector was a gorgeous young woman who waved us through despite The Warriors natty
appearance, and our own.
Dandelion Farm
This is one of hundreds of dandelion farms that we passed. Canadians grow
dandelions and ship the seeds to the US for use in our lawns. The inset shows some
dandelion seed storage silos.
Lake Huron
The Warrior (we're talking about the car) takes a breather alongside the blue water
and sandy shores of the third Great Lake we've encountered.
Fill 'er up!
The Canadians pull no punches when it comes to things about which they are serious.
Check out the protective coating that The Warrior is now wearing.
Beer(s) of the Day
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Muskoka Premium Dark Ale
Lakes of Muskoka Cottage Brewery, Bracebridge, Ontario
It seems that there is a lot more beer selection
in Canada than the last time we passed through. This one's by a microbrewery near North
Bay, no great shakes but a darn site better than the standard Molson/LaBatt's fare one
normally gets up here. |
Culture Feature
We're not sure what the point of this was,
but we were definitely in Chippewa territory and, alongside the road, we get a little
sampling (left to right) of bark canoe, teepee, animal hide, totem pole, and some
two-dimensional guy who didn't seem to fit.
Alfa Spotting!
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Day 1 |
0 |
(Except for a bunch while still in San Francisco) |
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Day 2 |
0 |
(No Alfas, but one Fiat X-1/9 parked, but standing on
its own wheels) |
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Day 3 |
0 |
(No Alfas, no Fiats, but one Corvair that looked like
it might have run) |
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Day 4 |
1 |
The Milano parked in Doug Zaitz's driveway when we
pulled in. |
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Day 5 |
23 |
That's 20 or so on the Wine Tour, plus the three in
Doug's loft. |
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Day 6 |
12 |
(All of them in the Veloce Motors garage.) |
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Day 7 |
0 |
Hey, we were in Idaho and Montana. |
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Day 8 |
0 |
Hey, we were in Montana and North Dakota. |
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Day 9 |
0 |
But we've got something up our sleeves for
tomorrow—stay tuned! |
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Day 10 |
100 |
We didn't actually count them, but there must be at
least this many at Alfa Heaven. |
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Day 11 |
0 |
Ah, back to normal. |
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__________ |
_____ |
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Total |
136 |
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May 2001 |
 |
Back to the Road Trip 2001 title page
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