Heating Up In the North

September 5 - 6, 2017

Leaving Toronto was even less fun than getting there.  I thought the going might be easier if I stayed out of the center of town but not only was there a ton of construction, the roads are also potholed and narrow in some places. To make things even more exciting there was a storm building and the bumpy roads in the city seemed to have made the engine heating issue even worse.  The truck was running warm even on the flats and being buffeted by winds while worrying about the rig made me very unhappy. 

I did a roundabout route into Hamilton avoiding the Skyway Bridge and the accompanying gusts of wind. Of course, since I didn't have any cell reception in Canada and only had a vague idea of where Walmart was in the city, I did a lot of slow driving until I got close enough to allow Google Maps to show me the location.  I originally looked up the location in the U.S. and this allowed Maps to show me more detail of that area.

I also discovered that Canada celebrates labor day by allowing laborers to stay home.  Lots of closed businesses and presumably fewer people on the roads. Other than the plants from Lowes being rolled across the road by the wind, it seems like a more civilized way to have a holiday.

Parked for the night and decided to go back to Niagara instead of seeing what Fort Erie was all about in case the heating situation got even worse.  Ah well, another thing to do later.

The border crossing was just as easy although the U.S. border guard spent a little more time looking in my vehicle.  It seems like a pointless exercise to me since he just kind of peeked and maybe opened a cupboard or something.  Really, if I were going to smuggle something into the country I wouldn't leave it lying on floor in plain sight. 

Or maybe no sensible smuggler would be driving a thirty year old vehicle.

Filled up with gas as soon as I was back in the states (SOOO expensive in Canada!) And drove towards Buffalo.  I figured I'd find a place to stop and then look for a muffler shop in hopes that fixing the muffler would solve the heating issue.

I stopped on the edge of the city and found out that most shops were in the center of the city.  Um....no.  Shops that were close to where I was parked had bad reviews except for one, but he didn't think he could fit my vehicle on his lift.  I didn't feel like describing the camper on a Toyota truck base because really, if you can't figure that out then I don't want you looking at my vehicle anyway.

Found a shop in Springville with good reviews and drove there.  Turned out that not only had I lost one of the hangers (twisty tailpipe) but there was also a couple holes in the muffler and it needed to be replaced.  Well let's do that then.

While chatting with the desk guy he told me about a pretty place to visit if I didn't want to do the standard Buffalo-DC route.  Not wanting to do anything standard I went east instead of south and found an absolutely amazing state park.

The Great White North - Or At Least a Nice City on the Lake

August 31 - September 4, 2017

I was a little apprehensive about crossing the border mainly because of the cats but it was a snap.  The lovely young border patrol guard with a melting French accent peered into the rig, spotted the cats' eyes peering at him from under the table and said thanks.  Awesome. 

I decided to stick with the short distance driving scheme and randomly chose Hamilton as a stopping place.  I am so glad I did this 1) because it's all city between Niagara and Toronto and 2) I happened upon a fabulous park.

Lake Ontario looks to have a lot of park space along its shores and Confederation Beach Park is part of that trail system.  I parked in the lot and spent a couple hours walking the trail.  There are some great views of the lake and I found unexpected art work that is adorable.

I just loved these carvings!

The next day it was on to Toronto.  Turns out there IS a big hill but it comes in the form of a bridge and wasn't too daunting.  I also didn't realize that there were so many (...any...) wineries in Canada.  Could be a fun wine tasting trip some time.

Although the roads and traffic suck, Toronto is gorgeous.  Once my Canadian friend pointed out that there is a subway and I didn't have to drive downtown the city looked even nicer.  

Plus they have cool black squirrels.

I wandered downtown a bit, had a great time having lunch with old friends I had never met and discovered that even our extra polite neighbours to the north will ditch an overgrown zucchini if they think they can get away with it.