Today was an early start. Seems I'm making a habit of these 4:30 AM wake-up calls. It was another long-haul drive day - 14 hours of expected drive time. This wasn't part of the original plan, however, after the mishap with the car door magnets I finally found an alternative. A company in North Bay, Canada could produce decals for the car within 2 days. Only problem? I would need to arrive at their office by Friday at 2:00 PM. That's over 1,000 miles to cover in a day and a half. 😱
The original plan, Colombia to Green Bay on day 2, would have taken too long and I wouldn't have made it in time to North Bay. So I canceled the Airbnb there and prepped 12 sandwiches and a large pot of coffee to keep me fueled on the race to North Bay.
It was a beautiful, but brutal drive north. There was a stunning sunrise, bright orange sun through some soft fluffy clouds. I had selected the quickest route on Google Maps, which surprisingly ended up taking me through some tiny country roads until we reached the I-55 interstate to Chicago. As this was a transportation corridor, the roads were packed with large trucks, making the drive slow and cumbersome at times. I was sceptical at first that this was going to be a quick route, but I arrived at my destination at the time promised - 13.5 hours after departure.
Other than a few bathroom and coffee breaks, I drove straight through the day. At one rest stop, I brought out the handy espresso machine and refilled my big cup of coffee for the remainder of the drive. A surprising challenge ended up trying to get gas! Once I left Missouri, every gas station I stopped at had extremely outdated pumps and only 87-level leaded gasoline. Not only that, but they also didn't accept credit cards! It was a bit like stepping back in time.
On the road, the biggest supplier of drama and intrigue came from the large amounts of State Police that kept popping up everywhere. Despite my urgency to cover so many miles in 1 day, I was careful to keep my speed within the legal limit (even if I was tempted at times to rush a bit). Good thing I'm such a law abiding citizen too, because on several occasions a state trooper caught me by surprise.
There I was, sticking to my consistent 75 MPH when I got stuck behind a car going quite slow. I sped up to 85 MPH to overtake, and caught a glimpse of a car behind me that looked like it might be a cop. I immediately reduced back down to the speed limit, and a few minutes later the car passed me by. My intuition paid off, it was a state trooper. He had probably kept back while I'd overtaken to see if I'd reduce my speed again or continue over the limit. Thank goodness I slowed down.
Then again on a different highway entering into Canada during the last stretch of Michigan highway, I glanced at my rearview mirror and noticed there were hardly any cars around anymore except one. This car was a bit far back and something seemed off about the front of it, though I couldn't place exactly what. Just to be safe, I drove extra carefully. Soon enough the car came closer and I saw that it was a state trooper. For a while he followed close behind me, making me a bit nervous. I was super conscious of everything I was doing. Was my speed ok? Was I driving perfectly straight? Was my seatbelt on? After quite some time he finally gave up and passed by. I could finally relax again and enjoy the open road and beautiful scenery!
Oh, Canada!
After getting past trooper country, Canada was in sight! A sign and some Canadian flags indicated that I'd entered the road leading into Canada.
Finally I had made it to the border. And it was....empty. I was shocked. Here I was, expecting to see hundreds of cars all lined up waiting to cross the border. May is a great month to travel in the area and I'd heard border wait times into Canada could be quite long. So I asked the border police officer about the lack of traffic. She said that this particular border crossing tends to have lower traffic than some of the other entry points. Apparently, this part of the Michigan-Canada border area is not very populated and Sault Ste. Marie, the border town, is not a tourist destination, so very few people cross from here. Other than fishing season, its a quiet area. So I highly recommend this border crossing for those looking for a calmer route into Canada. Otherwise you can also check this website to see traffic and wait time conditions at each border crossing into Canada.
Remember the dreaded car search fear? Well, turns out I didn't need to unpack and repack my car back up at the border. Maybe they read my Day 0 blog post...The officer did, however, ask me many questions about my trip: What do you do? How long are you going to be in Canada? What date are you returning to the USA? What do you have inside the vehicle?
But despite getting the third degree, no car search was required. Though they did ask to see the bear spray. They did a quick inspection of it and then cleared me to go. Canada, here I come!
Destination: Rest & Relaxation
Finally, I had arrived at my hotel, The Water Tower Inn, after my 13.5 hour drive. The Canada side of Sault Ste. Marie seemed to be a bit worse for wear, and I was told not to leave anything of value in the car. To be quite candid, the town seemed pretty run down, and not entirely safe. So I emptied out my vehicle and brought everything up to my room. Better to be safe than sorry. At least I was 12 sandwiches lighter since I'd left this morning! Not sure I'd recommend this town for a night stay, though I was satisfied with my night at the Inn.
Once my car-full of road trip gear and I were all safe and sound in the hotel room, I decided to go down and use the sauna to relax a bit. I started chatting with a young couple also staying in the hotel about small town life. They live in the tiny town of Chapleau that has small populations of natives. The wife herself was indigiousness, and I learned from her that though I, along with other travelers and Canadian citizens, would need a license to fish in the area, she does not as she is a native. I asked her a bit about small town life, and like Roy Jackson back in Alpena, she said she absolutely loves the close knit community she lives in, and that big city life is just not for her.
She then started talking about bears and how her community strives to protect the animals in the area. As I'm heading into bear country with my camping gear shortly, I asked her for some tips to avoid any bear run ins. She informed me that it can be quite complicated when camping to avoid the bears. She suggested to either bury all the food in containers in the ground or to hang them up high in an airtight container (not too close to your camp) where a bear can not reach. The problem she says, is bears have excellent sense of smell and any food in the area will attract them. They will stop at nothing to get to the goods, including rummaging through tents and clawing through vehicles.
I was already a bit nervous hearing this, and then she mentioned how the bears have just come out of hibernation and are especially hungry...yikes!
I headed back to my room, my mind swimming with the images of hungry bears, when I decided to stop by the hotel's business computer center to borrow a computer mouse to do a bit of writing for this blog (as I'd left mine behind). I got another sense of going back in time. The mouse had a wire! I can't remember the last time I used anything other than a wireless mouse. Not only that, but the center looked like it hadn't been used in a decade. So off I went with my borrowed wired mouse to do a bit of writing in my room.
All in all, a very productive driving day, and a relaxing way to end the evening before bed. Looking forward to a more laid back day tomorrow, and can't wait to see the stunning Canadian scenery!
See you tomorrow,
Shlomo
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