Trans-Canada - Day 8

Start Location: Wawa, ON
Ending Location: Marinette, WI
Miles Today: 384
Trip Miles: 2717
States Visited: 3
Provinces Visited: 5
Low Temp: 65°
High Temp: 78°
Min Elevation: 573'
Max Elevation: 1301'

Route Map:

Today started out much better than we expected. The fog was gone and it was 67, almost tropical. The scenery was very similar to yesterday, but this time we could actually see it and get some pictures. The sections along the lake were beautiful. The sun even managed to peek out several times.

No trip would be complete without construction and we had our share of it today. I think that all of the Canadian dollars earmarked for construction are all being spent in Ontario. It became particularly annoying when the pavement became just gravel. However, it wasn't raining.

The wait going through customs was only about 45 minutes. It was hard on Bob to have to crawl along, but it gave me a chance to get some pictures of the locks and the border crossing. All of the cars and trucks going both ways had Ontario plates. Since shortly after crossing into Canada at Sumas, I have only seen 7 US plates. This is not where Americans are traveling this summer. The border patrol guy informed us that we needed to sign our passports before using them again. We didn't look at them closely enough to know they needed to be signed! All in all, it was relatively painless, and it wasn't raining.

We had a few sprinkles late in the afternoon, but not enough to put on rain gear or get wet. However, the last 5 miles were a different story. It was hard rain, but warm. We were so close that we didn't bother to put on rain gear and just walked into the motel dripping. If it hadn't been for all the construction, we would have missed the hard rain. There is one advantage to the rain -- Bob doesn't have to wash the bugs off the windshield!

We passed a very large Honda dealer in Menominee on the way in - only about 10 minutes from our motel so we will call there in the morning to see if they can change our tire while we're here - better safe than stranded with a flat tire.