Continuing our explorations, and then moving on

Still getting caught up, and it’s only going to get worse unless I start blogging faster! 

So, this was the Wednesday after Labor Day . . . it was a beautiful day, and I had gotten everything done that I needed to for work by lunchtime, so I took the afternoon off and we loaded the bikes on the Jeep.  There is a Conservation Area just a mile or so down the road from the campground, and they have a bike trail that runs along the River Thames,

to the dam,

and then along the lake.

We parked the Jeep in a small parking lot at the west end of the park, along the river, and followed the trail.

We shared the trail with a few other bikers, and several groups of walkers . . . I think everyone was loving this beautiful day!

We stopped in a few places to look out over the lake,

looking back at the dam

campground across the lake

but mostly we just continued riding. 

There were lots of little side trails that went off into the woods, followed the main trail for a while, and then merged back in.  If the boys had been with us, they would have been going off on those trails – more adventurous!

We saw several Great Blue Herons flying around, and this guy fishing.

We reached the parking lot at the east end of the lake, and my phone showed that the Jeep was two miles away (I love that feature on the iPhone – I can always find the Jeep!), so we turned around and rode back.

It was a very easy, very enjoyable 4 mile ride!

We got the bikes loaded back on the Jeep, and it was still early so we decided to take a drive to the nearby town of Ingersoll.  Tom had heard it was a cute little town.

There were several interesting stores . . . the first we went into was the local hardware.

I bet you can picture the inside of this store – old wooden floors, shelve crammed with every conceivable item, aisles that seem to go on forever!  At our last stop, Tom had lost the little cap that he puts on the airline on the front bumper of the Jeep (the airline for the brakes while towing), and he doesn’t like that airline being open while we drive around.  So . . . he went into the hardware in search of something he could use to cover it.

The old guy in the store initially said, “Nope, don’t have anything like that,”  but Tom persisted and we followed the old guy around the store until he found something that might work.  Tom tried it on the Jeep, and it fit!  None of us were sure what it was, but he sold us two of them for a dollar!

We continued down the street, wandering into a really interesting shoe store.   

No shoe boxes anywhere in sight . .  . the shoes were just hanging on the wall!  All new shoes . . . and nothing over $100/pair!

Cash only, so probably no exchange rate, either . . .

Then there was this bookstore . . .

nice store, lots of antiques on display, too.

Then, across the street and half a block away, I spotted a Quilt Shop!

Tom was thrilled!

It was a nice shop . . . no wool, but I did buy a couple of fat quarters of Canadian flag fabric!

Our last stop in Ingersoll was the DQ, for a couple of caramel sundaes . . . to tide us over until we got home and cooked dinner!

On the way back to the campground, we spotted a sign for Red Barn Fresh Produce.  We couldn’t buy too much, but stopped anyway.

It turned out to be a self-service market, with just tomatoes . . . lots and lots of tomatoes!

I love tomatoes, and I couldn’t resist them – so I bought a small basket!  We should be able to finish them before we leave Canada!

No problem – they were REALLY good!

Thursday was moving day, and once again I took the afternoon off since we had over 200 miles to travel, and had to get through Toronto.

Driving through Toronto can be crazy, and the saying is the same as Atlanta . . . get in after 10am, and out before 2pm!  The news all week had been the upcoming “TIFF” (Toronto International Film Festival), which kicked off on Thursday, too, and all the “A-listers” who were coming into town, so that might add to the madness!

We hit Toronto around 11:45, and the timing was perfect . . . there were a few slowdowns, but the traffic never came to a complete stop.

We entered the “Express” lanes, and cruised right along!  At one point there were 8 lanes in each direction!

Overall, not bad at all, and before long were were out of the city and back on the rural highway.

So one thing that we noticed on this trip was the total absence of truck stops (and they call semis “transports” here!).  In the US, if you were travelling on an interstate highway, there would be some type of truck stop at nearly every exit, and major truck stops (Loves, Pilot, TA, Flying J) at least every 50 miles or so.  In this 200+ mile stretch of the 401, though, there were NONE!  There was diesel at most gas stations, but we weren’t going to try to maneuver around one of them!

We did notice that there were service plazas about every 50 miles or so, though, and we saw lots of trucks at them . . . so maybe that’s where everybody gets their fuel.  We decided to stop at one to give it a try.  We drove past the car gas pumps, looking for the truck lanes . . . and there weren’t any!  Just a large parking/rest area for trucks . . . huh?

We went ahead and parked, and Tom took Casey for a walk while I fixed us a quick lunch.  He said there were no gas pumps in the RV parking area, either.  OK, so much for that . . .

He did talk to a guy that told him the outside pump in the car area always has diesel, so we could maybe try that at the next one.

After lunch, we continued on and never did pass a truck stop!  Now, we weren’t in any kind of desperate situation; we weren’t even down to half a tank yet.  Our original plan was to wait until we got into New York to fill back up with diesel.  Tom was getting nervous, though, because we had about an hour drive to the RV Park after we got off the 401, and then we would have to drive that far again to get back to the 401, and then about 100 miles to get back into the states.  We knew we could make it, though.

So, we made our way through the back roads and small towns, and eventually reached Quinte’s Isle Camp Park, on the shores of Lake Ontario.

We got checked in and drove about a mile through the campground to the Pebble Beach area of the park, where our site was on the shore of the lake.

Not a bad view!

P.S. OK, since I know Darren wants to know how this story ends . . . I’ll jump ahead a little.  We checked Gas Buddy, and did not see any truck stops on I-81 between the border crossing and Watertown, NY where our next stop was.  From there, we were not getting back on the interstate, but instead taking a smaller state highway to the Finger Lakes. 

So . . . we needed to fuel up in Canada afterall.  We found out that there was a Flying J on the 401, one exit east of where we would get on when we left, so we decided to stop there.  We weren’t sure how the truck lanes would work, and the RV lanes were actually well-situated and empty, so we just went there.  The fuel stop was uneventful, and after the conversions (liters to gallons and Canadian $ to US $), we paid $3.49/gallon.  Not the highest we’ve ever paid, but pretty high relative to current US prices . . . but there was a hurricane going on, too!