Into Canada - day 1 and 2

I suppose I should write something since I AM out of the country . . in a way.

At the moment we are in Beaupre Quebic which is about 20 miles from Quebic City where we spent the day today.

We took off Friday morning to rendezvous with my brother, his wife, her sister and her husband in Beaupre. We went the southern route through Chicago which is not as bad as most say but still butt ugly.  We had Waze helping us but for the 1st part of the day the car was pointing north on the screen but we seem to be driving backwards . . . . which was not a help.

We get through Chicago and Gary and so forth and head across Michigan which is Wisconsin but with worse roads.  Yea - weird. Not much to tell you about about Michigan as we headed east.  We have never actually gone EAST.  Port Huron was the stress point as we would have to actually cross an international border which I had never successfully done in my life being turned back with Elweed a few decades ago . . go figure.

SO - we near the border and my stress level is increasing. We pay the toll to cross the bridge and get in line which is one car ahead of us.

We pull up and hand over the papers and I  take off my cap and sunglasses and smile. The officer asks why we are coming to Canada and I panic and step on it . . . . almost. NO TRICK QUESTIONS COPPER!

Until I remember the answer and say "vacation".  That was the hard one.  Really only 3 questions.  My brother was grilled at the northern border (I laugh).  We are entering Canada which looks a lot like Michigan which is just like Wisconsin.   WHOO HOO

The goal for night #1 is London which is a couple hours from Toronto.  Nothing to report.  Nice hotel in a town that is a collage???? town?  Seemed like a LOT of younger people wandering around . . a LOT.  We ask the hotel dude about food and he says the street over has everything you can think of.

True true . . but nothing is actually recognizable except Tim Hortons which is more prevalent the Starbucks. We went to Pizza Hut (don't laugh, comfort food).  Sitting for 9 hours does not really work up an appetite.

We wake up early-ish and are heading east.  All is well. The road is empty until we start to get near Toronto which means are 60 miles . . OOPS . . . 96 kilometers away.  We're at a top speed of 62 mph which is 100 kph.  There are signs saying it's a $10,000 fine for going 50 kph over the speed limit

Here comes Toronto

which is 100 mph.

HOWEVER - with the currency exchange it is ONLY $7,600 in American money.  YEA - making money already eh?

Nearing Toronto the highway goes from the typical 4 lanes to TWELVE and as we are passing the city DJ says "This is like a video game" and I look and we're going like about 85 MPH and people are passing us!     

Toronto seems to take forever until FINALLY there is a sign that says ENTERING THE GREEN ZONE.

And YUP - green and beautiful.  But we're in need of a rest stop.

Of course all the signs are English but using alternate words.  Circulation Fluid is a big one. Lot of Circulation Fluid signs.       

So Rest Stop.  Have not seen any but we keep going past big ONROUTE signs. Ah Ha - ONROUTE is what Ontario uses.  It's a privately owned rest stop company that has Burger Kings and Tim Hortons (Timmy's) and gas and the whole nine yards.  SADLY - it was a little confusing getting in and we ended up parking with the trucks.  Don't Ask.

We get gas for the first time and try to use our credit card and things are beeping and lights are flashing and it says SEE ATTENDANT.   GULP!! 

WELL, it seems at that in that station American cards need a signature and I have to pre pay.  The lady asks how much we want to spend on gas . . . . ummmmm . . . $30? Gas is $1.27 but I have not thought about the ramifications  . . YET. 

We get our gas which happens to be only 6 gallons.  As we are driving I'm trying to figure out how much gas is.  hmmmmm  3.79 liters per gallon and the current exchange rate of 1.30 and . . . . forget it.  

And we drive on. Montreal is the next big thing.  We drive and drive and drive and I'm getting tired but there are no ONROUTES for a while.  We finally pull over and DJ drives . . . . PERFECT TIMING.  She will drive through Montreal.  

One small problem

Hope it's not important. 

Our world turns upside down and we learn we know less French then we thought. 

Not as nice as Toronto. Butt ugly actually as the elevated bumpy highway three stories (2 story's in American height) takes us through the middle of town and into the tunnel which if you look closely is falling apart. 

Still not really knowing what some road signs actually mean (and it gets WAY WAY WAY worse) but we're doing well as we start to put the butt hole of Montreal behind us. Average speed is about 70-75 MPH on The 401 which is straight and smooth and clean.   

So many high end cars. Very very few Subarus but many Porsch's,  Jaguars, BMWs, and a Lamborghini two, no really! 

We call my brother who by now is in Beaupre as he started a day ahead of us going the northern route through Sue Saint Marie over the top (our route on the way back).  He does not believe or trust GPS and has a big map (no comment).  

I now understand why France is a 3rd world country. They use way too many letters for EVERYTHING.  And nothing at all makes sense.   Nobody speaks English and every sign is 100% French.  EVERYTHING is French. The radio is all French, signs are french, gas stations are French and everybody talks French.  We are in French land.    

I am so glad our GPS interprets everything back to English. 

Long Story Shorter - we make it to Beaupre about 8:00 our time Saturday. The population of Beaupre is only 3,752 which if I do the math conversion correct is 3,122 Americans but I could be wrong. 

And we relax.  Tomorrow (sunday) - Quebic City which is AMAZING!  

The old City - Quebic