Where next ??

Well we finally made it out of San Francisco one day later than anticipated, without United Airlines help.

We will be back there again this year 2014 with hopefully better airline luck. Just a fleeting 3 days with a 4th of July dinner cruise as the icing on the cake-oh, and a night at the Opera seeing Verdi's "La Traviata".

Sometimes it's nice to take a trip without setting foot in an airport.

We like Road Trips!

So up next is one that takes us to a very beautiful Province of Canada, one we have a history with: our 5th driving tour to Ontario.

Our driving tours of Ontario began in 2005 when I was looking at a huge AAA map of the USA and noticed there was a place called Canada at the top. I wanted to do a drive as the leaves changed in October and looked within a 500 mile radius so that we could make it home in a day at the end. I drive a car that has to be garaged in the wintertime so an October drive is maybe the last time I will drive it until April. In winter I switch to a car designed for driving in the snow.

One of the places that fell within this 500 mile radius was Sault Ste (Saint) Marie a town which sits on both sides of the border! (two towns with the same name) .There was something called the Soo Locks on the Michigan side where big ships could move between Lake Superior and Lake Huron even though the former was 21 feet higher than the latter. Amazing! The Locks allow ships to bypass the rapids running in the middle of the St Mary's River. The International Bridge takes road traffic from the USA to Canada and vice versa, high over this river.

The beauty of a driving holiday is first and foremost-no schedule! No airports or trains.

We picked a few days in May 2012 when the weather was good and winter a thing of the past.
I drive a small car. The trunk holds most of the luggage we'll need and the back seat has snacks, camera bags, binoculars, maps, guide books and CDs for the drive.

We live in Chicago but start the trip from a summer home (used year-round) which is at the bottom left corner of Michigan. We will make camp our first night in Bay City, 300 miles away on the East side of the state. It was the place where the singer Madonna grew up and that might be it's claim to fame.

From there we will drive North on our 2nd day, to take up residence in S.S.Marie on the Ontario side.
We'll visit Lake Superior before returning due South with an overnight stay in the lake town of Charlevoix, Michigan.

First stop though is just two hours N.E where the weather made a visit to Meijer Gardens a must-see on our way. Fred Meijer is the man responsible for the supermarket chain that bears his name so has enough money to indulge himself (and luckily, us) in his love of nature and art. If you get hungry there they have a nice cafe which is unique in that it has a Dale Chihuli glass sculpture hanging from the ceiling  and many Chihuli pieces for sale in the gift shop. Dale did the stunning glass ceiling sculpture in the wonderful Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

So let's begin this trip to Canada.....exactly two years ago....May 14 2012

Next up-a German lunch in a German inspired town in East Michigan....