We have spent the last week relaxing in hot (30c) weather at the seaside and lakeside. We drove up the shores of Lake Michigan to a small town called Montague at the mouth of the White River where we spent 3 days in the woods in a huge campsite with hardly anyone around. We went for a walk in the woods and saw a brace of white tailed deer jump up in fright and take off through the trees. Quiet and Relaxing. Then it was time to start heading East towards the Canadian border some 300 miles away.
We camped at a lovely Lake (Minnawanna) in the middle of a Michigan State Park. We setup camp just feet from the lake an although the park had 300 campsite there were only 5 other people there. Camping doesn’t really get going in the US until Memorial Day Weekend which is the last Monday in May.
We wandered through the lovely trails in the park and saw chipmunks and a snake and Wendy swears she saw a beaver frolicking in the middle of the lake.
The day we were due to leave the lovely hot weather turned to custard and we left in rain which got heavier and heavier as neared the Canadian border. We were expecting long queues, interrogation and customs searches but there was nothing other than a cursory glance at our passports and ‘Have a good day’ and we were suddenly in Canada. Not that we could see anything at all as the lake fog enveloped everything. We headed for the Niagara area where we had booked a campsite for on night before heading further South to another place. This place was in a lovely valley (The Jordan Valley) but in the rain it didn’t really matter. But the roads in the park were narrow, the sites were grass and we concerned about getting stuck with our rig. But all was OK. We unhitched and went to St Catherines to buy an iPad micro sim for our iPad and we are now signed up with Rogers for 5GB for $35. We also bought some local wine from the LCBO. Much of Canada will only allow alcohol to sold from Government owned stores. Beer is twice the price and more compared to the US (about NZ$2.60 a can) but wine seems reasonable in price. We had bought a couple of cases from Wal-Mart in the US before we left and 1/3 the price.
Today in the pouring rain we drove 50km to Fort Erie where we are staying for 3 nights so we can visit the Falls and other attractions in the area. It was fun backing into a small site facing a small lake in the pouring rain but we got setup and turned the furnace on and we were soon nice and warm and ready to watch Masterchef NZ using some of the 5GB bandwidth from Rogers Telecom.
The forecast is for rain and more rain for the next few days. So we may only get to see the falls. Then it’s on to Toronto where Wendy is catching up with Ruth an old friend from Cape Town days.
Remember you can follow our trip clicking on this Google Map link
