Ontario, again

My Michigan travels

I crossed the border at Port Huron, Michigan into Ontario, Canada and drove the QEW to Oakville on Lake Ontario.  I was hoping for some cooler weather, but it didn't happen., even with a drive along the lakeshore.



 The Provincial campground where I stayed had a day-use area with a pool.

You actually had to drive about 6 miles to the day-use area due to a ravine that you needed to drive around.  There was a cost for the pool of $4.00, but the parking was free if you had a campground pass.  The pool capacity was 2200 bodies.  Can you imagine?


One of the reasons for being in this area was to see the Royal Botanical Gardens.  I was disappointed some; I expected more from the title.  Don't misunderstand, it was a pleasant place, but I had different expectations.  My fault. 

The first garden area was a Mediterranean Garden.  It looked like Southern California and when I looked at the map, SoCal was indeed predominantly included.

They have 4 weddings each weekend in each of the five gardens!  They offer shuttle service on the weekends, but as I was there during the week, I had to drive from garden site to garden site.

RBG is the largest botanical garden in Canada, a National Historic Site, and Canada's plant biodiversity hot spot. RBG features approximately 42 living collections displayed in five major garden exhibition area.

I drove about 25 miles to the African Lion Safari thinking it was going to be a "drive-through" couple hour experience.  It turned out to be $40 and a full-on amusement park including boat rides, train rides, ride rides, etc.  I didn't come expecting to spend the day so I passed and went back to the campground.  Also, I have a small chip in my windshield by the wipers and they won't let you drive through the "safari" with a chip or crack in your windshield.  I'm assuming the cats climb on the cars?

One thing Canada has on the QEW is the highway centers.  I first encountered these on the turnpike coming back from Nova Scotia my first year on the road.  They are great, especially for me.  More than a rest stop, there are fast-food restaurants, truck lanes for diesel, convenience stores for drinks and snacks; it's great.  The biggest advantage for me is the diesel if I need it.  Quite the saver of having to get off the highway and finding truck lane fuel.

I returned to London before heading north and my ferry ride.  The Tree Truck Tour was not up to the recommendation.  It was in a bad part of town and the carvings weren't impressive.

I forgot it was a holiday weekend in Canada, so I spent the weekend at a Moose Lodge with no a/c and a whole lot of bikers.

And then onto the Bruce Peninsula ....

Unfortunately, I'm way behind in my blogs as I'm back to the country of no internet.   I have a halfway decent hotspot here (about an hour north of Toronto), so bear with me while I try to play catch up.