Four Bridges to Home

Yes, I am safely home. And I want to say a definite thanks to God that I managed to miss driving in any bad storms either coming or going. Mostly clear roads, and only a little rain to drive in. That said, it was a long time in the car today. The longest driving day in a couple of years- 10.5 hours. I'd like to quit doing that, but I need to develop a friend near Port Huron to break it up.

Anyway, here's where I was last night- with Dan and Ruth in Canandaigua, NY. They are two of the few people who have walked the entire North Country Trail and I love spending time with them. We have much in common.

I show you three of these bridges that define my route home pretty regularly. But I got pix of all of them today! First up is the Peace Bridge from Buffalo, NY, to Fort Erie, Ontario.

Then when you leave Canada at Sarnia/Port Huron, you cross the Blue Water Bridge into Michigan.

When I take the northern route home it puts me over the Zilwaukee Bridge.

And I'm adding this one in. This is a causeway type brigde over Sanford Lake. This was in the news in 2020 when the dam that created it failed. No one died, but it was pretty dramatic. Repairs have been made and the lake is beginning to refill. So I included this picture because you can see the ice surface beyond the guardrail.

I think I have a touch of Marie's cold. And I have to get up and go to a meeting in the morning which is why I had to get home today. I'm going to bed early. No walking occurred except to and from the car. I'm pretty stiff, but not as bad as I expected.

What a wonderful trip!

See Travel Adventures

Travel Adventures

 First things first. I am safely home.

I spent more time in the car today than I have in a long, long time. What is usually an 8-hour drive took 11+. I'm pretty tired, but my back is not screaming too much, just a bit stiff. Can't complain about that.

This is the most heartwarming thing of the day. This car was ahead of me in line to cross from Canada to the USA. Notice the Ontario license plate. Also notice the M-22 sticker. M-22 is the scenic highway that goes up the northwest shore of Michigan. It has its own fan club, and these Ontarians are members!

The very worst thing about the day was that after an easy passage into Canada, and cool temps with a bit of rain across Ontario, the sky cleared, it got hot, and the line of cars and trucks waiting to get back to the US was 4 lanes wide and 1.5 miles long. It took more than 1.5 hours, and I have no air conditioning. Finally got back across the Blue Water Bridge. The water was beautifully blue, but I could not manage a picture.

Once I was back in Michigan, my priorities were a cup of ice, salt, and a restroom in that order. I was soaking wet with sweat. But again, I can't complain. The car did not overheat, I had plenty of gas, I was sweating out all the waste products instead of crossing my legs, I had a book on CD, and I had a cooler full of food thanks to Diane.

Another fortuitous event was that while I was still on I-69, the traffic in the opposite direction was a parking lot, but those traveling west were moving. Hooray! I'd had enough of "parking lot."

While cutting north on I-75 to US 10 I crossed the Zilwaukee Bridge over the Saginaw River. I thought I had blogged about this once long ago, but apparently not. If you are from Michigan, you know this is a rather infamous span. Construction was begun in 1979, but it wasn't completed until 1988. You can read all about its problems on Wikipedia, so I'll just tell you the most famous part of the story. One span of the concrete bridge hung out into space, supported only on one end for several years before construction was resumed. Supposedly, when it was finally finished, only one truck driver was brave enough to drive across it to test it out. There are still a lot of people who will not cross it, due to continued structural issues. It has been plagued with problems throughout its existence. However, it is beautiful. The best pictures can be taken from the river level, but I was NOT stopping once I actually got moving again.

I got home at about 7 pm. The house was closed and stuffy (of course), but I got fans going. The flower beds are in terrible need of cleaning (not today), and remember the bees? Well, some are still finding their way into the house and dying.

I'm giving myself one crash day tomorrow before I get busy. Life is good! Wonderful trip.

See Canalway Trail Again

Dear Old Sandy Fe

 
This trip had to include a quick stop at Irene's. Her dear old pup, Sandy Fe, is now fifteen, and who knows how much longer she'll be around. Irene insists I'm one of Sandy's favorite humans, so this was a must-do visit. Sandy is the only dog left from the group that were all puppies nearly at the same time, that included Maggie.



With the aid of more medications Sandy's feeling much more spry, and went on a two-mile walk with us. She and Irene manage this nearly every day, thanks to a little-used road that is kept plowed. Sandy even manages to run-hop a few steps every now and then. She still loves life!



We walked an entrance road to Letchworth State Park where the Genesee River flows in the bottom of this gorge northward to Lake Ontario. I've taken you to this park in western New York before. This is another view of the Hogback. It's the ridge on which that dark line of trees grows, lower down than the edge of the bluff.



And today I made it back to Michigan, across the Blue Water Bridge.



Chuck and Sylvia graciously took me in again tonight. Home tomorrow!

	See Letchworth Hogback- The Other Side
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Stay Tuned

 
Stay tuned. I'm a little busy! Can you guess where I was/am?

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