Jackknife; Guns 'n Pranas; A Huron Cut? Backups; Visibility is...; Tractor Dancin'

While I got The Bus ready for an international departure, Suzanne went on a quick errand to get an industrial-sized bag of Nutro dog food for our puppies, as our supply was dwindling and their food would probably not be available in Canada. She called about ten minutes later from the site of a bad accident on the interstate where a tractor trailer had jackknifed. Fortunately, no one was hurt and it had just happened, so she was able to squeeze past.  As this was the route we were supposed to take to Canada once the errands were complete, we were able to take an alternate route and avoid a big back-up.

Crossing the international bridge between Port Huron and Sarnia, Ontario, we found that we were in luck; the RV lane was not part of the truck lane, which was very backed up. That's twice in one morning we got lucky!  We had only a 10 minute wait to be checked by a Customs/Douane inspector; she checked our passports, the purpose of our visit to Canada, and whether we were carrying firearms. A “No” to the last question elicited yet another question, “Are you sure that you aren’t carrying firearms?” (What, don't you think I would know if I was carrying firearms?)“No, we are not carrying firearms.” I thought about using the line about carrying steak knives and Pranas, but this lady didn’t have a real obvious sense of humor. She might have had 15 armed inspectors come aboard and check us for possible illegal importation of fish...  

Okay, we’re barreling down Route 402 toward Toronto, and there’s a big slowdown. I picked up the CB radio to see if the truckers had any info. (Don't worry, we're actually at "All Stop" here.) This was the third potential back-up, and it quickly cleared.  Since it was raining, we also listened to Weather Canada, whose automated voice reminded us of past summers when we were sailing Down East from Maine to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The Canadian weather announcer had this one phrase that would always leave us laughing, “Visibility is poor in fog and rain.” Like, Duh... what would you expect visibility to be in fog and rain? 

Suzanne tried to use her computer with Rudy sitting in her lap, just like in the Messages of Hope movie, but he kept hitting the left click button on the touchpad, making the cursor jump all over the screen... we don’t have a photo because I was driving just over 100... kph, not mph! (For those who have not made the jump to metric, 100 kph = 62 mph). 

My Lovely Bride almost had another "hair episode". She needed a trim, but decided not to have it done in Port Huron, just in case the stylist specialized in the historic Huron style... instead she waited until we arrived in Toronto. (It was a prudent decision; she got a very nice cut!)

Having been to Toronto last year, we know what a sophisticated, touristy city it is, with every possible attraction, cuisine, and art imaginable. But what we didn’t know about was the lesser known attraction just west of Toronto... Cambridge, Ontario, will host the 2012 International Plowing Match, complete with a “Queen of the Furrow” pageant, Square-Dancing Tractors, dog obedience show,  lumberjack demo, barn raising, quilt auction, cooking demo, and Oktoberfest. Unfortunately, it starts on the day we leave for Rochester, so we’re hoping to make it back for the 2013 event, which will be the 100^th annual Plowing Match. I might even have to compete in the tractor dancing competition...