Sunday, August 22, 2010

Day 38: South Bend, Indiana to Toronto, Ontario


Last night we stop in New Carlisle to buy some grits at Groceries By Joe - these have been on sale for most of the tour but we are now fearful of going home without. We roll into South Bend and stay out near the airport. You can tell this is a high crime area as the ATM at the Key Bank does not operate 20:00-05:00 and there are cop cars everywhere.
We are back on Eastern Time and up early rolling in the dark via Hwy 20 for Toledo, avoiding the toll road. We are desperate for money and gas but a stop in Middlebury sorts it. We see over twenty Amish buggies on the road. We get the hammer down some 165 miles to the outskirts of Toledo where we spot a Tim Horton's for a second breakfast.
We find the Libbey glass factory outlet which has literally tons of budget glassware on sale - Toledo being a great centre of glassware production. A quick look in the antique mall next door confirms there is nothing there which must come home with us. We notice streets named for Jeep and Willys and conclude the company must have some association with Toledo.
We are now back at the Great Lakes and turn north for Detroit, some 65 miles. As we approach the city the only well maintained building is the fire house, the others being burnt out. The GPS takes us on a fascinating route through the dereliction and we stop at a level crossing where I photograph a passing CSX yard engine.

We reach the border at the Ambassador Bridge, toll $4, and are cleared to go at 12:35. We pass London soon enough but then there is a blockage on the 401 and we struggle to reach home in a downpour around 18:30.
The Crazy Daisy Tour lasted 38 days, visited 16 states and covered 8,013 miles. What a blast!

2 comments:

YMGW said...

Absolutely fantastic tour Roop. Check out the new trailer!

YMGW said...

Absolutely fantastic tour Roop, with great reports. Check out the new trailer!