Driving in rain and a gusting crosswind is no fun. Nor is passing through major urban centres during rush hour. In this final leg of my journey home I passed through the middle of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Saint Catherines, Hamilton, Burlington, and Oakville. I had no desire to get caught in Toronto-bound rush hour traffic. With this in mind and listening to the rain hitting my roof I went back to bed Friday morning. When I did get up the wind and rain was still present but I was better rested.
Driving a high-profile vehicle in gusting crosswinds requires one to be constantly ultra-alert which is tiring and makes slowing down advisable. It may save on fuel but ads to the length of time one is one the road. My informants in Erie gave me bad advice, whereas the price of gas there was $3.54 when I reached the border in New York State the price was $3.89, ouch. In addition, welcome to another toll highway. This one cleared my wallet of American change and my last dollars. When I reached the toll booth for the Peace Bridge I had to resort to my container of Canadian Coins. The gal at Canadian Customs was both polite and expeditious and had me on my way in seconds. Big sigh of relief.
The last 90 minutes of driving was on reasonably familiar territory. I stopped at the Tourist Bureau in Wine Country and picked up some travel brochures and a 2010-2011 map of Ontario--New York State has run out of maps. The tensest moments in this stretch was the interchange of the QEW with Highways 403 and 407. Not only is one surrounded by traffic traveling faster than advisable but I find it difficult to remember from one trip to another just where one has to be to get where one wants to go and in traffic other motorists are not always obliging in letting one into the lane one has to enter. A miss-step can land one on a toll highway or face one with a long detour. I made it.
And another thing, crossing the border means switching from miles to kilometers. My odometer and GPS were not in sync with the highway signs and exits which can be disconcerting. At least I wasn't about to run out of gas. Made it to my home parking lot to find that my super and a board member had just seen to towing the car illegally parked in my spot. I managed to back in with no great difficulty. Grabbed my laptop and went home thankful that my access code still worked.
Driving a high-profile vehicle in gusting crosswinds requires one to be constantly ultra-alert which is tiring and makes slowing down advisable. It may save on fuel but ads to the length of time one is one the road. My informants in Erie gave me bad advice, whereas the price of gas there was $3.54 when I reached the border in New York State the price was $3.89, ouch. In addition, welcome to another toll highway. This one cleared my wallet of American change and my last dollars. When I reached the toll booth for the Peace Bridge I had to resort to my container of Canadian Coins. The gal at Canadian Customs was both polite and expeditious and had me on my way in seconds. Big sigh of relief.
The last 90 minutes of driving was on reasonably familiar territory. I stopped at the Tourist Bureau in Wine Country and picked up some travel brochures and a 2010-2011 map of Ontario--New York State has run out of maps. The tensest moments in this stretch was the interchange of the QEW with Highways 403 and 407. Not only is one surrounded by traffic traveling faster than advisable but I find it difficult to remember from one trip to another just where one has to be to get where one wants to go and in traffic other motorists are not always obliging in letting one into the lane one has to enter. A miss-step can land one on a toll highway or face one with a long detour. I made it.
And another thing, crossing the border means switching from miles to kilometers. My odometer and GPS were not in sync with the highway signs and exits which can be disconcerting. At least I wasn't about to run out of gas. Made it to my home parking lot to find that my super and a board member had just seen to towing the car illegally parked in my spot. I managed to back in with no great difficulty. Grabbed my laptop and went home thankful that my access code still worked.
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