Day 2

We awoke to a nice continental breakfast and a beautiful day. Again, we started out with vigor. The first 100 miles were smooth and easy. Then we hit the out skirts of Toronto. Without question Toronto bristles with prosperity. The beautiful and new fabricators, manufacturing and sales buildings overwhelm the skyline and by-ways which are clogged with late commuters rushing to work and huge, really huge - 38 wheelers, trucks bring all sorts of raw materials and fresh produce to the city whose surrounds contain one-tenth of the population of Canada. Every suburb sports a well maintained landscape “welcome” sign increasing in extravagance and sophistication depending on the wealth of the community. It wreaks of wealth and progress. It also promotes horrendous traffic problems. Traffic in Toronto makes LA traffic look like a minor inconvenience. It took at least a hour and a half to skirt the city – on the super highway. Once again, it didn't look like we could get 500 miles in on this day - our daily goal.

But, once past Toronto, the border crossing to Michigan was a breeze. From that point on, traffic was not a problem. Boredom was, however. The only factor that makes a drive up US 75, up the middle of Michigan, better than a drive up Maine on US 95 is … well, nothing. Miles and miles of trees and rolling hills with an occasional grassy knoll from which I began to wish I would be shot.

After the second tank refill, at 3:00 and still 200 miles to go to maintain our schedule, I was not optimistic. But with good weather and fast roads, now was our best opportunity to make progress. As we moved further north, the days would get longer in more ways than one.

We decided to make the effort to reach St. Ignace, an additional 244 miles. This could be painful as well as boring. But, starting with the first 10 minutes of driving, I used yoga shoulder and neck relaxation stretches and continued them all day long. It worked. It was still a tough ride but with much less neck and shoulder pain. In the end, by boosting our speed slightly and staying loose, we were able to cover 633 miles and reach the Mackinac Bridge, connecting Upper and Lower Michigan (pictured above), that dropped us in St Ignace and an affordable Super 8 motel. We dined at “The Truck Stop” next door on “white fish” freshly caught in “the lakes”. A bland fish but “local fare”, which is part of the adventure.

Tomorrow we start the long trek on Route 2. 700 miles?