In celebration of the United States' birthday, I went to....Canada. My old neighbor 
at my family's old cottage in Kingsville, Colin, was having a gathering at a provincial park in Elora, Ontario. The place is about two hours or so east of Sarnia. The campground is built around a gorge overlooking the Grand River.
at my family's old cottage in Kingsville, Colin, was having a gathering at a provincial park in Elora, Ontario. The place is about two hours or so east of Sarnia. The campground is built around a gorge overlooking the Grand River. I took the motorcycle on the trip and was fortunate to have a Nexus/quick lane card heading over the Blue Water bridge through Port Huron. This bridge is not the most convenient for travelers and would advise anyone without a Nexus card to avoid it. They have trucks entering from the left and the toll lane for trucks is at the 
far right. Needless to say, the cars/cycles had to wait forever for the trucks to move over five lanes. I think the engineers had a bad day when they were developing this process. I was in utopia, however, after paying my toll. Instead of having a Nexus lane at the end of the bridge near the check areas, the lane was set up for the ENTIRE bridge. The backup for the "normal" lane on the 4th was all the way back to the toll booths and off I go with my own lane, cruising by everybody. Step aside for the rock star!
far right. Needless to say, the cars/cycles had to wait forever for the trucks to move over five lanes. I think the engineers had a bad day when they were developing this process. I was in utopia, however, after paying my toll. Instead of having a Nexus lane at the end of the bridge near the check areas, the lane was set up for the ENTIRE bridge. The backup for the "normal" lane on the 4th was all the way back to the toll booths and off I go with my own lane, cruising by everybody. Step aside for the rock star!
I took the back roads out of Sarnia, hoping to see some of Canada's hidden jewels. Unless the hidden jewels are endless corn and hay fields, I wasn't seeing it. I am happy to report the bike performed admirably throughout the ride.
The park and the town of Elora were pretty cool. The Grand River has some pretty fierce rapids within the area where the park resides. I got a glimpse of some folks on inner tubes cruising down the river and it looked pretty fun.
The posse in attendance were all good people. After some good campfire chili that was filtered quite quickly the next morning (too much information?), the acoustic guitars came out for some sing alongs. As opposed to the another garage band that I know who just can't seem to finish the entire song, these pluckers were completing every darn song and it sounded pretty good. Well, after a few Canadian beverages, anything would have sounded good I guess. My singing was outstanding I think. La, la, la, la......
All in all, not a bad way to celebrate my independence.
Trail Head
