Our first day on the road! We spend it driving along Lake Erie, on the southern shoreline.
First stop – the Canada-US border. We have heard horror stories of very very long lineups, and car searches, but luckily, we sailed right through with just 2 questions: a) Where are you going? (Florida); b) How long are you staying? (about a month). “Have a good trip”, was all the border security guard said. Lucky us!
A helpful tip for those that may be crossing the border – check the border wait times online. It may help you decide where to cross, if you have a couple of options available to you.
Click here for Canada to US border wait times.
Click here for US to Canada border wait times.
Second stop – Costco. We don’t like to cross the border with too much food in the car, so as we were driving along Lake Erie, we stopped to stock up on a few things for the trip.
It is cold! Not too many stops before our final destination. Here is one view of cold & windy Lake Erie.
We drove right past Cleveland – I just got this glimpse of a few colourful buildings in the dark. I think I’d like to visit Cleveland one day 🙂
Our ‘driving along Lake Erie’ final destination was Lake Front Park, in Huron, Ohio. I found it listed in iOverlander. It does say that you shouldn’t camp here, but we decided to risk it, seing as it was so cold (-6°C overnight!), we arrived after dark, and left at sunrise. It’s a pretty little park, and would be great for a picnic and stroll on a warmer day.
It was our first time sleeping in such cold temperatures. We had 3 blankets, down filled slippers and winter toques! We made it through the night, but it was a little too cold for comfort. We decided that 0°C should be the coldest we ever attempt to do this again!
That’s about all for Day 1 – Driving along Lake Erie. Tomorrow we head to Nashville!
Distance travelled: 514 km
Money spent on gas: $50.00
Stick with us on our Florida Road Trip from Toronto, and we’ll tell you about the places we find to sleep, the places we find to picnic and rest, the beaches we relax at, and the cities we visit.
Yours Truly …. Yula
