As we left the city (more like the suburbs) behind and headed south to Lake Erie, the traffic decreased. One of the main highways that we took was the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way). They even had a little picture of a crown above the QEW on all the signs--long live the Queen, I guess!
The landscape changed too and suburban homes and malls gave way to farmland. While it was very charming, a practical warning to city dwellers--it's really easy to get lost in farm country! The roads have names but sometimes a sign at one end of the road will say X and a sign at the other end will say Y. So, you travel about 20 minutes hoping to reach your destination and see a different name and you scratch your head wondering if you took the wrong road in the first place. Let's just say navigating farm country involves getting turned around a bit :)
Though I admit that Google Maps and MapQuest served us well. We first asked for directions when we were about thirty minutes away from Port Maitland at a food trailer. The temperatures had soared by then and we figured we deserved the ice cream shakes that they were serving. Though my stomach turned a little to see two men biting hungrily into good-sized burgers--it was just too hot for me to eat anything that heavy!
The old lady at the food trailer knew exactly where we wanted to go when we hesitantly told her the name of the place and gave us really easy directions--once you get to the river, go over the bridge and then take the left at the petrol pump. And if you get lost, just ask. We are pretty friendly people around here!
Umm, get to a river. What if there is more than one river, our city brains thought. We'll be smart, we thought. We'll combine her directions with our map. So, we got to the river and our map said, go straight. So, we did. And then had to stop to ask for directions at a wayside auto repair place. The shop was manned by two elderly men, who not only knew the area well but had also mastered Google Maps! So, they drew us a quick map and sent us off on the right path (the earlier lady had been right, of course).
We finally arrived at the Port Maitland to a fluffy welcome from Sisi and the elderly couple who owned the place. A quick luggage drop-off and rinse later, we were at the 'pebbly' Lake Erie shore. The sun shone down brightly as we ran into the water with our Go Pro camera ready to do some underwater photography. As I sat splashing water and blinking in the sun, I crossed off one item from my travel list. Lake Erie, done :)
The landscape changed too and suburban homes and malls gave way to farmland. While it was very charming, a practical warning to city dwellers--it's really easy to get lost in farm country! The roads have names but sometimes a sign at one end of the road will say X and a sign at the other end will say Y. So, you travel about 20 minutes hoping to reach your destination and see a different name and you scratch your head wondering if you took the wrong road in the first place. Let's just say navigating farm country involves getting turned around a bit :)
Though I admit that Google Maps and MapQuest served us well. We first asked for directions when we were about thirty minutes away from Port Maitland at a food trailer. The temperatures had soared by then and we figured we deserved the ice cream shakes that they were serving. Though my stomach turned a little to see two men biting hungrily into good-sized burgers--it was just too hot for me to eat anything that heavy!
The old lady at the food trailer knew exactly where we wanted to go when we hesitantly told her the name of the place and gave us really easy directions--once you get to the river, go over the bridge and then take the left at the petrol pump. And if you get lost, just ask. We are pretty friendly people around here!
Umm, get to a river. What if there is more than one river, our city brains thought. We'll be smart, we thought. We'll combine her directions with our map. So, we got to the river and our map said, go straight. So, we did. And then had to stop to ask for directions at a wayside auto repair place. The shop was manned by two elderly men, who not only knew the area well but had also mastered Google Maps! So, they drew us a quick map and sent us off on the right path (the earlier lady had been right, of course).
We finally arrived at the Port Maitland to a fluffy welcome from Sisi and the elderly couple who owned the place. A quick luggage drop-off and rinse later, we were at the 'pebbly' Lake Erie shore. The sun shone down brightly as we ran into the water with our Go Pro camera ready to do some underwater photography. As I sat splashing water and blinking in the sun, I crossed off one item from my travel list. Lake Erie, done :)
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