Day 15 Texas Vacation Xmas 2008

Today is Saturday January 3 2009

We are on the road early and heading for the Detroit border crossing. We bought fuel in Brookville Ohio and then continued on up Interstate 75. Detroit has to be the worst border crossing. Everything is under construction and it is not easy to follow the signs telling you how to get to the bridge. We somehow missed a sign, or misread a sign but before we knew it, we were no longer on I-75 and I don’t have a clue where we are going. Karen was busy trying to get Microsoft Streets and Trips fired up on the laptop, but then I found a sign that said “Bridge to Canada” so we were able to eventually get to the bridge. Not the most direct route, and I am really hating that Detroit border crossing. We had the same troubles last year coming back from Florida. Anyways, we got through Customs ok, not that we ever have anything that would concern them, but it is always a little unsettling.

We stopped at Tim Horton’s in Windsor and bought fuel in Ridgetown.

We are ahead of the storm and I am glad to be back on roads that I am familiar with. We stopped for a couple of hours to visit with Karen’s daughter and grandchildren, and then we continued on to home.

The trip was great and we both really enjoyed South Padre Island. We are already talking about going back for Christmas 2009.

For those of you who like to know such things, here is the raw data.

15 Days

Total KM = 6975 (4334 miles)

Total Fuel Cost in Canadian Dollars = $264.23

Average Hotel Cost in Canadian Dollars = $60.04

Average Daily Food Cost in Canadian Dollars = $34.66

We have a big summer 2009 trip planned and we will be leaving Ontario on July 6, so if you are interested in following us on our Summer Road Trip 2009, please join us on this blog. I will try my best to blog each day from the road.

Day 14 Texas Vacation Xmas 2008

Today is Friday January 2 2009

Again we are awake early and have a quick breakfast at the hotel and took a look at the weather forecast back home. That ice storm is still not due to arrive until Sunday, so I want to keep heading North as quickly as possible and try and be home by Saturday evening.

First stop was to get some fuel in Arkadelphia Arkansas, then we continued on through Little Rock AR and West Memphis AR until just before the Missouri border where we bought more fuel in Blytheville AR. It wasn’t long before we were out of Missouri and entering Illinois. We stopped for more fuel in Montrose IL. and then pushed on towards Terre Haute Indiana. That is where we called it a day and found a hotel for the night. I achieved my goal of getting us as far as Indiana, and as luck would have it, right across the road from the hotel is a Baskin Robins, a great reward for a long day of driving.

This was a 1000 KM day which is about 600 miles.

Tomorrow if the weather holds off we will be home.

Day 13 Texas Vacation Xmas 2008

Today is Thursday January 01, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

We are awake at the crack of dawn and I have the weather channel on trying to get some sense of what the weather is going to be doing back home in a few days. It looks like a big storm is brewing in the American West and it has the potential to be in Southern Ontario by Sunday. Ontario Long Range forecasts are calling for freezing rain in Southern Ontario for Sunday. I think we better get moving out of here and start heading as far north as we can, as quickly as we can. Our destination for tonight will be Hope Arkansas. That is about 1100 KM or for you who don’t understand metric, it is about 700 miles. That is a lot of driving, but I am getting to be a pro at these long hauls.

We checked out of our hotel and drove over the causeway to the mainland. We will miss the days we spent here, but we will be back next year. We would like to spend several months here if that is possible.

First stop was for a quick breakfast at McDonalds in Kingsville Texas. It was too early when we left the hotel and they had not set out the breakfast yet. I was craving an Egg McMuffin anyways and Karen wanted a Tea and Muffin. Back on the road and our next stop was for fuel in Ganado Texas. We had made some sandwiches for the road and put them in our cooler along with some pop and water, so we ate as we were driving to save time. We had to stop in Lufkin Texas for more fuel. I never let the tank get to be less than half full. I think it is just good common sense to not be running on fumes and wondering where the gas station is.

It was dark by the time we got to The Day’s Inn in Hope Arkansas. That was a long day of driving just to get out of Texas and into Arkansas. We found a Wendy’s near the hotel and also found a Baskin Robins were Karen was able to enjoy her favourite of the 31 flavours… Chocolate Fudge.

We will be awake again at the crack of dawn because tomorrow I want to get us at least into Indiana before calling it a day. If we can get home by Saturday evening then we will be ahead of the freezing rain storms predicted for Sunday at home. The race is on.