July 28-31: Turkey Point, Ontario, Canada

Day 1

We got a little concerned at the border crossing point because Lane’s passport has her old last name on it.  We had all of our excuses ready.  No need.  Crossing was easy. They did not even ask about Leon. Once in Canada we made great time heading west again.  We were in Toronto for dinner.  We were not in the mood to explore because we can not use the maps on our phones because of data charges.  We grabbed a sub par burger from a Canadian burger chain called Harvey’s.  It was enough to get us to our site. 
Joke of the day:  Lane sees a sign of a town in Canada that says, "Population 180,000" and Lane says, "I wonder how many that is in Canadians."  ba dum dum ch.  

Another beautiful campground right off Lake Erie. We set up the tent, and as always Lane made it so nice inside.  Lane took Leon for a walk while Jess put up the patio tent and built a fire.  We ate PB and J sandwiches and read our books. 

Day 2: 

Jess got up around 6:30 am with Leon.  He took Leon for a walk and built a fire.  He hung up the hammock and did some blogging.  Lane woke up around 9:30 and Jess suggested she take her pillow to the hammock and lay there for awhile.  Great suggestion.  The air mattress has totally deflated the last 2 nights, and we were sleeping on hard ground for most of the night.  We blogged and hammock lounged until noon.  We headed out for supplies. Again, we were without our cell phones, so stepping out to pick up some supplies became an adventure in itself.  We first went to a corner store type place and got a few essentials.  The second place that we went was a local market.  We picked up some local bacon, eggs, sausage, peppers, and burger meat. We had everything that we needed. Except beer.  So, we had to search out our 3rd location.  We found a beer store and picked up some Canadian beer. We also got our first look at how close and nice the beach was. We went back to the site and unpacked.  Jess cooked some sausage stir fry with all of our local stuff. We had a great lunch with Canadian beer to wash it down. We could not wait to get back to the beach, so we packed up a small bag and the 3 of us went found a sunny spot on the sand.  Lake Erie is a mini ocean.  We sat on the beach right near the water and even though Cleveland was just across the water from us, it did not feel like it.  Apart from that, the town of Turkey Point was no different than any lake town we had been in.  Lots of people enjoying the sun, boats parked just off the beach, and even a few Canadian style rednecks. We stayed on the beach loving the sun and cooling off in the lake until the sun went down.  The beach was packed when we got there and we were all alone by the time we decided to leave.  We got back to the site and made some hobo dinners.  We sat all evening, under the patio tent, eating dinner, reading, drinking, and enjoying being in Canada.  

Day 3

The next morning we woke up around the same time (Damn that air mattress) We moved quickly to the hammock, had some coffee and laid in the shade.  We got a few chapters in before Jess made breakfast.   We both were feeling a little homesick. We figured the only way to cure it was to go to the beach.  It was so nice the day before, we could not think to do anything different with our day.  We packed a bag and got back to the beach around 1 pm.  We stayed all day.  We were alone again when we left.  Except for a few younger guys who had go their boats stuck on the sand bar.  We stood and watched them and had a good laugh before we checked out the restaurant at the Turkey Point Inn.  We got some buffalo wings and an order of french fries and gravy. “Just going across the border for some french fries and gravy sir.”  We got some more local beer as well.  We decided that we either did buy the correct Canadian beer, or Canadian beer is mostly watery and tasteless.  The food was good. 

We got back to our camp just before sundown and decided to take a short hike.  We walked through the forrest at dusk and at the top of the hike was a nice view of the lake.    We were wiped out and had a long drive in the morning. Also, our air mattress was turning into a giant piece of shit. so we turned in a little early. 

Day 4

We did wake up early.  Quite early.  We packed up and hit the road. We were exited to get back in the USA and spend some time in Chicago. We crossed the border around noon. Its amazing how southern Canada and the northern united states are surprisingly similar.  We made our way across Michigan and stopped in Ann Arbor for lunch.  The counselor at Lane’s school, Maya, is a Michigan Alum and suggested her favorite lunch place to eat.  Zingerman’s turned out to have their hand in everything.  There was a bakery, deli, creamery, cheese shop, candy shop...all separate buildings in the same compound AND everything they sold was made right there!  It was a great stop and the workers there were more than happy to tell us about the place and their product giving us several free samples.  We continued through Michigan, breezed by Gary, Indiana, and continued up Lake Michigan to Chicago. We got to our hotel around 4:30