From Sudbury south, the Georgian Bay region of Parry Sound shows human presence again after the barren landscape of 'Northern Ontario'. Parry Sound situated on'The Bay' ie. eastern shores of Georgian Bay often referred to as the 6th Great Lake was really quite lovely; also home of Bobby Orr Hall of Fame; and a train trestle built in 1908 still in use by VIA Railway as 'The Canadian' heads from Toronto to Vancouver. South of Barrie, the highway is steadily two lanes each way. Approaching Toronto things go completely nuts, with often 16 lanes in action (two sets of four lanes going in each direction). The GPS helped immensely as it gave distances to the next set of interchanges and indications of which lanes to be in as they branched in and out. By the time we got to Oakville (on our way to Niagara) we were old pros, and felt that it was all easy.
The only hard part was the speed. Speeds were posted between 80 kms (in construction zones) and 100 kms, but everyone was averaging 120 kms. The Honda handled it well, quite happy at 110 to 120, but there is not much acceleration left if you punch it at around 100+ kms. Kind of like kicking a mattress, it moves but not very far or fast. So I had to watch my lane changes, and time them to accelerate into the faster lanes (a lot of the exits from and entrances to the major routes like 401, 403, 427 are to and from the LEFT) when I could see a space big enough so that the traffic wouldn't crawl up my tail pipe.
It all went well, but cocktail hour looked pretty good to Jan and I by the time we pulled into the hotel in Niagara Falls.
Along the way to Niagara we passed over the Welland canal. Imagine 13 days of mountains, prairies, and northern Ontario, still miles from the Atlantic, and suddenly you see a freighter. I tell you, it is enough to make you quit drinking. Well, almost, until Jan reminded me about the canal system and where we were.
It was late afternoon and we were a bit frazzled from the long hours and high speeds, but went out to dinner and to see the sights of the Falls in the afternoon light and the evening. Gorgeous. Went to an Imax presentation of the history, lore, and legends of the Falls - from the natives to the first white explorers to the daredevil barrel riders. Fascinating, but they all must have been completely mad.
