The Canada Day Long Week End!

Canadians  love leaving town for the long weekend. This time we would be heading to New York City visiting our son. Driving from Toronto, Canada to New York City, U.S, takes about eleven hours of non stop driving.  There are a lot of preparations to be done before we go away for a long driving trip such as getting the car checked, the house cleaned , removing all the garbage, making the house secure, and packing  all the essential items etc. By the time we  were ready to leave Toronto, it was well past 1 p.m.

Enroute - the New Pit Stop for Travelers in Ontario

We have always enjoyed a driving holiday.  Driving in Ontario is a real pleasure as long as we are not fighting with the thousands  of other Ontarians trying to get out of the city at the same time. When we left on Sunday, there was no traffic congestion and the weather was just beautiful with a bright blue sky.

Outdoor seating area is Available at the Enroute rest stop

 We discovered that a lot of the roadside small scale pit stops/ restaurants have now been  replaced  by the huge modern Enroute buildings with national chain restaurants such as Tim Hortons, A & W, and a few others instead of the traditional mom's and pop’s stores.

Spacious and comfortable  eating area inside the  Enroute buidling

The new facilities are modern, clean, and convenient. Each Enroute building has been equipped with free WiFi as well as information about traveling in the province of Ontario.  

 Kingston - Border Crossing into the United States

 Knowing the border crossing would be very heavy during this holiday weekend, we purposely avoided the Friday departure and  left on Sunday afternoon.  Instead of  waiting to cross customs at Niagara Falls for an hour or more, we went through the Kingston crossing instead.

The car ahead us was carrying a huge piece of cargo waiting to cross the U.S. Customs

 Our planning paid off! The traffic on the highway was much lighter and the border crossing at the Canadian/ U.S. customs was a piece of cake! We waited for about fifteen - twenty minutes.

However, the car ahead of us was carrying a huge piece of something on its roof. We were worried that clearing the U.S. custom would be held up by this car in front of us.  Fortunately, the driver of the car had his papers all ready and they were cleared by the customs with no problem at all.
By the time we crossed the border into U.S., it was after 7:p.m.

We kept on driving in the rain for a short while and stopped at our favorite American restaurant - Cracker & Barrel for some wholesome home cooked American food. The salmon patties were delicious!!! The waitress was very friendly and the food was good. We love tasting different food  and we always look for this restaurant when we are in the States.

Driving  past Syracuse, we stopped in Cortland and spent the night at Travel Lodge, ready for a good night of rest and continue on with our holiday!

A Garden Scene - Cortland, New York State

My Hobby - Taking Pictures of Gardens and Plants

R.T.
New York State