Dec 22 - it's a long way out of Ontario

You really only appreciate the size of the province of Ontario when you drive through it. A whole day's drive from Loring to Thunder Bay followed by more than a half day's drive to the Manitoba border. Now we're at the Saskatchewan border.

It was another good day for driving, yes another. I had said that we had some 'white knuckle' driving the day before but that wasn't because of the road conditions ... there was very little snow on the ground for that stretch ... it was driving in the dark in the snow. It's very tiring when the snow is coming at your face. Yesterday, in that sense was a better drive because we got here to Russell just as it was getting dark. Leaving Philip's at 7:10 a.m. EST, we arrived at the Russell Inn at 6:20 p.m. CDT, only 10 minutes later than the original Garmin prediction as we started out.

The scenery for the first couple of hours after Thunder Bay is similar to that around Lake Superior -- twisty roads and hills. Then it smoothes out, still undulating land but the roads much straighter. The elevation gradually increases to a couple of thousand feet (Lake Superior itself is at 600) and then decreases again once we are in Manitoba. Manitoba, of course, is flat ... flat, that is until we take the Yellowhead route on TransCanada 16. Then it looks more like northern Ontario by our cottage. In fact there is some sort of ski resort not too far from Russell.

We did see some wildlife -- a moose lumbering across the road ahead of us. I eased up on the gas but "she" -- a cow or could be a calf -- kept on going. At one point in the distance I saw some crows on the road ahead ... then my mind realized that they were foxes as we got closer ... but wait -- those a big foxes -- wolves ! Three wolves trotted off the highway into the bush.

It's cold here. I have not checked the morning temperature yet but it's cold. Wait ... well, I'm not getting any response from that internet site or Blogger at this point so I am not even sure that I will be able to post this morning's edition.

We'll cross the border to Saskatchewan shortly after we start today and probably be driving wind-swept roads, according to David. He says that Edmonton got 12cm of snow yesterday, which is 4-5 inches. Today's drive, in miles (or kms) is shorter than yesterday plus I expect that the speed limit will be 100kph all day. All the Ontario 2-lane highways (like 17 to the border of Manitoba) are 90kph, so I set my cruise control to 102 and was then able to increase that to 112. The cops don't bother me at that speed, especially if I pay for my gas !

I did have another problem with Amex yesterday, but this time it was a merchant problem. Amex wanted the merchant (gas station) to call in for an authorization code ... I ended up using my Toronto Dominion Visa. I called them quite upset because this is the third time in three weeks that I've had problems with Amex. The gas pump problem probably wasn't theirs, but ignoring that, there were two other "security checks" in the last three weeks. They cannot tell me why the transaction is raising a flag (cannot divulge their security program detail ... duh ... no, it really means that the people on the phone have no clue).

I told them that I have a guaranteed way of not getting embarrassed in a gas station -- stop using the card. That's what I told the lady on the phone and then she wished me a good trip. They do not give a darn. I'll call Customer Service after I get back to Florida but in the meantime, will not use the Amex. I have a Canadian and two U.S. Visa cards and I'll give them some exercise. Interestingly enough, the only times that I've had gas pump issues is at Canadian Esso stations. The one in Parry Sound has had me flagged a few times; the one east of Espanola with the no-read problem and the stop yesterday. It's not as if I use them more than others -- I don't -- but perhaps they are the issue ?

Grumble Mumble -- not really -- the trip is going well. These little incidents give me something to "write home about".

Onward !