Thursday, April 24, 2008

Border crossings

Left the hotel in Sarnia this morning, and thanks to the GPS being very confused, I got on the 402 highway heading back towards the USA, about 50 feet from the toll booth with no way to turn around. I explained myself at the booth, and they gave me a pass to turn around before going over the bridge. I then tried explaining this to the border guard, but they decided I needed to go through immigration. 45 minutes of going over my "interesting" paperwork, and explaining who I am, what I do for a living, how much money I have in the bank, who I am visiting, and why I made a wrong turn, I was finally allowed to continue on. Good day, eh!

After a pit stop at Tim Horton's for a bagel and coffee, and then spoiling the bike with a tank full of 93 octane, I made it to Niagara Falls without incident. Spent about an hour there, and took a few pictures which I will upload tomorrow. The wind was blowing hard, and the spray from the falls was pretty much going everywhere. I was glad I was still wearing my waterproof jacket. But given how expensive this trip is turning out to be, I didn't want to add the cost of a new camera and lens to it.

After leaving the falls I made great time to the Toronto area, at which point the traffic turned absolutely miserable. Never had I wanted to lane-split so badly, but was told not to by Shawn since a) it's illegal and b) drivers in cars would not expect it, and chances were good that I'd get bumped or squished. So I just slogged through it, the bike blowing hot air on my legs almost constantly, and I arrived an hour later than I expected to.

Shawn grilled up some dinner, and then changed the oil in the bike. After that we headed out for a bit, and now I'm ready to get some sleep and head to mom's house tomorrow.

Metrics, pictures, and whatnot to be updated tomorrow.

4 comments:

Jesse Erlbaum said...

Sorry to hear about the border crossing. So, how did you manage to fit that Mexican family into your saddlebags?

R6Chick said...

Somehow I figured Shawn would be doing some bike maintenance. :o)

techrat said...

I've been wondering about the high octane thing... Does the bike really perform better on higher octane? Your bike is either EFI or Carb, both of which are pretty relaxed about octane requirements (I know that turbo cars require it).

Then again, you're spending maybe a dollar difference on 2 gallons, right, so better gas can't hurt...

Just wondering.

Unknown said...

I just checked the tripmap, and I guess you made it to your mom's house. With the satellite view, I can almost see you. Hopefully, your trip back won't be quite as... eventful.