Blow ye winds

Springboro, OH – We are just south of Dayton, Ohio tonight, after a very wet and windy drive.  There was a thick fog in Windsor this morning when we pulled away from the hotel and headed for the Ambassador Bridge, which would take us into the United States. (Today's picture is of the bridge as we saw it last year, returning to Canada.)

As we crossed the bridge we could barely see its huge trusses and cables, so getting any kind of view of the area was out of the question.  I was hunched forward in my seat, trying to read the directional signs for RVs through the mist and fog as we approached the border crossing.  Even though I could make them out, we still had to be redirected by an attendant!  Someone should go through all those hoops with the eyes of a newcomer so they could see how unclear the signage actually is!

Our border official was unsmiling and terse as he shot questions at Val and requested a look-see inside the RV, opening the bathroom door in case we were harboring any fugitives in the tiny space.  Still, we were not searched beyond that, unlike the van ahead of us in the line.  So we bid farewell to our native land and headed past the factories and mean streets of Detroit, shrouded in the mist, dodging some sizeable potholes along the way.

Sudden gusts of wind made Val grip the steering wheel a bit tighter as we left the urban areas and passed fields and farmhouses.  The windshield wipers got a good workout today as well.  At least the temperature did not dip to freezing levels, so it was just wet, not icy.  We actually caught glimpses of green grass in some areas, even though it had been extremely cold and snowy only days before.

Our route followed Interstate 75 the whole way.  Michigan went by quickly and we then entered Ohio, passing through Toledo and on toward Dayton.  The concrete walls at the Dayton interchanges were decorated with space shuttles and biplanes to remind us that we were passing through the area where the Wright brothers’ airplanes first slipped the surly bonds of earth. 

There’s an airplane museum nearby where visitors can actually take flight in a replica of the first plane.  Val said he was really not tempted to see what it was like seeing the ground drop away from a machine made of rags and old bicycle parts.

Springboro is a suburb south of Dayton where the country’s most affluent neighbourhoods can be found, although we didn’t see them from the interstate.  The town was also a way station for fugitive slaves using the Underground Railway to find freedom.

Brisk winds were still whipping our hair about as we walked from the hotel to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  We were glad to get back to our room afterward, armed with hot drinks from the dispensers in the lobby.  Nice touch.