|
|
|
Day 5 - Wednesday, July 2, 2003 Munising, MI to Montreal, PQ 733 miles (1,179 km) for the day, 3,552 miles traveled so far. 12:10 in the saddle, 14:25 total time check-out to check-in. Average speed while riding was 60.2 mph (96.8 kph). Parks visited this day:
Stamps: Daily Journal: This would be the second longest day of the trip. I had to delay leaving until 8:00 because the VC for the Pictured Rocks NL was only 2 minutes from the motel. I got my stamp and headed east on MI-28 until I reached I-75. The trip along MI-28 was fairly boring. Just a wide path through the trees that was mostly straight, and a speed limit of 55mph. And a lot of the traffic was only doing 55 mph. I did run into a sign in Michigan that made me do a double take at first. It read 'Do Not Pass When Opposing Traffic is Present.' Well no duh. Especially confusing since the road was 2 lane when the signs were encountered. But just after the signs, the reasoning became clear, the opposing direction had a passing lane, and my direction had a dotted line, meaning you could pass if no one was coming. In Ontario, there were similar signs, but they said 'Opposing Traffic has Right-of-way in Center Lane' (or something like that). I guess in Ontario if only one vehicle was coming towards you, you could use the center lane, but not in Michigan. The 5 miles of I-75 at 65 mph in Sault Saint Marie was a welcome relief. I got some gas and crossed the bridge ($1.50 toll) into Canada. Customs was fast and easy. I had my passport ready, the gentleman asked me where I was going (Montreal), how long (4 days), and what was the purpose (visit friends). He then said have a nice ride and bid me farewell. 2 minutes tops. I stopped to switch the GPS into metric mode so I could use it as a speedometer. I made my way to TC-17, a leg of the Canadian Transcontinental Highway. I would be staying on TC-17 until near Ottawa, 450 miles away. It was two lane, 90 kph (56 mph), for almost all of that, except for a short stretch of freeway west of Sudbury which was 100 kph (62 mph). I mostly moved along at 100 kph (most of the trucks were doing this speed, also). Every 20 kilometers or so a town would appear, and the speed would drop to 50 or 60 kph. Once you left Sault Staint Marie, there wasn't a traffic light for quite a distance. I remember a few in North Bay. As you got closer to Ottawa, the towns had more and more traffic lights. There were a few long construction zones with flaggers near Deux Rivieres. I also nearly ran out of gas at Deux Rivieres. I had forgotten to put the tap back to normal, so when I reached down to change it to reserve when the engine sputtered, I found out I was already on reserve. The only gas station in the area had closed up, but I was directed to a campground by the flagger and they had some gas for sale. Expensive, $1cdn per liter, but at least it was gas (in US terms, it was about $2.50 a gallon). I took on 8 liters and was good for quite a distance. After that, I was quite paranoid about changing the tap back to normal when I was filling up. Overall, the traffic was fairly light and the passing zones were plentiful. The last 130 miles into Montreal would be on freeway, TC-417 in Ontario, Autoroute-40 in Quebec. That is, except for a few miles in the Dorion area on the 20. I went through Ottawa at a little after 8:00. There was some traffic in the city. At 9:00 I ate some KFC chicken at exit 66 and put on the clear shield. Then sun had set and it was starting to get dark. After I got onto the freeway, I found out why I was being flashed last night --- the low beam was out. I ran on high beam as much as I could, or no beam when I was following someone. Just after crossing into Quebec, I found a gas station and we taped some paper over the lower half of the lens, cutting the light down. I also picked up street lighting near there for all of the way onto the Island (Montreal is on an island, so the local mostly say if they are on 'The Island' or off of 'The Island.'). I arrived at my friend's house in Baie-d'Urfe at 10:25. Map: |
