June 2016 - Road Trip to Windsor - part 3

[HATE2W8]

Day 5 - finishing off in Niagara Falls.  (Photo 1).  It was a beautiful day for travelling from Niagara Falls to London via route 3.  Crossing the Welland Canel, finding the old Robin Hood Flour Factory, tobacco fields, acres of green houses, wind turbines for miles, even the plant where they were manufactured (check this out:   https://www.siemens.ca/web/portal/en/jobscareers/renewableenergy/tillsonburg/pages/tillsonburg.aspx ), manufacturer of wood chip trailers...

Arrived in London (photo 2) after only 3 hrs, checked in, washed Vettes, relaxed, ate and then off to Steve Plunkett's estate for a personal tour, meet & greet with Mike Yager (& wife Laurie) from Mid America ( with a goodie bag for everyone).  (Photo 3, 4).   

Day 6:   We slept in and after breakfast drove back roads from London to Windsor.  Saw lots of great fruit trees, fields of strawberries, tons of windmills.  After making a stop in a community known as the tomato capital of Canada, (photo 6) we stopped at a golf course on Lake Erie for lunch.  Fabulous weather and winding roads for Corvette maneuvering.  We travelled to a mandatory stop at Corvette Depot prior to arriving at our hotel overlooking Detroit.  What an excellent day, finishing up with a local corvette club at The Keg. 

Day 7:  We met up with the local Corvette Club (total of 28 vettes for the run) at Dieppe Park, just across from our hotel.  Depature was at 9 a.m., allowing us to linger over a fantastic hot buffet breakfast.  We travelled county roads (which, I might add, are in better shape than any of NB's major highways), with the tops down as the temp reached 36 hot degrees.  What a treat.  We visited the picturesque town of Amherstburg, with a 45 min stop at the Navy Yard Park, on the Detroit River.  We travelled along the shore of Lake Erie, incredible sights, into Colchester, the southermost community in mainland Canada, settled by the United Empire Loyalists at the end of the 18th century.  After a short " back on the road again", we stopped a the local Canadian Transportation Museum which houses rare antique cars.  This stop also included a leisurely walking tour of their Heritage Village (which reminded me a little of the Acadian Village in Caraquet).  Lunch was at a 50's diner on stie.  Through the township of Tecumseh, then along the Detroit River back into Windsor.  Park the cars and the tour began at the Walkerville Brewery (in a former Hiram Walker Distillery warehouse).  Samples for everyone that wanted and a very interesting history lesson on the Walker empire.  Back to our hotel before 5 where we could rest and freshen up for a group meal at the Manchester Pub.  We certainly are driving and eating well. 

Day 8:  The grand Corvette show and shine in Dieppe Park, Windsor, overlooking the GM plan in Detroit.  A gal took our pictures as we arrived with the river and plant as our background (we were given the photo as a free souvenir, nice touch). 
You can view Sunday's show at this YouTube site:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pYIklO-3co&feature=em-share_video_user

Day 9 & 10:  Homeward bound.  After the Corvette show we travelled about an hour to our hotel in Chatham.  Another meal and relaxing evening.  Then to Drummondville, Quebec;  and finishing home on Tuesday around 6:30 p.m.   

I hope I can speak for all when I say it was a great trip.  We had lots of help from our Ontario friends (old and new) and we were treated like royalty wherever we went (most couldn't get over that we had travelled such a distance to take part in the Windsor show and certainly showed their apprecitation - we may have some attend our own show this year and next, since we made such a good impression on these folks).

Thank you goes to all who made the trip:  Roger & Leontine, Bob & Carolyn, Trueman, Leon & Cindy (from Sussex, who joined us on Saturday).