Canada

We crossed the Detroit River into Canada at the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Andrew and I marveled at the engineering as we crossed it. "Maybe we CAN have nice things," I thought.

Later I learned that the project was fully funded by the Canadian government, so that explains why it's so nice.

The Canadian border agent asked where we were headed, what our route was, and why, all questions I answered poorly. I was nervous they would confiscate the garden produce we were traveling with but he only inquired about guns, cannabis, and alcohol. Incidentally, I've learned since then that Canada also regulates its energy drinks so Celsius doesn't have as much caffeine here and they don't allow it to be imported, but he also didn't ask about American-grade caffeinated beverages, stored in our cooler with the illegal cucumbers and tomatoes.

When we told him we were driving to Nova Scotia and planning on taking the scenic route, he responded "that's the other side of the country, you know that right?!"

Cheerfully and full of optimism, we said yes! And told him we wanted to bike it but couldn't make it work, which probably didn't make us seem any less crazy. Later we would learn just how Across the Country we were really going, but for now we were happy to be on our way.

Drivers in Ontario are predictably and shockingly Nice, only using the left lane to pass. We also had plenty of beautiful Canadian rest stops with nice picnic areas. At this point we're a little sleep deprived and tired but excited to pass the sub-24 hour mark for the remainder of our trip, thinking we'd be seeing the Nova Scotia Coast the following morning.Read more