Destination: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada     [MAP] Dates: January 17-24, 2003 Mission: Pleasure Quote: We gave YOU another car?!! Wintertime! My yearly quest for snow has begun. This year I decided to drive about as far north as I could. Just barely over the boarder and into Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. I got my hands on a pretty decent car (which survived most of the journey), and worked my way up to Canada. I drove straight through from Miami to Sault Ste. Marie. 28 hours on the road! Woo!! From about Tennessee north there were signs of snow. Once I got past Detroit I really hit some snow. The roads progressivly got worse past Detroit. Nearing the UP (upper penninsula) of Michigan, I passed the snowplows. After that point, the roads were just a blanket of white. Luckily I was the only car on the road and I did eventually make it to my destination, by driving 70 MPH in the blinding snow with my flashers and fog lights on. I did my best to stay on the road. Every once in awhile, I would hit the "rumble bumps" marking either shoulder and correct my driving accordingly. Im sure I left a pretty interesting path, turning 3 lanes and 2 shoulders into one big lane. The weather in Canada was perfect (for my purposes anyway). The snow was deep and the temprature was chilling. The roads in the city did leave a bit to be desired, however. I had an absolutly spectacular time! The first thing I had to do was purchase some authentic Canadian winter gear. I am now the proud owner of gloves and a "lumberjack" hat to keep my fingers and ears from falling off. Sault Ste. Marie is right on the St. Mary's river, which was partially frozen. I tourissed around the city a bit checking out all of the things it had to offer I did get my picture taken in front of some odd fish right on the riverfront. On the advice of the Tourist Information Center people I traveled north of the city on Highway 17 to Chippeawa Falls to find a nice senic place to take some pictures. Once I got a decent distance from the city, I turned down a random side road, stopped the car, and took some wonderful pictures! The snow was so beautiful! Another view. Pine trees. Yours truely, in the snow. I hopped back on the highway, which was pretty senic, and headed towards the falls. I never did manage to find the elusive falls, but I did find a good spot to take some pictures of the frozen lake. Another view. Me at the lake. After my Canadian excursion, I ventured back to Ohio to spend some time with my Mother and to help a friend move. In Southern Ohio is where the most exciting, and perhaps frightning, part of my journey took place. It was late in the evening on the 22nd of January and I was heading back to my mothers house from Dayton, where my friend and I had packed the truck. Whilst driving on the Interstate, I hit a patch of ice at about 65MPH which caused me to lose control of the Explorer. It spun around twice, leaving the highway and upon hitting an embaknment, rolled over twice coming to rest right side up. I managed to come out of the whole ordeal without even a scratch. I did receive a ticket. The explorer was trashed and my friends belongings were slightly shaken. Lucily I purchased the Loss Damage Waiver insurance from the car rental company, and they had no choice but to provide me with another car, although they were later not too happy about that. Minus the accident, I had a wonderful time. I always enjoy my 2 weeks of winter every year! I look forward to our trip in November to Lake Louise, Alberta!