And Into Toronto We Go!

Summer's heat remained relentless the day we drove south from Birch Run, Michigan on I-75 south through Flint, then west on I-69 toward the Canadian Border. The temperature gauge reached into the mid 90's.

The St Clair River Bridge

This border crossing into Canada is along the St. Clair River. It took about 45 minutes to get through this time and the process went smoothly enough.  Lines crossing the border, both ways, were long and slow moving.

Way back in the 1950's, when Wayne was a wee lad, he and his family lived in Toronto for a couple of years. Part of our reason to even attempt this visit is to try to get close enough to his old home to take a trip down memory lane. 

Welcome To Toronto - Canada's Mega City!

The whole leg of travel northeast toward Toronto was fraught with difficulties. The approach itself was a mass of traffic congestion.  Horrors.

Through the windshield

Several hours after this photo was taken, we reached the campground we had chosen but not made reservations. It was much later than we had planned to arrive. It was a Friday evening and we were welcomed to stay for a single night but were told, in no uncertain terms, that the site was  reserved for Saturday night. Note to self:  Canadians (especially those around metropolitan areas) love summer weekend camping.  Campgrounds are always full, every weekend. 

The next morning, we drove back along this same route. Fortunately we did manage to miss a good bit on Friday's rush hour traffic. We'll move along to Ottawa to check our luck there. It can't get worse than this.

The moral of this story is that all our loafing isn't fun or easy. We face our share of bad days too.

Frankenmuth: Little Bavaria. How Can It Be This Hot!

Willkommen to Frankenmuth!

The name "Frankenmuth" is a combination of two words: Franken stands for the Province of Franconia in Bavaria. That's the town from where the settlers of this town came. The second part of Frankenmuth comes from mut, meaning courage; thus, the name Frankenmuth means courage of the Franconians.

Zehnder's Holz Brucke (wooden bridge)

This bridge is not really old as it was just completed in 1979. However, the construction did use the old  covered bridge timber framing technique. It has two lanes for automobile traffic and two pedestrian walkways. It was pretty and fits in the location nicely.

Even though the thermometer outside the Bavarian Inn indicates a temperature in the 70's, it's off at least 20 degrees as I know it's really somewhere in the mid 90's today. Humidity adds insult to injury. We are determined to try to enjoy our day here in Frankenmuth anyway. There are lots of shade trees and a nice, cool looking river runs through this area (below the bridge) but it is hot, make no mistake.

Under the shade trees along the rivers edge.
In this picture, even the pups are hot as evidenced by Lexie's panting.
A little breeze came along just in time to blow Ozzie's ear hair.  

Frankenmuth was settled in 1845 by a group of conservative Lutheran immigrants  who traveled via sailing ships and the canals of the Great Lakes to reach this area. They established a village in 1904 and Frankenmuth became a city in 1959.



Wayne and the pups in their stroller.
This is the location of the original chicken dinner restaurant.

We've heard about the famous Zehnder's chicken dinners, which were actually first served here at the building now known as the Bavarian Inn back in the 1880's.  We had planned to have the chicken dinner for lunch, but the sweltering heat makes eating fried chicken seem exhausting somehow. Neither of us is interested in anything hot to eat.

This is the current Zehnder's Chicken Restaurant.
In 1888 a hotel was at this location.  Not sure if it was the same building.

We wandered about the main street of Frankenmuth stepping in the occasional shop but buying nothing and managing to stay in shade as much as possible.  After about an hour, we succumbed to the sun's rays and returned to the car, which was, mercifully, parked in shade.

One last photo in Frankenmuth.  Taken under the laughing yodelers of Frankemuth, I suspect.
As you can see from more pink tongued, panting dogs, it's just too hot to enjoy much more of this sweet little town.

It is worth mentioning that Frankenmuth, Michigan hosts the first Oktoberfest outside Munich, Germany to be sanctioned by the Parliament and the City of Munich.  Impressive!

Another destination in Frankenmuth is Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, which bills itself as the World's Largest Christmas Store. It's just not something either of us is interested in seeing so we passed it by.  Our next destination is an ice-cold, creamy drink for lunch at the local Sonic Drive-In.

Ozzie and Lexie take a break in direct line of the car's air conditioner vent.

We're staying at another really nice shady campground in nearby Birch Run.  Our two days here not only served to allow sightseeing at Frankenmuth, but allows us to stock supplies for a trip into Canada. Additionally, Lexie would see a vet in Frankenmuth for her expired rabies vaccination. In the end, she would get an allergy injection and a round of antibiotics as well.  Ozzie checked out okay but was there to provide moral support for Lexie. They both despise going to the vet.

Tomorrow, we'll continue the short ride to Port Huron where we'll enter Canada for a few days.