Nappanee To Waterloo

Our service visit was scheduled for four days and we were completed by noon on the fourth day.  Our next leg to a longer layover was to take us to Vineland, but to get there from Nappanee was too long a drive, especially considering possible delays and such.  So I split the trip into a drive to a Harvest Host location near London followed by a short trip from there to Vineland the next morning.  I could have departed at noon and made it across the border same day but there has been persistent cold and snow in the Eastern part of the US and Canada.  Leaving at noon would have put us in some of that as we approached Detroit, so we stayed put and took it easy for the afternoon.

Departure the next morning was as usual and right at 0800.  The drive through the countryside north from Nappanee to Elkhart is easy with hardly any traffic and decent speeds on good roads.  We planned and drove Interstate 90 to 69 to 94 and that was a great choice.  Given the condition of the highways south out of Detroit I was expecting rough jarring roads that look like they were last paved ten years ago.  What we got instead were some of the best roads we had been on all winter.  Very nice.  Grooved concrete and smooth transitions between roadways and bridges.  The approach to Detroit returned to some of the bumpy bits but nothing like the Interstate south.  Next time we are down this way I think I will purposely route further west before heading south. 

Two and a half hours in we made a fuel stop for our last load of fuel before crossing the border.  We have been using a Commercial fuel card called Open Roads all winter.  It has proven to be a worthwhile card as it allows use of truck stops which have clear arrival and departure lanes without having to negotiate tight turns.  As we are towing our car behind us I cannot go backwards, and so do not want to arrive at a fuel stop where I may get trapped in a situation I cannot get out of easily.

The cheapest fuel we purchased on the entire trip was $2.83USD and the most expensive was $3.64, with an overall average of $3.09.  The last stop we made came in at $2.99 so I topped off both the fuel and DEF.  This equates to $1.11CAN per litre and the price for fuel at ONroute stops is currently running at $1.40, so certainly a better deal to get fuel before we cross the border.  

Nice To Be Home

Our last leg in to Canada was straightforward and the traffic was lighter than I was expecting.  Whether in part due to the tariff situation or not, I am not sure, but the truck traffic was the lightest I have ever seen.  When we crossed on the same bridge last November the truck traffic was in its own lane on the right hand side all the way up to the middle of the bridge.  On this trip, the traffic continued to move all the way across without delay and once we moved over to the car lanes we were third in line for our lane.  Stop at the booth was routine and we were through in a few minutes.

New Gordie Howe Bridge - to open September 2025

Shortly after we stopped at the ONroute in Tilbury for lunch and firm up the plans for the Harvest Host.  Contacting them I found out they were not allowing reservations due to the cold.  This was a golf course and other than no-one likely wanting to golf on a wet course, I am not sure why they were not allowing anyone to stay overnight.  So, with no delays so far and the overnight temperatures forecast to be below freezing we opted to make arrangements at the Green Acre Park in Waterloo.  Although this would put us over our typical daily trip length, the traffic and timing worked out and would effectively return us to our departure point last November.

Thank you for reading.