Day 1 - 30 Dec 08 - Ottawa to Wilkes-Barre, Penn

We looked at the weather and decided this was as good a day as any to get on the road. By 9:30 we were making the traditional stop at Tim Horton's for one last decent coffee in who-knows-how-long. When Wayne started up Gertie (the GPS), Willie Nelson let loose to "On The Road Again" which Wayne had downloaded beforehand. We had a good laugh, promised to not kill one another and headed for the 1000 Island border crossing.
The South lanes of Hwy 416 must have been trying to take the title away from the Rideau Canal as the World's longest skating rink---holy moly was it awful! There was one car in the ditch and further along the way a tow truck was pulling an 18-wheeler out. We slowed down considerably and figured the 401 would be better, which it was.
The border crossing this time was not quite as pleasant as others--we got Brunhilda, The Infamous Border Bitch this time--and short of giving us a cavity search, grilled us pretty good. I wanted to remind her of the rotten state of the US economy and that I, along with 100,000 other Canadians were coming in for the winter to help out, but decided 2 bitchy women might ruin Wayne's day, so passed on the strong desire to stick my tongue out and give her a raspberry.
We hit a short, but intense snow squall in Syracuse but once we passed through, there was less and less snow on the ground until there was none at all. There's lots of water which is the result of past flooding but nothing that slowed us down.
We've exercised our God-given right to use hotel coupons again so spending the night at a very comfortable Days Inn and look forward to the free breakfast in the morning--$49. It's cold but not as bitter as Ottawa so we're starting to believe that sun and sand are not too far away.
Until tomorrow, hugs and kisses to all.