Cross-Canada: Day 9
Owen Sound to London (via Leamington) Distance: 595 Kms Time: Approx. 9 hours
We departed Owen Sound on Hwy 21 heading South West towards Goderich. Off to our right we could see a calm, glistening Lake Huron over the fields in the distance. The area around here was agricultural with vegetable and cornfields stretching as far as the eye could see. The only difference between here and the later parts of the Prairies were the high trees that formed part of the dividing hedges between fields. After a while we entered a massive wind farm that was made up of hundreds of wind turbines. They continued along side us for kilometer after kilometer until we were way past Kincardine. The turbines were spread as wide as they were long, but strangely only some were 
turning to generate power. The remainder just sat dormant in the wind.
We pulled into the Shell station in Goderich, here we met loyal Shell customers Dan and Deb Duncan. They approached us to proclaim their preference for Shell gasoline products. They have a number of cars as well as motorbikes and now use Shell exclusively for them all. They even plan their route using only Shell as fuel stops on their way to their cottage in Huntsville, Muskoka. Moving further down Hwy 21 we were amazed at some of the large, beautiful houses that sat on the shores of the lake. These places certainly had a million dollar view. As we moved closer to Grand Bend we could tell we were approaching a holiday destination. Golf courses and seasonal trailer parks became more abundant leading to the more traditional souvenir and gift shops in the centre of town. The town certainly had some hustle and bustle about it due to a local market being held.
We continued on towards Sarnia and were forced to join a heavily under construction Hwy 402, here traffic was slowed to 50kms until in to the down town core. Sarnia is a heavily industrialized, border city with an abundance of chemical plants spread throughout the city. We stopped by the river to take in the sights of Port Huron across the water in Michigan.
From Sarnia we headed down Hwy 40 to Wallaceburg where we stopped for a great lunch at the Baldoon Golf Club, then it was onto Chatham for a fuel stop. Here we met Brenda Turner, a very proud and devoted, 21year employee of Shell who was eager to pose for a picture (below). From here we headed south and eventually joined the dreaded Hwy 401 South. This highway is one of the busiest stretches of road in the world. Unfortunately we will have to use it a lot over the next few days as there really isn’t any other way to cross Southern Ontario. Luckily we weren’t to stay on it for long as we took Hwy 77 south for Leamington and Point Pelee National Park.
Here we visited the southernmost point in Canada, even more south than some places in California.
From Here we headed back onto the 401 northbound to London, Ontario. Highway 401 is the main artery from the United States to Toronto and beyond. For this very reason it is always full of heavily laden transport trucks. Just after 100kms we were happy to leave it for our overnight stay in London, so that we could be fresh and ready for the really busy sections that it will throw at us tomorrow.
Don’t forget, if you see us on your route tomorrow give us a honk and a wave.
We will be stopping at the Shell gas stations in the following locations, so if you see us gassing up why not come over and say hi?
Brantford St. Paul Ave.
Ancaster Legend Crt.
Burlington Guelph Line
Oakville Dundas St. W.
A big "hello" goes out to the people we met on route today!
Dan & Deb Duncan in Goderich, Naveed In Sarnia, Ron, Meghan Scott, Mike and Jim at the Baldoon Golf Club and Brenda in Chatham.
