back to Ontario

"All right. This is your way home."

7:50 AM EDT. We went northbound on Hwy 66 to connect with the I-69.

11:56 AM. Arrived the border. Shift change.

12:02 PM. On the 402. Easy-peasy through border. We imagined a lot of RVs were "returning from the eclipse."

The true north, strong, and free. Good to be back on home turf. "Drive out of here as fast as you can."

3:13. It had been clear sailing the whole day. 100 km from Ashburn and we hit traffic in Milton... Fortunately, it was a short run to the 407 ETR.

3:41. I caught a sign out of the corner of my eye. Did it say Rainbow Creek?

3:46. Went under Barrie GO train line west of Dufferin, a route I have taken many times.

I calculated our round trip was approximately 5500 km. Wow. A lot of earth traversed. It was good to be close to home. I was happy with my driving of the rig. "Never thought I'd do something as shine as that."

4:30. We reached Ashburn. We were met by Sue, Lora, and Phil.

"That's my car!" Transferred stuff from the truck to the old girl. Oh yeah, my umbrella. Oh yeah, the big tripod. Got my car keys, unlocked, and opened the windows. Ah ha, spotted the welder's glass. But no extension cord.

"Return my treasures to me." I helped unload all the other people's stuff from the truck and trailer.

Left Ian's at 5:21 but turned back when I didn't see my smartphone.

6:20. I was back home. At last.

But Rhonda was gone.

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What a trip. It was amazing witnessing the total solar occultation with friends old and new in excellent conditions. It was a lot of fun learning the truck and the RV trailer. Saw lots of the North American mid-west. It was a pretty good plan assembled by the team.