I left The Valley shortly after noon on November 9, exactly 1 year from the day Mom left. I had known I would leave before the middle of the month but when I realized how near to that date my return to Ontario was going to be, I decided to work hard start my new adventure on the 9th.
Things were certainly rushed but I managed to squeeze in lots of short visits, lunches with friends, and dinners with surrogate family. My very first engagement, upon returning, was a sleepover with my granddaughter overlooking the lake near her home. I remember how fun sleepovers in Grandma’s camper were from when I was her age. I wish I had thought to get those little cereal boxes I liked so much. Oh well, there’s always next summer.
I had a stop I needed to make near Fergus and I wanted to avoid the 407 and 401 so I went cross country, I wasn’t in any hurry really. Elephant Lake Road and down below Lake Simcoe, across through Newmarket and Orangeville. I had the option to stay the night in my Aunt’s driveway but I was fired up and figured I could make a few more miles.
I stopped in London for the night, behind a Love’s Truck Stop. I guessed there would be a decent tire inflator with a gauge there and I still needed to remove the TPMS that kept screaming at me every time the tires heated up and the pressure increased above 86 PSI. I also figured I’d find a Staples, to print my return shipping labels, as well as a Canada Post counter, to ship the parcels back. Once that was complete, I headed for Sarnia and the US border where, aside from having to declare the 10 pound bag of onions Dad had left me, I crossed uneventfully.
My goal was the visitors center at the Indiana Dunes State Park. It’s about an hour from the parking lot I had scoped out in Chicago and you can park and sleep in the rear lot for free. Because of the amount of time I spent waiting for the rain to let up in London, I arrived shortly after 9pm CST which of course felt like 10 to my EST brain. There was a security car on patrol near where I parked and except for the frequent train whistles, it was a peaceful place to rest up for what would surely be a big day on Monday.