1 year, 11 months, 12 days. This is how long it’d been since our last long trip (which was a drive to Florida that launched a weeklong cruise in The Bahamas in November 2019). We did take smaller trips since then, some overnight ones, and many day trips, but we almost never left our state (North Carolina) during this time. Crossing the border for a few hours into Virginia during this time doesn’t really count as “leaving the state”.
But this year, prompted by a milestone
birthday in Michigan that we simply could not miss and the fact that hey, we
were in the neighborhood of Canada where we have more close family, we had to
venture out, COVID19 precautions and all, and take a longer vacation.
Almost 10 days later we would have traveled
through 8 states, one Canadian province, two countries, more than 2000 miles
and would have learned so much! We chose to do all this in a huge road trip,
with zero flying. As much as I miss traveling and really long trips, flying is
still not on my list for the time being. Airlines cannot space out people on
planes and people are so inconsiderate when it comes to hygiene in close
spaces. Not to mention that, to my knowledge (and belief!) the COVID19 pandemic
is far, oh, so far, from being “over” yet. So this trip had to be a driving one,
where we could have a bit more control of our surroundings.
Traveling now is nothing like traveling in
2019, as you can imagine, unless you have lived under a rock for the past two
years. The logistics are different, but also our fears, our caution, our
“paranoia”, if you will, is a new thing to get used to and embrace. Yes, I say
“embrace” because despite all the worry that you’re out there, in the world,
exposed to all sorts of human garbage, despite the fact that some people are
stupid and selfish and … wrong … you still must try to have some fun, make some
memories and save something for your family album. Otherwise, all the travel
and the bother would not be worth it …
There are a lot of things that will remain
with us from this marathon trip. A lot of new things we experienced for the
very first time which taught us so much. I really don’t have the time (nor you
to read such long belaboring) or the memory for it all, but I did not want this
trip to go unnoticed, so I am summarizing some of the highlights in this journal.
West Virginia toll roads. Seriously, West
Virginia! $4 a pop times three to cross your state (on the same road) is a bit
steep! Also: West Virginia, have you heard of these nifty little things called
credit cards, yet? All of the tolls must be paid in cash in WV. I remember that
my Canadian family drove through there in 2018 and they did not have any
American cash so they could not pay the tolls. Well, three years later, there
are still no credit cards allowed in West Virginia. All cash or get off the
toll roads and navigate the back country roads for free.
By the time we crossed the state we were
$12 down in tolls alone through a state that, albeit beautiful, does not
impress in road quality. As a traveler, always looking for interesting things,
I suppose this is meant to slow you down to take life in, or something. But you
are on a busy highway, so stopping, getting your wallet out, counting your
dollars, waiting to receive change (especially in a time where everywhere else
in the country cash transactions are rare because of virus transmissibility…)
is a bit odd. But it’s how they do it in WV, so be warned.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, OH. I have
this crazy goal to visit all of the National Parks before I die. So, when we
drive past one now, I will try to make it through it at least for a couple of
hours. Cuyahoga Valley was achieving a small piece of such a goal. The one
surprising thing was that although a park of almost exclusively deciduous
trees, the leaves were hardly turned yet on October 23rd! I would
have thought that Northern US, so close to the border with Canada, would have
been past-peak for leaves-turning by that date, but the leaves were mostly
green … We had time just for a very short hike, which was peaceful and made for
a couple of good photo ops of bridges and train tracks. The park is very easy
to just drive through. No fee required.
Egrets on Lake Erie! Again: too late in the
year to see these beautiful warm-weather (we thought!) birds as far North as
the Canadian border. But there they were … A whole flock of them just chilling
on a marsh outside Lake Erie. Can we assume global warming?! Perhaps …
Speaking of Lake Erie. We got to see
several Great Lakes on this trip: Erie, Ontario, and Michigan. We skirted
around Lake Huron, but we never so much as got a glimpse of it. I remember
learning about them in geography classes in middle school, back in Romania.
They told us they look and feel like seas or mini-oceans, with minimal tides
and big waves. They were not wrong. I grew up on the Black Sea coast and I can
tell you – there is not much of a difference between any of the Great Lakes and
a sea such as the Black Sea which I am most familiar with. Sure, the lakes are
full of fresh water and the a sea would be full of salty water, but if you’re
not swimming in them to know this, there is not much of a difference between
them by just looking at them. They are vast, impressive bodies of water and
they do not ever feel like peaceful “lakes” but more like troubled, angry, and
restless seas or even oceans …
Crossing the border into Canada in times of
pandemic. Now, this was the real adventure. Many months before our trip, when
the border opened in Canada to Americans to be allowed to visit, my sister who
lives in Montreal educated me about how to cross into Canada who has a very
strict system for contact tracing and enforcing pandemic rules (vaccinations
and masking). We had to sign up for this app called ArriveCAN which would hold
all of our information (passport, vaccination card, Canadian address, reason
for visit, personal data, etc) 72 hours before we cross the border. We even had
to tell them the approximate time of when we will be at the border and which
border crossing we would be using. This system looked intimidating and impressive.
I know of nothing remotely similar in the US. When the borders originally
opened, the rule was that Americans can cross into Canada by car, train, or
ferry only with a proof of vaccination and that a 72-hour negative Covid19 test
was only needed for people flying there. Well, we were driving, so we
figured – no test.
Two days before getting ready to cross into
Canada, we were in Michigan visiting with family and I decided that it’s time
to finish signing up and completing all the information for the ArriveCAN
system. As I was finishing that process up, I found out that we did, after
all, need to present a negative PCR test (which is not the “rapid test”, of
course – that would have been too convenient and too easy) that could take up
to 48 hours to come back. So, this would have meant that if we took it that
day, it might be back the very day we were supposed to cross into Canada so we
could be in Toronto for our hotel reservation.
We had researched before the trip places
where we could get a test in Michigan, should we need one, for any reason, so
we already had this one place mapped out. We did not need an appointment,
luckily, so we just drove through, and they took our samples and we filled out
a form. We were told it’d be up to 48 hours but it’s more like 24 hours from what
they’ve seen in the last little bit to get the results. The test itself ran
extremely smoothly. We were impressed by how Michigan seemed to have everything
down to a science almost.
We were supposed to get our results through
email. The next day (24 hours) we kept refreshing our emails compulsively. Neither
one of us got anything. So, that “it’s more like 24 hours” did not turn out to
be true, after all. The second day, which was the day we were supposed to head
out to Toronto, we practically did not turn our email app off and just stared
at it all morning, refreshing and waiting … and panicking! Nothing.
I have worked with bureaucracy (and the
medical field which is the worst of all in bureaucracy!) long enough to know
that you do not rush these people. That when they say “48 hours” you better
make damn sure you count down the very last second before you raise your hand and
ask. But at about 45 hours (10 AM instead of 1PM when the test had been
performed 2 days before) I lost my patience and I called. There was no answer,
naturally! They placed you on this eternal hold where you knew no one would
ever rescue you from.
I was picturing my cute little nephews
waiting for us at the hotel that night and us not able to cross over and not able
to be there to check everyone in (the hotel was in my name). They would have
had to travel for hours from Montreal to Toronto, they had to interrupt school,
our hopes and dream of finally meeting up after more than two years shattered.
Because of COVID. Because of two governments in the “civilized” world that
should have gotten their crap together already. I was angry. Disappointed.
Mostly angry.
So I called. And called and called incessantly.
I did not wait on hold. I dialed and if the on-hold voice came on, I hung up
and called again. Till finally someone did pick up! The most helpful lady came
on and explained that they had been trying to reach us the day before but I had
not left a phone number (they told us they would send it through an email!) and
they could not. It also turned out that they had misread my husband’s phone
number and they probably called that, but they were calling the wrong person.
She asked me what my name was and she told
me that they misread my handwriting and that the test is negative but the name
on the test is different than my name so now she has to file a correction with
the lab to have the negative test reissued. Every time I hear of someone having
to “file” something … I know it’ll take a while. So I pleaded with her to
please hurry because if it spills into another day I am losing thousands of dollars
in hotel fees alone … Long story short: she sent me my husband’s proof of the
negative test in my email (why they did not send his to his email will forever
be a murky mystery to us) but I had to wait two extra hours for mine to be “corrected”.
But we got our negative tests. Yay. Onward to Canada, negative test and ArriveCAN
app ready and all. The border crossing should be a breeze now.
Only … not so fast.
We were both so nervous going towards
Canada that during the two and a half hour journey from our family’s house in
Michigan to the Port Huron – Sarnia border crossing we hardly spoke 10 words to
each other. And mostly they were comments about the dark, foggy, gray day we
were driving through.
At the border with Canada, this very friendly,
masked lady officer asked us all the usual questions about why we were coming
to Canada on a Wednesday (I didn’t know there was a special day you were
supposed to travel to Canada, or in general?!), what we were bringing (“Did you
know mace and pepper spray are considered weapons in Canada?”), and how much
pot and cannabis products we were carrying. She looked at our passports and she
asked for our negative tests (I have been more proud of a piece of paper in my
life only when I got my American citizenship “diploma”. I was bubbling with pride
for that hard-earned negative PCR COVID test, I tell you!).
She never once asked us for our ArriveCAN QR
code where all of our information should have been stored. But
right then and there, negative test in hand, she tells us that “Oops, this is
not me doing this. But my computer just randomly picked you both to be tested
today. So, here are your testing kits and you will go to this tent over there
(she waived us) and get tested.”
So, here we were, just barely over the Canadian
border, 48 hours since our last test (I suppose not official enough for Canada?)
and taking another PCR test across the wall … Sigh. They asked us to sign up
for yet another “system” called SwitchHealth. This is their contact-tracing system
which seems to be very efficient, from what my family tells me. They, too, just
like ArriveCAN, asked all the possible information about who we are, where we
are going and we had to sign off upon threat of perjury that should we test
positive that day, we would have to quarantine for 14 days at the address we
were staying in Toronto (which was our hotel).
So now, let me tell you: you wanna know
everything there is to know about me, my husband, our health, passport numbers,
height, eye color, shoe size? Ask Canada! Between ArriveCAN and SwitchHealth,
they’d be able to dig something up! We did receive the results on the SwitchHealth
online portal (with an email notification), just like they told us at the
border, in almost exactly 48 hours. They were very certain it will not be less
than that and they were right. Like clockwork.
Two days was all we were spending in
Toronto anyway, so we were wondering what would have happened if the results
came in right as we were leaving – we would have “escaped” without
quarantining, but … thank goodness we didn’t have to find that out!
Canada was such a good visit! As scared and threatened
by inconsiderate and lying people as I feel in the US about whatever they carry
and expose me to, I felt 100% safe there. They truly have hand sanitizer
dispensers every 10 feet in any indoor public space and during our stay there
was not one of them that was not working or empty. They are all touchless too.
You need a mask for all indoor places, no tolerance for unmasked people. You
also need proof of vaccination for all the restaurants, hotels, and all the
museums you want to visit. Museum entry is timed, so they allow only so many people
at once in there. Again, zero tolerance for the proof of vaccination: you don’t
have that, you are not allowed entry. And everyone complies. Everyone is polite
and moves about their business and everyone still goes and sees places and has
a good time, without having to feel like they ingest COVID boogers with every
breath because of 10,000 lying inconsiderate you-know-what’s around them.
This was quite a lesson! I am sure every
border crossing will be different from now on for the rest of our lives. I am sure
that going to Europe will be different than this – the demands and restrictions
will be different with each country and means of transport. But I digress.
Toronto is a great, big city but it is
incredibly clean! Even my 10 year old nephew who lives outside Montreal noticed
that “Toronto is so much cleaner than Montreal”. People are kind and patient,
never rushed, like in our Northern big cities. They are helpful and welcoming.
I was surprised how many vegan options I found in restaurants, even at our
hotel: it is not just a matter of tolerance there, but it feels like true inclusion.
We did touristy, Toronto-related things while here, like climbing up to the glass floor in the CN Tower and visiting the exhibits of the Royal Ontario Museum. But there were two activities that
stood out for me: a walk around Toronto Islands was a welcome surprise. A short
ferry ride takes you to the middle of Lake Ontario and you truly get a sense of
what the currents are like on this enormous lake! The winds are nothing short
of amazing, even on a sunny fall day. Walking through parks and neighborhoods along
the water with the wind blowing my hair every which direction and turning me
into a banshee was refreshing … All worries washed out … There are several
neighborhoods on Ward’s Island, even a school – it’s like a mini-small town
outside of Toronto. The yards were overgrown with tired flowers and bushes,
only a pale testimony of how green and lush they once were in the summer. I was
trying to imagine how these people live in the winter when the winds are the
cruelest and the lake freezes over, so the ferry service must stop. It would be
nice for writer’s isolation, but not productive living, I am sure. We spent a
couple of hours on these islands just walking and having family time. No
services were open, so restaurants, cafes and the amusement park were closed.
But the quiet, the peace, the isolation, minutes away from a bustling city
across the water will stay with us.
My second Toronto highlight was Casa Loma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Loma).
Built at the beginning of the 20th century by Sir Henry Pellatt, a
banker, investor, and British knight, it is an amazing construction, a large private
residence and lastly, a castle. I saw Casa Loma in a Toronto advertisement
going across my screen when I was booking the hotel for this trip and something
about it called my name: the British, almost medieval look, the secrecy and
grandeur, and the fact that it is in Toronto, Canada of all places (when it
should be in Scotland or Ireland or some other place) just spoke to me. It did
not disappoint. If you are into architecture, or history (especially British
and North American history), it is a must-see when you are in Canada. I came
home with a book about the family who built it and the building process and the
history of the home after the family’s status fell and they were forced to sell
it piece by piece. It just fascinated me as if maybe many generations ago my
own family might have lived there (very seriously doubting this).
After two full days in the capital of Ontario,
saddened that we were parting with family and unknowing of when our next get-together
might happen, we started our long journey back towards the US to come home. Crossing
the border back to the US was nothing like crossing it into Canada. In a
symbolic testimony of how the US does the COVID pandemic, the border officer was
not masked and the first thing he ordered us to do in a gruff and unfriendly
tone was “Masks down!”. Then, he waved us through after checking our passports.
We stopped briefly to the Niagara Falls State
Park for some pictures and then away we went to reach our next destination in
Harrisburg, PA that last night on the road. We drove through beautiful places
that day in Western New York state, rolling hills clad in autumn colors, but
the rain and fog were so thick the pictures we took do them no justice. The
following day, we stopped in Lancaster County, PA to take in some of the Amish
countryside, but we could really not partake into any of the offerings as it
was Sunday and everything was closed.
It was a whirlwind of a trip, with mixed
feelings, much love and many meaningful hugs (which were the most important, to
me). With lots of new places and people watching, something we have been hungry
for for too long. Stresses we never had before and joys, too, that were new.
One thing I know for sure: I never did much
of this before, but now I know that I will never take the privilege of traveling
for granted again. Travels have taught me so much, always, but especially now,
when we’re trying to understand a new world, you find that every action, every
stop, every person you interact with truly teaches you something new. You
cannot help but learn so many new ways in which others do life. Ways you would
never dream of when you’re just watching life go by from your couch. There are
new learnings everywhere, close and far, but when you do go far, the learnings
are exponentially bigger. Exposing yourself to the world, making yourself
vulnerable only empowers you.
Happy, mindful, respectful, and safe
travels, you all!
