Monday, November 30, 2009

Milwaukee to Ottawa

We traveled yesterday from Milwaukee Wisconsin to London Ontario. Going through Chicago this time was easier as we decided to take I94 to I294 and then back to I94. Last time we took the GPS selected route which took us right through downtown Chicago and we sat in the shadow of the Sears Tower for about 20 minutes in traffic. This trip was much quicker and we managed to get to Chicago before the traffic started. This was the end of the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States and we expected the roads to be very busy. They were in particular the I94 as we headed east towards Detroit. When we turned onto I69 though a lot of the traffic left us (I drove this portion) and it was quiet all the way to Lansing. The trip from Lansing to Port Huron was busy at the beginning but had thinned out quite a bit as we approached the border. However, the lines at the border returning to Canada were quite lengthy and we spent nearly an hour waiting to cross. Our wait was only about five minutes when we had crossed over to the United States two weeks earlier.

Milwaukee is a very interesting city and we explored the area around Milwaukee as well. Driving there is like driving in southwestern Ontario - the same rolling hills and similar trees. I did not see a yellow headed blackbird yet.

No genealogy done at all but we do not expect to find any of Ed's families there necessarily although they could be. My grandmother's sister and her husband lived in Chicago in the 1920s so I may investigate them somewhat when we are next in the area. My mother went to Chicago as a child with her mother. But her father was so lonely that they never went again while he was living.

We head on to Ottawa today as we are still in London. Lots of work to accomplish in the next few weeks and then back to genealogy after Christmas.

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