Crossing Over/ My World

Lots of people are traveling this weekend, so I thought I'd explain what it's like to return to Canada after a few days with relatives in the U.S. (Traveling to the U.S. is a popular Canadian pastime.)

If you look at a map of Canada below, you'll notice that most of the major cities are in the southern areas of each province. In fact, Canada's three largest cities (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) are within easy driving distance of the U.S.

Ontario is yellow and that's the province in which I live. East Gwillimbury is a little north of Toronto. And Toronto is only a couple of hours from Buffalo in the United States.

So it should be no surprise that many Canadians including my husband and me visit the U.S. at least once a year...often more. Toronto area residents are no exception even though Toronto is a fabulous city with many attractions. But it doesn't include Florida, Las Vegas or Los Angeles.

However, every time Canadians go away, they eventually return. ;-) And this is a taste of what it's often like when my husband I return to East Gwillimbury from Upstate New York.

After we cross the Niagara River, the international boundary at Buffalo/Niagara Falls, we stop at Canada Customs. Sometimes the line is long but on this day it was short. HOORAY! Notice that the signs are in English and in French, as Canada is officially a bilingual country.

Once we've told the customs officer where we live, how long we've been away and declare what goods we're bringing back into Canada, we pay a toll and then drive pass this friendly sign:

Notice on the map that we're still south of Lake Ontario. Weird, according to my muddled brain. As we're driving back into Canada something inside my head expects the lake to be south of the highway. ;-)

After a few miles, the highway joins the QEW, which stands for the Queen Elizabeth Highway. Yes, Canada is a part of the British Commonwealth.

When we see this skyline (Mississauga just west of Toronto), we know we're just an hour away from home!

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