Here we go. Day 1, July 1st!

Today is the first day of our trip and most appropriately, its also Canada Day.

We were originally going to drive straight to Canada on Monday, July 2, but since Ida now has off on July 1, we are going to break the 450 mile trek North to Ottawa up by driving five hours on Sunday.   Surprisingly we're only going to be on two highways til we get to the border --- I-476 in PA and I-81 in New York.

On last year's vacation we took I-81 south to Tennessee. This highway follows the Great Appalachian Valley which stretches from Quebec to Alabama running for about 1,200 miles.  Before the interstate was there, Indians used the route then known as the Great Indian Warpath.  In colonial days, the Great Wagon Road led settlers from Philadelphia to York and then South.  During the civil war, the valley was a major route for armies in the Shenandoah and then leading north to Gettysburg.

We purchased the audio book version of "The President is Missing" by Bill Clinton and James Patterson to listen to on the way there.  As the novel opens, a threat looms. Enemies are planning an attack of unprecedented scale on America. Uncertainty and fear grip Washington. There are whispers of cyberterror and espionage and a traitor in the cabinet. The President himself becomes a suspect, and then goes missing...  Audio books make the time go by much faster on the drive.

After about a five hour drive, we'll stop for the night in Watertown, New York which is about 40 minutes away from the Thousand Islands Bridge entrance to Canada and Ottawa is about 2 hours away from there.  So, if there is not a long line at the border, we should have an easy drive tomorrow.

We are staying overnight at a Holiday Inn Express.