Inform General Lee I will be arriving at Gettysburg...

...and will be ready to take the field against the Yankees on the 'morrow.

Well, we made it. We survived smoggy, shitty, crappy, dirty Toronto, and the equally smoggy, shitty, crappy, dirty freeway system that is Canada Interstate. We crossed the bridge over the St Lawrence River and made our way back into the blessed land of the free, and the home of the brave. We successfully negotiated our way through the mountainous terrain of upstate New York, eluded the thousand or so semi-trailers that seemed intent on running us off the road, arrived at Gettysburg thoroughly worn out, and found a place to stay.

And as a result of all this, I find myself typing this account while the old man is asleep, snoring with the kind of force normally associated with plate tectonics. Where to go from here?

Well, Canada was...well...Canada. I'll reserve comment apart from reiterating how crappy Toronto is and how crappy the freeways are, because, well, that's all I managed to see. I'm sure there are much nicer areas of the country. It'd be like judging Brisbane based on driving through Kingston, Inala and Bray Park. But, we crossed over St Lawrence, in the same vein as the Jews crossed over Jordan, and returned to the promised land. The part of the States we've been driving though, specifically upstate New York and Pennsylvania is very picturesque. High mountains and rolling valleys, plenty of streams and rivers. Which is great driving unless you have a Hertz parts bin Kia Rio with all the power of an athritic hamster in a wheel.

I really don't have a great deal to say - it's hard to make highway driving sound exciting. I did take some photos of stuff along the way I thought was midly amusing, so in an effort to relieve the tedium I'll include those.

As I said at the start, we're at Gettysburg, and will be looking around the battlefield for up to three days, starting tomorrow. Needless to say, I am somewhat excited about this.


Smoggy Toronto. I wasn't more than 3 kilometres from the buildings when I took this photo. The tower in the centre is the CN tower, which stands at 553 metres. Impressive. I'm sure the view at the top is fantastic, if you could see any further than spitting distance.


Saw this in Toronto. Short of placing landmines and spike strips, I don't think that's gonna happen. Besides, the local paper reckoned Toronto had just endured a massive public transport strike, so it doesn't look like vehicle use will decrease any time soon.


A typical expressway junction sign. The idea of numbering roads, instead of naming them works very well. Makes it a lot easier to follow where you need to go, since you just look for your number. This is very handy, especially when driving with the old man whose sense of direction can best be described as non-existent.

What every true American needs to know about a highway exit - where do I go to gorge myself? I think part of the reason traffic volumes seem to decrease remarkably around midday over here is that everyone is busy stuffing themselves full of food for an hour or so before continuing with their travels.


A very standard road sign over here. Like Kangaroos, these guys are apparently everywhere on the road, and tend to wind up colliding with your car. And like Kangaroos, you generally only see them in a certain condition...


...Dead.


This is America's equivalent of "give way". I am willing to bet that this is the ONLY word of ye olde english that 90% of Americans actually know.


I think the half ton refers to the driver's weight, if the truckies I've seen are anything to go buy.


Saw this sign in Canada. Evidently no other driver did, if the average speed was anything to go by. Mind you, I only saw one cop, and he had pulled over a car with US plates. Go figure.


This roared past us earlier this afternoon. Nice rig.


I am here.

Anyways, the old man has finished his hibernation, so it must be time for us to go shopping so we have something to eat for the next few days.

I just realised I mentioned Jews earlier and didn't make a jew joke. I must be slipping.