2013 NorthEast by Motorcycle Day 8

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada to Detroit, Michigan.  281.5 miles.

We hit the road around 7 AM again.  I always find it surprisingly refreshing how no matter what mayhem a tourist area may be under in the evening, it is almost always peaceful and calm in the morning.  Even Las Vegas slows down in the morning, although seeing people (still) gambling and drinking scotch at 8:00 AM is a little unnerving the first time.

With little traffic on the road, we easily found the roads we were looking for and were on the QEW shortly.  We stayed on track until near Hamilton until we started to head south.  I can't blame Google for this one as they told me a good way to go.  I didn't see it on the antique GPS so I found a "better" way.  Several years ago I was going through the same area on four-wheels for a funeral and think I ended up on the same dreadful road through downtown Hamilton.  I'm really beginning to dislike this city.
The detour probably saved a mile or two, but added a lot of time.  After a bit of frustration, we were back on the provincial road headed toward Windsor - at least I think it is called a provincial road...

Once near Windsor, I decided to take the tunnel across to the US.  We used to go to Canada a lot when I was a kid since there is lots of family there and I always liked the tunnel; it has been years since I went through it.  The route to the tunnel is well marked.  But, when I got there, a transit worked yelled at me and walked over to me.  No motorcycles in the tunnel!  His exact words were, "It is just like a nuclear bomb."  I can only hope that was a joke?
Poking around online, I find references to air quality as a reason but car drivers are breathing the same air so that doesn't pass the smell test (pun intended).  I did find a quoted email from the private company that owns the tunnel and it said the insurance carriers would not allow it due to the unique environment.  This begs the question of why an LLC owns the tunnel?  Because they can.  Long term ownership is in limbo due to Detroit's recent bankruptcy filing.  Odd that the also-privately owned Ambassador Bridge allows motorcycles, but the private company jointly controlled by Windsor and Detroit does not.  Maybe Capitalism does work afterall.

The guy kicking us out of the tunnel was nice enough and we turned around and found our way to the bridge.  We breezed through customs and were on Interstate 75 in short order.  Since it was now the middle of the day, Detroit traffic was very light.

We got to Sarah and Jason't house around midday and hung out with the kids for a while.
Dinner that night was burgers and fixin's. Joel and Beth were also there with their kids.  Since it was a work night, the day ended fairly early.