Originally Posted by barry123400

If you have a place there to bunk up for a day or so. I would drive the car locally for a fair distance. The general economy of the american region you will be travelling back through was hard hit many years ago.

It was rich from a light industrial standpoint at one time. We always enjoyed running the route from Nova Scotia to Ontario through that region. To the best of my knowledge there is no bus or passenger train service throughout the area anymore.

Automotive service is not that easily available as true service stations with mechanics became convienience stores and gas outlets long ago. Or just vanished with time. To compound that the few that are still left are usually booked up solid with work.

Driving around locally for a day or two might even be enjoyable and if any bugs are going to materialise they should early.

They do have a solution for breakdowns though. Fairly long hauls on flatbed tow trucks to a regional centre where there is service. Of course you would have to bear the going rate for transportation.

At one time a fellow citizen asked if we might became an annex of the USA on the east coast. I simply informed him you would be treated pretty much like northern Maine if it occured. That is not particularily good by the way.

To give you some perspective. Forty years ago I could rent a cabin in the blue mountains of Vermont for three dollars a night. And a hotel room for the three of us was as low as three dollars and fifty cents including breakfast. I think it cost five dollars to fill the gas tank from pretty much empty as well. That may have been a little earlier though.

Some of the roads where hard to use as an attempt to restrict north south trade at the time seemed to be in effect. . One main north south highway was called the airline route. That may have been because you should traverse the hundred mile length of it in an airplane. Otherwise it was just a serious attempt at humour in my opinion.

They gradually improved it over the forty years and it is not bad now. I only wished video cameras had been in common use back then. People today might not believe it if they saw it. Like driving on a roller coaster. The hills were so steep and choppy you could not see the road over your hood at times. To compound that the road was very substandard in width.

You could get a car repaired easily enough almost anywhere back then. The bill for doing it was generally not punative either if required. Strange as well there where also lots of repair parts in the area. Today you will wait for parts in many cases. Of course to be fair there where not the multitude of brands and labels to contend with back then. The big three really ruled.

Another strange episode occured once in the middle of nowhere. There were litterly hundreds of new york state trooper cars in the area. Just south of the Ontario border. They stopped us at a roadblock and told us the indians where restless.

They would not actually stop us from crossing reservation territory but it may be dangerous. They informed us they would not come to our rescue if we used the road.

I knew the indians source of income was from the travellers along that road using their gas stations etc. It was probably an attempt to block them being used. So I asked the state troopers if there where any cars coming through from the other way with arrows in their trunk lids. We did take the detour though.

The earlier part of that time period seems to have been the period where people had the essentials of life basically. There might have been greater social cohesive habits and better interrelationships between people. No credit cards and the true excesses of personal needs or keeping up with the neighbours just had got really underway. The economy could easily bear the expansion and excess then so it happend. Almost everything changed.

Originally Posted by barry123400

I do not know if using I 90 is ideal. Depends on where you are in Vermont I suppose. I cross into Ontario around the Cornwall area usually. Run the 40I into the Toronto region. Close study of a map may show you a better route if you live in northern Ontario.

I much preffer to drive through smaller isolated towns if I can spare the time. One way or another have an enjoyable trip. Do make sure the spare tire is really serviceable as well. You will be on older rubber remember. Perhaps another reason to use the secondry highway routes. Your average speed will be lower.

Originally Posted by Tom Wing

Check the air filter, mine did that, although much slower, when it got dirty, if so, really cheap fix.

Originally Posted by smiffy6four

Normally I would cross at Thousand Islands, but they require the actual original title to placed in their hands 72hrs ahead of the car. Lewiston(Niagra Falls) will accept a faxed copy, as long as the original is shown with the car at the time of crossing.

I take your point about the secondary roads being a good idea. The tires are almost new, except for the spare which is original. I'll be taking a spare spare.