In Toronto

Terry and I left the Aerie this morning when the temperatures were a mere 1.7 degrees above and headed to Toronto. The route took us northwest on I-390 to I-90 and I-290 into Niagra Falls. Then east on the QEW to Toronto.

The weather was good (except for a few flurries along the shores of Lake Ontario) and the traffic wasn't bad. In fact, the only difficulty we experienced was when we reached our destination. The hotel had an entrance to an underground parking facility which had lots of construction going on inside. I drove my Tundra beneath the little sign that warned about height and cleared it with ease. I assumed that meant I should clear all ceiling obstacles along the way. Man, was I wrong!

We found no slots (all of which were quite small anyway) on the first level and had to back our way out of an unmarked dead end. We headed down the ramp to the second level. Again there were no openings so we made the turn and started down the ramp to the third level. A sign warned that head room was 6'6". I got half way off the ramp when the roof of the truck scraped the I-beam overhead. I backed out. Carefully. I was not a happy camper.

I managed to make a K-turn and head back up to the surface and the hotel's front door. I stormed in and made my dissatisfaction known. The sign I had cleared--with lots of room to spare--at the entrance said 5' 11". Signs directed me to the underground parking as it was "Hotel Parking." My truck, with only about 3000 miles on the OD, now had a totally damaged roof due to the faulty signage. The clerk behind the desk (and later the manager) told me they did not run the parking facility and had no responsibility for the signs. They would, however, contact the manager and tell him what happened and try to facilitate a solution.

While we were out to dinner, we received a phone call from the manager who said he would contact us tomorrow and arrange to come out and look at the truck. He also left his number so if we do not hear from him by 10 AM we will be making a call of our own.

I'm angry with three folks/institutions right now: (1) Myself for even attempting to go down that little rat hole they consider a parking garage. (2) The parking lot folks for putting up that stupid sign saying clearance 5' 11" and hanging it at around 6' 6" so if you're unsure of your vehicle's height, you won't have any true idea of it after you've passed beneath the sign. (3) The hotel for (a) not mentioning the parking difficulties to be encountered on their web site and (b) directing people to the parking area that is obviously undersized both in the height of the ceiling and the width of the parking slots.

Hopefully, someone will make this right.