On The Road Again...

Back in Canada! Writing this on the laptop (Chad, you rock for lending me this, and don’t worry, it’s in one piece!) in the basement of my Dad’s girlfriend’s daughter’s house. Her name is Ashley and she had a daughter named Emily. I don’t know them too well, only met them a few times when they came to Winnipeg, but my Dad knows them well, as does his girlfriend, obviously. They’re really nice and very hospitable.

Weird to think I woke up in Chicago this morning. I was up pretty late working on the photos from my day downtown (still not done) but had to get up at 9:30 AM to pack all my stuff into my car for 11:00 AM checkout. Once I was checked out I went to a nice restaurant and had some breakfast. The owner of the store was really nice and I ended up chatting with him for a while. Talked about 9/11 and the war for a bit, then he told me about how he started the restaurant from nothing. Told him about my little adventure and he though it was really great. He ended up giving me a little American Flag thing to keep as a souvenir, lol. Cool guy.

After I’d digested my meal and our conversation wrapped up I jumped back in the car. I only realized my car doesn’t have A/C right before my trip. Never needed it until this season. Let me tell you, I woulda liked to have it today. 9 hour drive from Chicago, through Indiana and Michigan, back into Canada at the Ontario border up the 401 to Cambridge. It was hot and humid the whole ride. Once it was past mid-day it wasn’t too bad with the window open, but for a while I was dying.

I’ve gotten a lot better at the long hauls. Only stopped twice on this leg of the trip, and I easily coulda gone another 3 hours of driving if I had to. First stop was at some rest stop in Michigan for a bathroom break and to stretch my legs. Got a popsicle too cause I was so hot. Second stop was at a Wendy’s for some supper.

I actually really enjoyed the drive today. Chicago left me with a glow that I think will last for the rest of this trip. The trip didn’t feel real before Chicago. I had a lot of fun visiting my aunt and uncle in Minnesota but it just felt like a family visit. Now I’m on my independent adventure. I’m doing things I never thought I’d do in places I’d never expect to find myself ALONE! For the whole drive I just listened to great music on my Ipod and reflected on that. Some more great scenery. Took the Skyway in Chicago, some cool stuff passing by Detroit (passing, no way I’m going to Detroit), etc.

After a few toll roads I came to the Canadian border. It was a really cute girl at the gate I pulled up to and deprived of company as I’d been all day, I smiled like a fool the whole time she asked me questions, which eventually made her start blushing, lol. She let me go on and I was back in my home country. We drive slow as molasses here. Thankfully once I was on the 401 on my way to Toronto everyone completely ignores the speed limit and goes up to 130, which is what I’m used to now.

This side of Ontario had some great scenery too! Once I was in Canada the traffic loosened up a bit and it was straight the whole way. I put on Terria by Devin Townsend, had my polarized aviators on which gives everything that epic sepia tone, recline my chair, steered with one hand and watched the sun set over Ontario. Fuckin’ A.

Cambridge is about 100 km before Toronto, so I turned off the 401. I realized I was now in a new time zone and called Ashley to explain why I’d said I’d be there at 7:30 and it was now 8:30, lol. I stopped at a Rogers Video on the way, lol. Rented Season 3 of Weeds to rip to my laptop to watch over the next week. Got my rentals for free when the imported my account, lol. I know for a fact I was supposed to pay for em, but I’m not complaining. I chatted with the folks at the Rogers for a bit about what things were like at my store in Winnipeg, ol’ 536. They were store 471. They were pretty cool, Rogers seems to hire cool people.

Got to Ashley’s around 9:00 PM, local time, lol. They let me have a shower, cause after 9 hours on the road in the humid heat I needed one. After that I had a drink with her and talked for a while. She’s cool and we had some laughs. Eventually they set me up in their basement on a futon. I have a huge tv down here to watch Weeds on, lol.

Just here for the night; couch-surfing. Tomorrow I head to Montreal most likely. At this point in the trip my plans have started to become more from the hip, and tomorrow after I leave here I’m going to hit up a starbucks and use the wireless internet to check my banking and make some decisions about the rest of the trip. If I’m not mistaken, Prince Edward Island may have to be cut. But on the bright side it will give me more time to check out Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City! I just don’t know if I have the time and money for Prince Edward Island. I’m not that upset though. I’m having an AMAZING time already, honestly better than I ever expected. And there’s still a lot to come either way. If PEI has to be cut, this is an incredible experience already, so I’m just thankful for it. By the time I upload this entry (no internet at Ashley’s) I’ll know how far I can make it and add a post-script at the end.

I feel invincible right now.

P.S. Now I'm in a mall in Cambridge using their free wireless internet and I was looking at my finances and even thought I could in fact make it to PEI I'm thinking I'm gunna cut it anyway. It'd be A LOT of extra driving and I wouldn't be able to really check out Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto like I want to. I could always take a flight to PEI some day cause I have family in Halifax I could stay with. But I think I'm just going to enjoy the Ontario/Quebec area. So I'm heading out now, and I'll either be going to Ottawa or Montreal. Once I get the in the car I'll get my GPS to calculate driving times and then I'll call hotels to make sure they're not booked. In Montreal there's an F1 race thing going on so hotels may be booked. My next entry will let you know where I ended up!