vacation over... *sigh*
If I never had to get back in the car, that would be fine with me. I usually like road trips, but I just wasn't feeling the drive this time. It seemed to take forever to get there, and we actually ended up stopping at a hotel with only 2.5 hours to go, because I just couldn't be in the car any more. On the way back we also stopped (in Indiana), but we had planned to break up the return trip because we are always so tired after rushing around to see everyone. Then, to make things even better, we had Leah's family reunion to go to today, which was about an hour away. I volunteered to drive on the way home, and then it POURED for at least half the drive... not my favorite thing at all. But, we made it!
We left on Thursday morning, and everything went fine, except Chicago took forever to get through, and then there were construction backups in Michigan, and so as mentioned, we had to stop. Both of us had really sore necks and I desperately wanted a hot shower before having to drive any more. It must have been the right thing to do, because we were rewarded when we hit the border on Friday morning by being able to drive directly up to the customs/immigration booth... NO waiting, not a single car in front of us. That has never happened to me before.
Friday after arriving we brought lunch to my aunt (who has MS and lives in a nursing home). At night we went to cruise night (a parade of old cars):
Afterwards, we went out for dinner/drinks, and I was reminded ONCE AGAIN that there are members of my extended family that I just shouldn't waste my precious vacation time with. We started off with racist comments about Obama and ended with a big argument about how teachers get so much vacation time and she has a neighbor who is a teacher who apparently hates kids and everyone dislikes this person, and therefore she hates ALL teachers, and none of my pointing out that you really shouldn't write off an entire group of people based on one person is going to change her mind.
Saturday we had lunch with an old friend from elementary/high school who I haven't seen in YEARS, and that was surprisingly comfortable. Then we drove to Toronto and had dinner with my parents - they had left earlier in the day since they had baseball tickets for both Saturday and Sunday. We all stayed at my brother's place even though he was out of town.
Sunday we went to St Lawrence Market to check out the antiques, and then we had an amazing brunch at Hot House. Then we were off to the baseball game... which the Jays won! I also got sunburned on one side of my body and felt pretty stupid.
There were so many people in the crowd constantly yelling at Bobby Abreu. I don't follow baseball so I have no idea if there was a reason, or he was just the only player in earshot from our seats in right field.
Sunday after my parents left, Leah and I relaxed on the patio and had our first semi-home-cooked meal of the trip (carrots & dip and frozen macaroni)... we couldn't bring ourselves to eat out again, but didn't want to make a lot of dishes or mess at Cory's house... plus we were already super tired.
On Monday we did some urban caching. The GPSr doesn't have great reception in the city, but we found 7 out of the 8 we tried. (A lot of them were virtual caches though.)
Next we drove up to York for a quick look around my old university, and so Leah could buy her obligatory hoodie. Then we were off to stay with my friend Cynthia for the night, and we all had dinner with another old friend from York as well. It was much fun and we stayed up late chatting... I have no idea how Cyn got up at 5am for work.
Tuesday we drove back to Cory's place, parked the car, and took the TTC to Kensington Market, where we spent waaaay too much money shopping. That night we went to Caju for dinner, where my brother and Joe announced that they are getting married in 2010! Cory has been thinking about asking him for a while, and had thought about proposing in Paris, but ended up doing it in DC on their vacation this month.
Wednesday we hung out with Shan and the kids, including new baby Noella (who is only 3 months old, but you wouldn't know it by looking at her!)
That night we had a birthday dinner for my grandma, who turned 81 on Tuesday. This was our first REAL home-cooked meal, because my mom took the day off and made chicken, sausage, 3 types of salad, and deviled eggs, and then brought it all to the celebration room at the nursing home where my grandma lives. It was awesome. (We also left our laundry for her to do during the day while we were with Shan. How much does she rock?!?)
After dinner we stopped by my uncle's house, where Aunt Kay's remaining things are being stored. I got to take some jewelry, linens, and (most important to me) china tea cups. We also got a chance to look at her wedding photo View-Master slides. Seriously... she and Uncle Gord got married in 1955 (I think?) and were cool enough to have their photos put on View-Master reels.
Wednesday we went to see Meagan and Clare and their twins, who have gotten so big!
Then we made a quick stop at Thrive so that Leah could get another conch piercing (to match the one she got there at Christmas), and we were on our way back to the border.
We left on Thursday morning, and everything went fine, except Chicago took forever to get through, and then there were construction backups in Michigan, and so as mentioned, we had to stop. Both of us had really sore necks and I desperately wanted a hot shower before having to drive any more. It must have been the right thing to do, because we were rewarded when we hit the border on Friday morning by being able to drive directly up to the customs/immigration booth... NO waiting, not a single car in front of us. That has never happened to me before.
Friday after arriving we brought lunch to my aunt (who has MS and lives in a nursing home). At night we went to cruise night (a parade of old cars):
Afterwards, we went out for dinner/drinks, and I was reminded ONCE AGAIN that there are members of my extended family that I just shouldn't waste my precious vacation time with. We started off with racist comments about Obama and ended with a big argument about how teachers get so much vacation time and she has a neighbor who is a teacher who apparently hates kids and everyone dislikes this person, and therefore she hates ALL teachers, and none of my pointing out that you really shouldn't write off an entire group of people based on one person is going to change her mind.
Saturday we had lunch with an old friend from elementary/high school who I haven't seen in YEARS, and that was surprisingly comfortable. Then we drove to Toronto and had dinner with my parents - they had left earlier in the day since they had baseball tickets for both Saturday and Sunday. We all stayed at my brother's place even though he was out of town.
Sunday we went to St Lawrence Market to check out the antiques, and then we had an amazing brunch at Hot House. Then we were off to the baseball game... which the Jays won! I also got sunburned on one side of my body and felt pretty stupid.
There were so many people in the crowd constantly yelling at Bobby Abreu. I don't follow baseball so I have no idea if there was a reason, or he was just the only player in earshot from our seats in right field.
Sunday after my parents left, Leah and I relaxed on the patio and had our first semi-home-cooked meal of the trip (carrots & dip and frozen macaroni)... we couldn't bring ourselves to eat out again, but didn't want to make a lot of dishes or mess at Cory's house... plus we were already super tired.
On Monday we did some urban caching. The GPSr doesn't have great reception in the city, but we found 7 out of the 8 we tried. (A lot of them were virtual caches though.)
Next we drove up to York for a quick look around my old university, and so Leah could buy her obligatory hoodie. Then we were off to stay with my friend Cynthia for the night, and we all had dinner with another old friend from York as well. It was much fun and we stayed up late chatting... I have no idea how Cyn got up at 5am for work.
Tuesday we drove back to Cory's place, parked the car, and took the TTC to Kensington Market, where we spent waaaay too much money shopping. That night we went to Caju for dinner, where my brother and Joe announced that they are getting married in 2010! Cory has been thinking about asking him for a while, and had thought about proposing in Paris, but ended up doing it in DC on their vacation this month.
Wednesday we hung out with Shan and the kids, including new baby Noella (who is only 3 months old, but you wouldn't know it by looking at her!)
That night we had a birthday dinner for my grandma, who turned 81 on Tuesday. This was our first REAL home-cooked meal, because my mom took the day off and made chicken, sausage, 3 types of salad, and deviled eggs, and then brought it all to the celebration room at the nursing home where my grandma lives. It was awesome. (We also left our laundry for her to do during the day while we were with Shan. How much does she rock?!?)
After dinner we stopped by my uncle's house, where Aunt Kay's remaining things are being stored. I got to take some jewelry, linens, and (most important to me) china tea cups. We also got a chance to look at her wedding photo View-Master slides. Seriously... she and Uncle Gord got married in 1955 (I think?) and were cool enough to have their photos put on View-Master reels.
Wednesday we went to see Meagan and Clare and their twins, who have gotten so big!
Then we made a quick stop at Thrive so that Leah could get another conch piercing (to match the one she got there at Christmas), and we were on our way back to the border.