As we said our farewells to those in Wisconsin, we headed south to Chicago to meet up with some friends that use to live in Jacksonville with us. We often had cookouts and get togethers with this couple and we were sad for them to move so far away so we decided to have lunch with them on the way through.
We were to meet at this place that she found on yelp that was semi-close to the interstate and not too far from them. They got there and the address that we put into our GPS had us really far apart (like 100 blocks) and they said that they were afraid to get out of the car where they were as it was not a safe neighborhood. So we started driving to meet each other halfway. That landed us in another bad part of town -- but it didn't look bad from the outside. As we were walking to the Subway, a blue collar man stared at me as he was getting into his truck, I got an uneasy feeling. We went into the subway and the inside had bullet proof glass around where the workers were and you had to put your money in a revolving door and then they would put your sandwich back in there for you. They also had to buzz you into the bathroom. It took me back to my job at the jail when you had to be buzzed into the next section of the jail. Anyhow, our friends walked in, but not before being stopped by the guy that stared at me. He asked them what they were doing in this part of town because they didn't belong there. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck in there. So much so that I could not even order a sub. Everyone ordered their subs and we left to go to a different part of town to eat them.
After we left there, we continued onto my Uncle and Aunt's house in Plymouth MI. Their house is simply AMAZING! They took an old foreclosed farmhouse and remodeled it and didn't stop there -- the old huge chicken coup in the back that had been changed into a shed/garage, they remodeled into a guest house with a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom. It was amazing what they did. I wish I took a photo of their house that walked right out of a page of Better Homes and Gardens!
After leaving there, we headed through Detroit to get to the Ambassador Bridge and into Canada. When stopped at the Customs/Border, we had our documents in the back of the truck because Kurt said we wouldn't need them to cross into Canada (Insert a "See I told you so!" from me!)
So we had to go be inspected. When we got into the parking for inspection, two officials came over and asked us to get our documents out. When they asked how long we would be in Canada, they were suspicious about the amount of stuff we had in our truck for a 2 day trip. Once we explained that we were at the tail end of a 3 week vacation and they inspected documents, we were on the way....
We took rest of the boring 4 hour drive to Toronto. Many many fields of windmills on the way.... Canada is so much cleaner than the US but the crossing official told us that Canada pays the US to ship our trash here....
We got to Toronto, checked into the hotel then headed for the Rogers Centre AKA former Sky Dome. It was a great ball park and we had an awesome time. Even Piper did okay since they had wifi and she could watch Dora
Before the first inning, I opened a soda for the kids and it exploded all over me and Leah.
We went back to the hotel that night, showered and everyone was tucked into bed. At 2:30am, Weston woke up having a super croupy barky cough and I was nervous about how he was breathing. We took him into a hot steamy bathroom to help with it and then went back to bed. I didn't sleep at all that night! I was so worried. We woke up in the morning and he was feeling better but we decided to leave Toronto a day earlier to get back to the US. So we were heading for Niagara Falls and playing that night by ear.
We got to the Falls on the Canadian side and enjoyed walking around and
exploring the area close to the Falls. We chose to do the "behind the
falls" tour. We were also going to go on the Hornblower (The boat that
goes around the bottom of the falls) but the kids saw it from the
viewing deck and they were scared of getting on the boat so we just took
the tour then walked around!
After the tour, we walked towards the resort areas and took a lot of photos on the way.
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| American Side of the Falls |
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| The Canadian/Horse Shoe Shaped Falls |
We were heading to the Rainforest Cafe for Lunch and the kids loved it -- Piper slept through half of it but when she woke up, she was very excited to see all of the animals 'moving'
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| Piper's Souvenir from Rainforest Cafe -- A Monkey Umbrella |
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We left the Falls around 3 and headed for home as we were just 7 hours from home and it was easier than unpacking the car for the night to pack it again. We got to the border at Buffalo and it took 45 minutes of waiting to get through the gate. As we were there and the official was talking to us, he told us to wait for a second as there was an issue with another line. So we waited, then he let us go... Well when we left, all of the lines were open at the same time. We left and took the sharp right (90 degree right turn) to head to the interstate (as did everyone else). The tractor trailers go straight to the interstate. So as we were waiting for a tractor trailer to go first (they have more lug nuts so they win the race in our opinion). There was a car behind us that was not feeling so patient so they tried to go around us. Kept inching forward beside us and CRUNCH -- it took the front end of her car off with the back of the tractor trailer. Guess she shouldn't have been in that big of a hurry because now she had to wait for the police. Yeah lady, that worked out in your favor.
With about 6 more hours, we were home sweet home. Our trip went without incident and finally, we got to sleep in our own beds! So if you have read this far, and its been LONG, I will let you in on a secret-- you are in for a super special treat I have been working on related to surrogacy -- I should be able to post it by Thursday or Friday if that gives you a hint as to what it might be :)
