Final Wrap-Up

Total Mileage: 8868 km
Provinces Visited: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario
States Visited: North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana
Great Lakes Seen: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Superior
Tanks of gas: 17
The Route:

Best Golf course views: Cobble Beach in Owen Sound. 

Best golf round (scores): Cloverdale Links in Winchester, ON.

Best Baseball game: Jays vs. Yankees at the Rogers Centre.

 Best Baseball stadium: Cubs vs. Marlins at Wrigley Field.

Memorable wildlife: A rattlesnake and an inquisitive toad

Best views: Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Best tourist stops: Mount Rushmore and Deadwood 

Speeding tickets: ZERO! (as far as we know)
Pairs of sunglasses lost: Two.
Pairs of sunglasses found: Two!
Best hotel: A tie between the Fairmont Winnipeg and the Sutton Place, Chicago
Best restaurants: A tie between the Cobble Beach Golf Course restaurant and Tavern on Rush in Chicago
Best breakfast: Original Pancake House in Chicago

So that's just a quick picture of the trip. We saw so many wonderful things and had so many wonderful moments with family and friends.  It has been a great vacation!

And in the very unlikely case that you wondered, we were only home for about 2 hours when Sarah had a gigantic hairball on the living room carpet.  It's good to be home. :)

Day 21

Starting Point: Lethbridge, AB
Ending Point: HOME
Mileage: 546 KM
Weather: Sunny, yet much cooler
Accommodations: HOME!

Fueled by a very welcome and much-needed two Tim Hortons large double-cream, a muffin, a bagel and two hashbrowns, and Kathleen had ... (just kidding), we headed in a northern direction on Highway 2 from Lethbridge via Calgary and Red Deer. We arrived at home around 1:30 PM, greeted at the door by two furry creatures, and the sound of our neighbour mowing our back lawn (we have great neighbours!) A quick survey of the garden, a light lunch, and the start of the post trip laundry train has begun. Our house has been wonderfully taken care of in our absence, thanks to Kathleen's big brother Patrick and we, and the cats, are grateful to him for it!

Now we are working our way through a very full PVR and contemplating dinner options and suitable wine paring.

Tomorrow we will be posting a summary of the trip, some photos and final thoughts on what was the road trip of all summer road trips.

Thank you for following our journey!

Day 20

Starting Point: Billings, MT
Ending Point: Lethbridge, AB
Mileage: 653 KM
Weather: Sunny and Warm - Thunderstorms rolling into Lethbridge in the evening.
Accommodations: Howard Johnson's

After leaving the Motel 6 in Billings, we made our first attempt to find a good cup of coffee. McDonald's normally provides a quite decent cup, but we were disappointed this time. Neither of us could actually drink it as it was far too strong. We decided to continue on our way though, and promised to find a better cup en route. We made the decision last night that we would skip the longer route via I-90 and I-15 through Butte and Helena, and instead take a two lane highway directly through to Great Falls, taking off about 2 hours of our drive, but unfortunately only viewing the mountains from the west windows of the car. We figured a second trip to Montana will likely happen some day, when we haven't just completed 19 days of traveling already. We soaked in enough great scenery yesterday to last us a while. As it turns out though, the drive through the foot hills and plains to Great Falls was absolutely stunning, so even though the mountains were not on our route, we enjoyed the drive immensely.

One of the nice things about this particular route was the occasional small town to drive through. We made a stop about halfway through the drive to find a restroom, and a second attempt at the coffee. The cashier was upset that she didn't have a fresh pot ready, but there was enough to fill our two mugs, and the price for two cups was $0.75, so how could we go wrong. Well, turns out, the coffee was worse than the first, so we were 0-2 for coffee, and feeling slightly weak from the lack of a good cup of joe.

We made it through Great Falls, and made a third attempt at a good cup of coffee, only to be again disappointed by our findings. Having gone 0-3 for coffee, we gave up, and settled for water for the rest of today's trip.

The rest of the drive was uneventful. A quick stop at the duty free to pick up a couple of cheap tax-free bottles, and then quickly through the border and arriving in Lethbridge just after noon, thanks to an early start, and a quick and easy short cut through Montana. We found a very close local golf course and snuck in a quick 18 holes before dinner. Actually, only 16 holes as we were chased off the course due to a threatening thunderstorm, which turned out to be more bark than bite. Then a comforting meal at Boston Pizza with REAL BEER (sorry USA, but your beer leaves much to be desired), and we are now watching extra innings of the Jays game, and settling in for our last night away from home!

Looking forward to our Tim Hortons' coffee tomorrow morning, and to being home within the next 24 hours!

Day 19

Starting Point: Wall, SD
Ending Point: Billings, MT
Mileage: 849
Weather: Still really hot, got up as high as 38 degrees; however, we have crossed the threshold into mountain climate, meaning the humidity has ceased.
Accommodations: Motel 6


We decided last night that it will likely be a long time before we get to South Dakota again, so we had better do some touristy things in the early part of the day (before the weather got unbearable again) and enjoy the absolutely gorgeous scenery. We took an hour long trip through The Badlands National Park, and we were not disappointed. One gorgeous view after the next, turn after turn. It's nearly impossible to describe, except to say that if you've never been, you really should.


After that we headed west to Rapid City SD; unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to visit the city, which also looked quite beautiful, and instead headed to Mount Rushmore. It was also worth the trip, being both beautiful and impressive. It may not have been the "life changing patriotic experience" the billboards had promised, but a lovely thing to see nonetheless.


We then took an absolutely beautiful drive through the Black Hills Forest on the way to Deadwood SD. Both Kathleen and I became fans of the HBO show by the same name, and so we were excited to see the burial place of Will Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. The town itself is of course much more modern now, but the old main street is more or less preserved in an 1876 kind of way, however, very much for the tourists - still though, it was fun, and worth the trip. The cemetery itself was worth seeing.

Then we began the long part of the journey, for the day. Through the north-east corner of Wyoming, grazing the edge of the Rockies, and in through the south-eastern part of Montana, where we have found our days-end in Billings. Finding a hotel was a tricky one though, as the people working to clean up the latest Exxon spill are using most of the hotel rooms. We did find a cheap room at a clean, but not exactly a Fairmont, Motel 6 in an off-highway district, and feel safe enough to get a good nights sleep, and begin the long haul north tomorrow.

Day 18

Starting Point: La Crosse, WI
Ending Point: Wall, SD
Mileage: 950km (wow!)
Weather: Flippin' hot.  If we wanted fried eggs for breakfast, we could have done them on the dashboard of the car.  The thermometer in our car that measures the outside temperature reached 40C this afternoon. 
Accommodations: Best Western

John and I are pleased to inform you that there will be no corn shortage in the world this year.  We know this because we have seen all of the corn in the world with our own eyes on this trip.  And we know this despite having seen the Corn Palace (the world's only!) in Mitchell, SD, a structure that takes 200,000 bushels of  corn each year to construct.  You have now heard the most interesting thing there is to know about the Corn Palace.

Highlights of the day included a lunch-time stop in Sioux Falls at a picnic area by the falls themselves. Beautiful! And there was ice cream! Woohoo! This history of the falls is very interesting but there is a lot of evidence of failed industry including a flour mill, a prison quarry and a power generator.  In fact, the only industry that seems to have survived is the parks and recreation industry at the falls.  Sioux Falls, The Home of Big Ideas and Broken Dreams. (It's probably not that bad, but first impressions...)

South Dakota loves their billboards, especially those for the famous Wall Drugs, a 1930s family-run drug store that has expanded to a four-block souvenir, kitsch, art, western stuff and dinosaur store. Very amazing and very strange. 

We had planned to go all the way to Rapid City tonight but have changed our minds and are staying in Wall in order to take a detour through the badlands national park first thing tomorrow morning.  We've seen a few hints of what the landscape will look like and we're both excited for tomorrow!  Also on the list is Mount Rushmore and Deadwood.  Bring on the gift shops!

Day 17

Starting Point: Chicago, IL
Ending Point: La Crosse, WI
Mileage: 445 km
Weather: Muggy all day no matter where we were.  Cloudy in Chicago, but clear skies through to La Crosse, where some thunder heads were rolling around.  Currently in La Crosse, it is 29C but feels like 41C.  Tomorrow, it is predicted to feel like 47C.  HOT.
Accommodations: Super 8

We can now cross Wrigley Field off of our bucket lists!  We joined about 40,000 other people at the famous ball park today for a mid-day Cubs vs. Marlins game.  It was exactly as wonderful as I expected it to be.  Very, very wonderful, in other words. The Cubs didn't play very well (final score 11-3 for the Marlins), but that didn't change how much fun we were having!  And we had the added advantage of getting to see Andre Dawson throw out the first pitch and then sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the seventh inning stretch! (We saw George Bell throw out the first pitch at the Jays game; good to see him too!)

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we then got on the train with those same fans, all of us trying to squeeze through the tiny turn-stiles in the wee Addison station, the entrance to which is in a back alley one block away from Wrigley.  We almost witnessed a fist fight over line-jumping!  No end to the displays of local culture! In the end, we made it safely back to the hotel to collect our bags and our car and to hit the road again.

Once we got out of Chicago and through some construction (and some more tolls.... grrr), we finally got back to the kind of highway driving that is relaxing and easy.  We're still on the interstate, but there isn't a lot of traffic and what traffic there is drives properly.  And the second half of today's trip has revealed some beautiful scenery!

A big driving day tomorrow so we're hoping to get an early start.  We'll be able to listen to the final round of the British Open all the way through Minnesota and into South Dakota! Tomorrow is scheduled to be the longest of our driving days, over 1,000 km from start to finish.

One last Chicago story: We had breakfast this morning at the Original Pancake House. John had a Dutch Baby, which is basically a very large pancake shaped like a bowl, and instead of cooked on the griddle, it is baked for 20 minutes.  It had whipped butter, powdered sugar and lemon in it.  DELICIOUS!

Day 16

Starting Point: Toronto, ON
Ending Point: Chicago, IL
Mileage: 852 km (updated as promised!)
Weather: Gorgeous!
Accommodations: The Sutton Place

I would just like to start today's post by reporting that our neighbours in the Royal York were particularly amorous last night, so we didn't get very much sleep.  Seriously, folks.  They were "busy" from 11pm until 5am. That's not normal, right???

Anyhoo...

Today, we packed all of the (non-fatal, non-injurious, non-serious) road-trip "issues" into a single day.  These included two unscheduled detours because we either took the wrong exits from the interstate or because we chose exits that were under major construction.  And there was A LOT of construction.  We also learned that the highway driving is done just a wee bit differently on the interstate than on the highways we're used to driving.  We are used to a system where most people drive in the right lane until there is a need to pass.  On the interstate, it works like this: The right lane is reserved for trucks and people who are stuck behind trucks.  Everybody else crowds into the left lane where they drive really fast and really close to one another. 


Driving into Chicago was an adventure.  We knew that the highway into Chicago was a toll road but we didn't have any idea how much the toll was.  So we were ready for any number of possibilities.  But the toll was only sixty cents.... so anti-climatic! We drove away from the toll booth thinking that this whole system wasn't going to be so bad until we realized that there were multiple toll stops along the route.  The second toll stop charged $1.50.  And then the last, $3.50.  It starts to add up after a while!!


John managed the driving into Chicago like an expert and we made it to our hotel with a minimum of problems. We had a delicious dinner at Tavern on Rush across the street from the hotel and are now getting comfortable in our room for the evening.


Tomorrow, WRIGLEY FIELD.  One of us is realllllllly excited.

Day 15

Starting Point: Ottawa, ON
Ending Point: Toronto, ON
Mileage: 437 km
Weather: Barely a cloud in the sky and perfectly lovely warm temperatures!
Accommodations: Royal York

BASEBALL!! 

With Jim and Peggy in tow, we drove to Toronto this morning with tickets to the Blue Jays - Yankees game in hand!  After lunch at Jack Astor's (delicious, by the way) and a little bit of an afternoon nap, we headed to the Rogers Centre!  And it was a terrific game - lots of scoring, a whole range of interesting plays including a run-scoring balk and of course, most importantly, a Jays win in the end! 

The usual mixture of interesting fan behaviour around us in the stands, but by and large, all good fun and collegiality.  The fans who were having the best time were a very large group of Brazilians sitting way up in the upper deck behind home plate.  They had their flags out and were chanting and singing all through the evening.  They might have been at the wrong game, but they were definitely having a blast!

One other interesting thing of note about Toronto: They are filming an episode of Covert Affairs in the lobby of the Royal York today, starring Peter Gallagher. We saw him with our own eyes!

Otherwise, we've had a great time in the last week with Jim and Peggy and we'll be sad to say goodbye in the morning.  On to Chicago tomorrow!  The beginning of the home stretch!

Day 14

Mileage: 99 km
Weather: Hot and sunny in the morning, with thunder storms and rain in the afternoon and then a return to sunny in the evening!

This morning, we drove to Cloverdale Links golf course in Winchester to play eighteen holes with Eric. For seventeen holes, we had beautiful and sunny weather, though there were clouds in the sky and and storms in the distance.  All three of us were hitting the ball well but John, especially, was playing great golf.  He shot a 38 on the front nine and kept the good consistent play going into the back nine.  In the middle of the fairway on the eighteenth hole, the skies opened up and it RAINED.  To call it a "colossal downpour" would not be an overstatement.  We were soaked.  Erik and I picked up but I knew that John would want to finish his round to see how well he could actually do.  So we waved him on, encouraging him to take his time and finish the round the right way.  And, in the driving rain and wind on the eighteenth green, he broke 80 for the first time in his golfing career.  And he held his hands up high in the rain and said, "I did it!"  You can read more about his round here.

We managed to get in and out of the rain by running from the eighteenth green onto a covered porch by the club house. By then, the thunder and lightning were starting to roll in and we wondered if the course was going to sound the horn to call in the golfers who were still out on the course.  The young lady who had been working the front desk came outside on to a raised porch on the deck and I heard her say something to somebody about plugging their ears.  And then, right above my head, she sounded the air horn.  I just about jumped out of my skin entirely and I'm pretty sure that at least a couple of years have been taken off my life as a result.  Not a fun moment!

One last dinner with the Nicholls tonight before the four of us head off for Toronto -- and the Blue Jays -- tomorrow!

Oh! And now we have a garden gnome!

Day 13

Mileage: 14 km
Weather: Hot and humid, cooling off a little bit in the evening to a perfect party temperature!

We went to Andrew and Jenn's this morning for a delicious breakfast, cooked for us by Amanda and Jessica, consisting of breakfast sandwiches, fresh berries and a nice glass of champagne to toast all of the various anniversaries that happen in July in our family. It was great to get a chance to see the famous Nicholls family gnome collection and we're told that we can expect to be returning to Alberta with a gnome of our own. 

This evening was a big family gathering here at Fielding Court.  We were grateful to get a chance to see Uncle Stanley and Auntie Lani, Uncle Ricky and Auntie Celia, cousin Kerrie, husband Matthew and their two little girls, Keira and Molly, cousin Kevin and his partner, Allison.  Great food, great opportunities to swim, to get caught up and to marvel at how much all of the kids in the family are growing and changing from year to year! We miss all of these people so much during the year!

A round of golf tomorrow and then getting ready for the next phase of our adventure!

Day 12

Mileage: 25 km
Weather: Hot and muggy today, typical Ottawa humidity with intermittent showers and a bit of a thunder storm in the evening

Mom, Dad, Kathleen and I drove to the market in downtown Ottawa today to buy some fresh vegetables and to walk around revisiting some familiar sights! We stopped for lunch at the Heart and Crown, one of about four Irish pubs in a one block radius in the market area. It would be fun to be in the area on St. Patrick's Day sometime!

I got the second of the two new toilets installed this afternoon! And it only took half again as much time as the first one! Woot!

Jenn and Andrew and the girls came for dinner tonight and cooked beautiful cedar-plank salmon on the BBQ with asparagus, potatoes and carrots. And pie!!!

It would be fair to say that we have eaten well this trip!!

Day 11

Mileage: 28 km
Weather:  Sunny and hot and humid, cloudy later, but still hot.

Today was our second full day in Ottawa, and we spent most of the day at the Jackson's. Eric was the best man at our wedding, and John was the same at his. They have recently installed a new backyard pool and so the plan was to spend the day laying beside the pool or in the pool, and enjoying the company of friends. And that's exactly what we did! Their two children, Santina and Luca (Luca is John's Godson) kept us occupied teaching us new words in French, playing I-spy-with-my-little-eye, and showing off their new tricks in the pool.  We had a delicious meal and great conversation!  And we were glad to get a chance to meet Maggie, six pounds of terrier-chihuahua fierceness!

Now the we are back at Fielding Court enjoying a glass of wine with Mom and Dad, and getting ready to retire early - ready to enjoy more of the same tomorrow as the hot and humid weather is expected to climb into the 40s. There is no better way to enjoy a pool side vacation!

Day 10

Mileage: 13 km
Weather: Typical Ottawa weather: sunny and hot!

We had exactly the kind of day today that characterizes VACATION chez Brough: we slept in, we got up, we went swimming, we ate, we drank, we went swimming, there were shenanigans, we ate some more, we drank some more and now we're going to bed.  See?  VACATION!

Let me tell you the story of today's 20 minute new toilet installation.  The Broughs have two toilets to replace and John, Jenn and Peggy decided that this afternoon would be a perfect afternoon to do the first installation.  John was sure that it would only take 20 minutes.  So the three of them disappeared into the house while Jim and Kathleen stayed outside, out of the way. Two hours later, everyone emerged and voila!  A toilet had been installed and an old, mint green toilet had been brought out into the back yard.  While Peggy was cooking supper, the toilet was moved to the deck and a large potted plant was put in the bowl. And then we waited, to see if she would notice.  Unfortunately for Peggy, there was a conflagration of issues right around dinner time, including the "missing" toilet, so she emerged into the backyard with a diatribe that sounded something like this:

"Where's the toilet? I can't find the potato peeler! Those pork tenderloins haven't been on the barbecue for 25 minutes yet! Who turned the pool off?! WHERE'S THE TOILET?!" 

We'll see how long the toilet stays on the deck (or in the yard, or in the neighbour's yard...)

Day 9

Starting Point: Miller Lake, ON
Ending Point: Ottawa, ON
Mileage: 665 km
Weather: Slightly cloudy this morning and then sunny through the afternoon.  And now, we are having a storm!
Accommodations: This is the first of our six nights on Fielding Court in Ottawa

We spent most of today on the road driving from Miller Lake to Ottawa for our stay with John's parents.  We encountered a fair amount of traffic on the way - lots of people heading to their cottages in Muskoka for the weekend - and our share of construction too, but other than that, the drive was uneventful.

We stopped for lunch to visit my Uncle Doug and Aunt Beth, who were at the familial cottage in Lake of Bays.  I don't remember ever being at the cottage before though I'm told that I was when I was very wee.  It was great to see all of the family history around us and we had the additional joy of meeting my cousin Jenny's two little girls, who were friendly and charming.

We arrived in Ottawa in time for supper! Great to start getting caught up with Jim, Peggy, Jennifer, Andrew and the three girls, who are growing faster than can be imagined!

Quotes from dinner:
"Let's see how long I can not say anything... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... How long is a second?"
"I can lick my own armpit... LOOK!"

Day 8

Day three in Miller Lake!
Mileage: 44 km
Weather: Still beautiful and sunny; we've been so lucky!

Today was a quiet day on the Bruce, for the most part! John and I took a little trip into Ferndale to visit the local artist's co-op.  Dad and Leslie were kind enough to give us a gift of our choosing from the co-op, so we chose a beautiful decorative glass plate and bowl.  They will be lovely in our living room!

The big excitement of the day was this morning, when a gentleman pulled into the driveway to ask if he could come to a storytelling performance this evening!  We had been hoping that Dad and Leslie would have a storytelling supper booking while we were here, so we were happy to see him arrive. The gentleman returned this evening for dinner and the concert and John and I were very happy to mingle with him and get to know him while Dad and Leslie served supper and got ready for their performance!  It was a wonderful evening of delicious food, compelling storytelling and many, many laughs!

On the road again tomorrow with an end destination of Ottawa.  A stop along the way in Lake of Bays to see Uncle Doug and Aunt Beth!

Day 7

This is Day 2 of our stay in Miller Lake!
Weather: Rain overnight but sunny and beautiful during the day
Mileage: 157km

The mileage that we put on the car today came from driving down to Owen Sound to play golf at Cobble Beach and then back again.  Of the four courses that we've played so far on our trip, Cobble Beach has been the best.  The course itself is in excellent condition, the customer service is terrific and above all, the breathtaking views of Georgian Bay on almost every hole make for a very pleasant experience, even when fast greens are adding 2 or 3 shots on every hole.

The highlight of the round came on the par 4 11th hole, which had a small rocky creek in front of the green.  The green itself was elevated behind this little ravine and I was positioned just in front of the creek looking at about an 82 yard second shot over the creek and up to the green.  I hit my second shot badly, and it went into the ravine, bounced off a rock straight up into the air and came to rest about 6 inches from the hole.

Easy birdie, right?

Sigh.

I blame John for not giving me the putt and salt was added to the wound when he sunk an 80 ft. putt for birdie on the same hole.

So that will be the story about this round that we tell for a long time to come.

After our round, Dad and Leslie treated us to dinner at the Cobble Beach restaurant, a fine dining establishment with beautiful views of the bay. The food was wonderful, including our first-ever actual amuse-bouche AND (da-dada-DA) the always requisite creme brulee!!!

No snakes today, which was good.

Day 6

Starting Point: Espanola, ON
End Point: Miller Lake, ON
Mileage: 136km
Weather: Started out cloudy this morning, but sunny and warm through the afternoon!
Accommodations: Staying happily for three nights now at Dad and Leslie's home on Brinkman's Road!

As far as road travel goes, today was a not overly taxing at all, with just a short (but stunning!) drive from Espanola to the ferry at South Baymouth and then a very short jaunt after the ferry ride to our final stop of this leg of the trip. The ferry ride from South Baymouth to Tobermory was beautiful, clear and sunny. The ferry was not overly crowded and we found lots of places to sit, both inside and outside, that allowed us to enjoy the beautiful views around us.

We have had a lovely afternoon sitting in the sun in Miller Lake, making the reacquaintance of Crab the dog and Cooper the cat, getting caught up with Dad and Leslie and enjoying the beautiful peace and quiet around us.

The big adventure of today was an encounter that I had with local wildlife in the front yard.  This local wildlife was of the long, slithery and rattle-y variety. I came quite close to stepping on him and he didn't take kindly to that, which caused me to shriek in an unladylike fashion and flee the scene.  Once I had regained my composure, we gathered to take a closer look at him and I did manage to get some good pictures, which I will post here.  One meet-up with a rattlesnake is enough for me for this lifetime; I can tell you that.

Golf tomorrow at Cobble Beach in Owen Sound!

Day 5

Starting Point: Marquette, MI
End Point: Espanola, ON
Mileage: 511km
Weather: Sunny and hot!!
Accommodations: Pinewood Motel

As we left Marquette this morning, everyone was wishing us a Happy 4th of July. We felt a little guilty letting them know that we are on the way back to Canada, and are looking forward to empty highways. The road out of Marquette was lined with lawn chairs, as the parade was set to to start in a few hours. We would have loved to have stayed for the parade and fireworks. To be honest, the fireworks on Lake Superior are probably going to be fantastic.

Forty-five minutes outside of Marquette, we arrive in Christmas Michigan. I've driven through this quaint little suburb of Musing, MI a few times, but have never stopped, I've only just enjoyed the thirty-foot Santa and probably blinked and the town was gone. Today, since it was Kathleen's first trip into Christmas, Michigan, I suggested we stop. We wondered into "Santa's Workshop" to buy a new Christmas ornament to add to our collection: a moose with "Christmas, Michigan" written on it. As we left, over the din of Christmas piano music playing on their in-house speaker system, the elderly lady behind the county wished us both a happy 4th of July, as well as "Merry Christmas".

Through most of the towns in the upper peninsula of Michigan, we witnessed a host of parades being prepared, pick-up trucks all pimped up with the red white and blue, as well as trailer floats, and likely the high school bands and baton twirlers were warming up in the local gymnasiums waiting for the fun. We also imagined the boats floating out in the lake getting the firework barges ready to go for tonight. Unfortunately for us, we are on a schedule and needed to be close to the ferry in South Baymouth Ontario (about four hours east of Sault Ste. Marie) so we had to say goodbye to the USA for the time being (we are going to be there a bit longer on the way home, and are very much looking forward to that).

After a quick stop at the border and giving the right answers to the the usual "Where are you from, How long have you been in the USA, How much did you spend, Do you have tobacco or alcohol" we ventured about 1 KM into the Canadian side of the Sault, stopping as soon as we found a Tim Horton's, and there was much rejoicing.

A very uneventful two and a half hours later, we found a quaint motel in Espanola, which will put us only about an hour and half from the ferry in the morning. The young gentleman at the desk recommended the Espanola Golf Course and County Club, a nine hole course near the paper mill, not without its challenges, so we played a quick nine holes before dinner. Kathleen shot very well, I did not. Dinner in the hotel was the best yet. Escargot and steak, with a decent Niagara house red. We were the youngest people in the restaurant by about fifty years. The dinner was good, and the room is clean and large, which is nice.

Happy July 4th to my American friends. We are sorry we bailed on your party; hopefully next trip we can plan to stay for a small town parade and firework show! Tomorrow, on to the first of the longer stops at Kathleen's Dad's place. Looking forward to spending more than one night in one place!

Day 4

Starting Point: Grand Forks, ND
End Point: Marquette, MI
Mileage: 831 km
Weather: Sunny and hot, all day long!
Accommodations: Ramada

We had a bit of a difficult start today as somebody in our hotel in North Dakota had told all of his friends that our room was the party room.  So we got knocks on our door three times during the night, including at about 4am.  John went to the door at the last knock, yanked it open, and said, "You have the wrong room." And then he slammed the door.  And the young man offered a very kind apology by shouting, "Well f*ck you!" through the door.  So that was nice.

A big drive today through Minnesota, Wisconsin and into Michigan.  If you can imagine John and I driving through the Midwest, singing along with the 80's station on our satellite radio at the top of our lungs, that's a pretty accurate picture of our day.  Many thanks to Jack and Diane, and Tommy and Gina, for the 80s classics!

Highlights of the day include visiting Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in Bemidji, passing what must have been the world's largest representation of the 10 commandments and passing through Grand Rapids, birth place of Judy Garland!  We have taken note that all of the banks in this part of the world look like funeral homes...

This evening, we went out in Marquette looking for a place to eat and we found a pub that served fantastic wings and terrible nachos.  Unfortunately, after supper, we wandered down by the docks and found a kind of Taste of Marquette festival going on, which would have been nice to know before we'd stopped at the afore-mentioned pub!

On to Espanola tomorrow!

Day 3

Starting Point: Winnipeg, MB
End Point: Grand Forks, ND
Mileage: 248 km
Weather: Sunny, sunny, sunny... barely a cloud in the sky!
Accommodations: Guesthouse International

Quote of the day: "You can add avocado to your subway here???  I LOVE America! 

A pretty quick drive today, relatively speaking, and then a fantastic round of golf at The King's Walk, an Arnold Palmer course in Grand Forks.  The pace of play was wonderful (done in under 4 hours), we got to play alone and we both played better than yesterday, though the scores may not have reflected it.  We came back to the hotel after our round and had a nice swim in the pool, which was very refreshing after the long afternoon in the hot sun.  One of the reasons we chose this hotel is that we got a great deal - called a Stay'n'Play - that included both the hotel stay and the golf for only $90/person.  Woot!

On the wildlife front, not a whole lot new to report, other than a whole lot of animals on the side of the road that John told me are just sleeping.  Phew!

We had a nice meet-up for drinks tonight with a choral conducting colleague from the University of North Dakota.  A wonderful opportunity to talk choral nerdery and maybe the beginnings of some future collaboration!

A long driving day tomorrow! Where can we get Tim Horton's around here?