Road Pops

OK - I just realized that this is my last night in the USA as tomorrow we cross back over to Canada for a few r & r days with family at Westhawk Lake. Given that the last week (holy crap it has only been 7 days) has seen my sister, dog and me cross through 15 states and cover I don't want to know how many kilometers, there are a few things that have come up along the way:

Sorry Fenway, For the longest time you held the title, but Wrigley knocked you to the #2 slot on my favorite ballparks list. I loved the ivy, the fact that there was no replay screen (made me pay attention) and "Take me out to the Ballgame" is way better than "Sweet Caroline" (and I am a Neil fan btw). Loved how the buildings with a birds eye view had all put up bleacher seats on their roofs too. Even spotted a couple getting married on one rooftop.

OMG I am really here... 

First pitch

Jay Bruce of the Reds hit it.....

.....over this guy's head for a home run and the eventual winning run 

Me sitting close to Bartman territory

The rooftop seats

I wonder whose idea getting married like this was?

Now that a couple of days have gone by I can share this (sort of) BWF. I was walking in downtown Chicago Sunday morning like the geeky tourist I am when a short dude in sunglasses advised me I couldn't keep walking up the street, and would have to take the long way around. As I noticed he has a radio and mic concealed (along with who knows what else) I just said sure. When I went down the street a block over I could see the cross street cleared off and many cars with flashing lights a few hundred meters away. A woman beside me mentioned "Oh - is the President back again?" as we crossed the street so I decided to stop and take a picture with my iphone. Then from almost literally out of nowhere a woman got in front of me and exclaimed "You can't take photos here!" I politely smiled my best I'm from Canada smile and said I didn't know and quickly walked before she asked me to delete. So I don't know for sure who was in the 'hood, but assuming it was secret service I encountered I am going to let you make the educated guess. And no - I don't think it was Oprah.

Pretty boring pic for such drama

If you are ever in the vicinity of Chicago in the summer and need to get away, Warren Dunes State Park looks awesome. Sand, surf, and some cool dunes. We would have liked to just kick off our shoes and chill, but alas we had Jessy.

Collecting some Lake Michigan sand for Chloe's collection 

Wishing I had a sandboard

I have added two items to my list of indulgences I will have at home in the event I ever win the lottery.

Forget the bat mobile - I think I found my dream car

One of the things I love most about traveling is when you happen to luck into finding a notable fixture of the community you are visiting. Such was the case yesterday in Wisconsin, an area known for cheese. We stopped at Ehlenbach's Cheese Chalet, where they have over 160 types of cheese. In talking with a local guy he told us that this was the premier cheese store in Wisconsin, and after tasting the sampler pack that Kathy bought I have to agree.

And finally....We stopped in Alexandria Minnesota today to get gas, and I decided to get the impromptu haircut so I could look presentable for the family (and Heather) tomorrow. Talking with the stylist led to this exchange:

Her: "So what are you doing in Alexandria"?

Me: (pausing for effect cause I can't believe I am able to use this line in its most literal sense)

"Just passing through"

I love traveling.......

Road Trip: The Sequel Begins

It's time for the last lap of the trip. Heather and Chloe are now back in Vancouver getting acclimated to life at home. Somewhat ironically, both of them will shortly be leaving Vancouver for separate mini-trips (Heather to join me in Winnipeg, Chloe going with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins to Wyoming). I think we are all keenly aware that for the past year the longest we have been in one place is 10 days (Bali and Sydney) and that we all will have itchy feet.

While they re-connect with friends and family in Vancouver (and hopefully find a place for us to live since we sold our home prior to the trip), I am back on the road with my sister Kathy as copilot/navigator and my dog Jessy as the precious cargo.

Kathy and her family have done a wonderful job looking after Jessy while we were gone. I admit I did have visions of Jessy flipping me the dog equivalent of the "bird" as payback for being left behind a year ago. Thankfully Kathy was keen to come along for the ride for a couple of weeks so I was pretty sure Jessy would get into the car when it was time to leave Truro and not give me too much crap.

Kathy with Jessy (the white dog) and Taylor (the other dog)

One of the interesting things of coming back is rediscovering all the stuff that was left behind. It's kind of like Christmas. Aside from our car and our dog we also left our camping gear and even our ipad behind in Truro. After reclaiming the car and the ipad from my 16 year old nephew Zach (I had to dig the ipad out of his not very clean nor orderly room), it was time to pack up and hit the road.

Zach with the CRV

The initial leg of the trip was to head south to visit my sister Karen and her husband Craig in Newport Rhode Island. Newport was where we hid out a year ago when Hurricane Irene showed up. Thankfully this visit has had the luxury of way better weather and gave us a great opportunity to explore the island. Sadly for us, one of the things we realized from the 1,200km trip here was that the AC in my SUV seems to be toast and a quick trip to the car doctor informed us there was no quick fix.

So now after a couple of days of fine dining (pork tenderloin last night and....wait for it....LOBSTER tonight), yachting, exploration (we saw the rich 'hood and all the fancy mansions today) and Olympic watching (what will happen to commercial voiceovers when Morgan Freeman is no longer with us?) it is time to move on.

Me in front of the mansion used in the opening sequence of "True Lies"

My sisters Kathy and Karen chilling out

Captain Craig showing us how a pro steers a yacht

The next two days will have us on the highway to Chicago, where we will stop for deep dish pizza, outlet malls, and a trip to Wrigley Field to tick one more item off the bucket list.