To the Northern Climes and Back

Wow…we got back last night from our Northern Exposure, and it was pretty cool…but, to be honest, I’m glad to be home (and by home I’m not referring to Ruston, but Maryland). How did it go? Well…actually, it went really well. We’re going to try something different here and I’m going to type my stuff, then groovy is going to type stuff in and around my stuff. It sounds like it might be fun to write things this way…so we’re going to try.

We woke up on Saturday morning and leisurely got ready to drive for 7 hours. How does one leisurely get ready to sit on one’s rear for that long? I walked around a lot and tried not to sit down, heh. I must admit, I am a slow get-ready-er….and not because I’m high-maintenance! I spent several minutes perusing ebay for no apparent reason, for example. :-) Once we left the apartment, we headed west on the road that we were pretty sure (as per the map, anyway) would take us to where we wanted to go. We made it about an hour down the road before I, as the navigator, decided that we missed our turn off the main interstate and were, as a result, headed toward West Virginia and then Kentucky. This, I realize, isn’t that good of a start to a trip that is only supposed to take 7 hours, but hey…we were there for the fun and for the ride. As it turns out, we were going the right way, but I, for one, didn’t realize this till much later.

We stopped for lunch at Burger King and then headed back on the road that would take us North through Pennsylvania. One thing I have to say about driving from Maryland to Ontario is that you need to have lots of spare cash just lying about in the automobile. For our round trip, I would say that we spent a total of around $24 just in tolls for bridges, turnpikes and interstates (yes, there was a toll for driving on the interstate in New York). Anyway, keep that in mind if you ever drive that way. The scenery was lacking, to be perfectly honest. Then again, what did I really expect? I mean…here it is…the middle of March in an area of the country that doesn’t really see the sun for more than a day at a time without snow or rain until mid May (this from someone in New York). So, while the scenery was depressing, it was still nice to be able to just chat and pick on one another (ok, so I did a lot of the picking). We didn’t make any other mistakes in our trip on the way up there which really surprised me, until we actually got to Niagara Falls. Before I get there, I will say that we drove through Pittsburgh, Erie, Buffalo, and every other small town on that route.

So, we finally arrive at Niagara Falls! We crossed through Niagara Falls, NY and over to the Canadian side (the guy at the border crossing was funny and was saying something about Canadian’s not listening to what he was saying (as it turns out, some 16 year old kid had just jumped off the bridge and died when he hit the floating ice that was under the bridge…what a waste)). The scenery on the Canadian side of the Niagara River differs from the American side in that you see different road signs. That’s pretty much the only difference that I noticed, anyway. So, we found our hotel (The Skyline Inn…it’s not as fancy as it sounds…no really, it’s not…) and tried to find a parking spot. The Inn was interesting in that it had a parking garage on ground level UNDER the inn itself. This proved to be a sore subject for me, personally, as I ended up parking some 200 yards away on the 6th floor of a parking garage because we couldn’t find a parking spot. Before I parked, we checked into the room and I dropped off all of the luggage which groovy took to the room as I parked.

I made it back down to the ground floor of the parking structure and was FINALLY able to find our hotel again (I passed this Canadian guy who remarked, “Man…your blood must be thick!”…I was wearing a jacket and shorts with sneakers). When I got into the room, I was taken back by the lack of anything modern (except for the TV and wireless keyboard that was sitting there…alas, they charged for internet access). We got everything settled in anyway, despite the wonderful accommodations, and then decided to go for a walk just to see how far away the falls were and what the area looked like.

Once we walked outside the hotel, we were struck with the realization that the whole area was one large tourist trap. In front of our hotel was the Planet Hollywood, Casino Parking Garage (where I was lucky enough to be able to park on the 6th floor), and several other stores off to the right (these included an amusement park type thing that we didn’t even think of going to…for whatever reason). We walked around as much of this as we could and then made our way down this street toward what we assumed would be the falls (we assumed this because there were tons of people walking about from that general area). We got to the river finally and noticed that there was a dull roar. By dull I mean “much less than you would imagine” and not “a large, or even small, jet taking off”. “Quite honestly, the falls aren’t that spectacular,” I think to myself. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that thought this way. I was a bit disappointed with the Falls at first glance. Since they’re one of the 7 Wonders of the Natural World, I think I was expecting something more….spectacular. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that only half the amount of water flows down in winter vs. summer. Not to mention the mist, which all but obscured half the Falls. Anyway, they had these lights on the Canadian side of the river that shone down upon the falls (on the American side…I’m sure New York charged Canada something along the lines of $2 million annually for the rights to shine big flashlights at their northern shore…heck, they charged us to drive on the interstate!) which did kind of add to the ambiance. While perusing the brochures in the room before going out, I noted that Hershey has a large (7,000 square ft.) store right down the street from the Falls. Tech doesn’t eat chocolate (one of his few faults), but I knew he wouldn’t mind going in. It was a neat store, but most of the candy was the same as what you’d find in an average grocery store. The merchandise was cool, though, and so was the giant Kiss standing outside. Yeah, so we went to the Hershey store and to the Coke place that was located next door, but other than that, we didn’t do much in the way of shopping that day (then again, it was 8pm or later!). We stopped off at Perkins (a Shoney’s knockoff here in the “North”) and had a nice $50C meal. Now, you may ask why it cost us so much for supper. Well, I’ll tell you…I don’t know. But it was that expensive, and all we had was an omelet and pancakes.

The next morning, we woke up and went out to look at the falls during daylight hours. Let me tell you…there is a big difference. Granted, the falls are no louder that they were the night before, but the sight is MUCH better. I mean, you can KINDA see a bit more (the steam that flies up in the air from the force of the water going over the falls pretty much obscures anything that you might want to see…like the water actually going OVER the falls…but it was still much more visually appealing). We walked down the length of the Canadian side of the falls and made our way toward the Horseshoe Falls (the more widely known one of the two (yes, there are two sets of falls)). We got sprayed a bit with the water, but it was all good, I guess. We went inside the building located there (Tourist Trap #3 visit for the trip!) and purchased a ticket to go behind the falls (as it happens, some guy a long time ago dug behind the falls and made it so you can “see” the water going down…this is, of course, so long as you don’t go during the winter. If you DO go during the winter, all you’re going to see is ice. Don’t get me wrong…the ice is nice looking, but I can get the same effect by shoving my head in the freezer ice tray). Supposedly, during peak season, there is a 4-hour wait to go down behind the falls. We, of course, waited all of 4 seconds…so I think we got lucky. Once we got back up the elevator, we went to eat some lunch at this GREAT (note sarcasm dripping from that word and pooling under your chair) little restaurant in that building, and then got our picture taken. Ok, so my timeline is messed up a bit, but those things all happened!

When we left there, we walked back down to the hotel, less than a mile or so, and then decided that we would walk down to the Butterfly Conservatory that we assumed was another mile or so down the road. We were wrong. We got about a mile to a mile and a half down the road when we decided that it was REALLY going to take a while to get there and we walked back to get the car. I am SO glad that we did. I mean, it was a good 8 miles or so to the place, and there is NO way I would have been able to walk back to the hotel after a long walk like that. Anyway, we drove there and toured the place. It’s really pretty interesting. We eventually left there and drove further down the road toward Niagara-on-the-lake which is a pretty smallish town that is completely surrounded by wineries and fruit stands and a bunch of other cool little doo-dad places. We went back to the hotel and ate that evening at Planet Hollywood (another $50+ C meal).

Monday morning, we woke up and drove to Toronto. We stopped along the way and got some groceries in St. Catharine’s, which is located on the QEW from Niagara Falls. It’s interesting when you drive in Canada because they have the population of the city on the road signs for each city as you drive through. The other interesting thing is driving along and having to convert from km/h to m/h on the fly. The only unfortunate thing is that they give you NO warning when a road is going to split (a fact we figured out on the way back to Niagara…stupid QEW!!!). Anyway, we got to Toronto around 11:30 after an hour and a half drive. Toronto has roughly 2.5 million people (as per the sign, anyway) and I can believe it. We walked up Spadina Ave. through the Entertainment District and then on to Chinatown and Kensington. It wasn’t that long of a walk, really, but it seemed to take forever! Not really, but I was VERY tired by the time we got back to Niagara. Anyway, we got to look at a couple shops in Chinatown and a couple places outside Little Italy (truth be told, every place we went into was either a food place or a book store…heheh). We also checked out the Queen’s Quay Terminal (kind of like a small mall) and the SkyDome (where the Toronto Blue Jay’s play) and we walked around the CN tower (1,300+ foot tall tower). We walked so far up Spadina, we actually got to see a couple of the buildings that contain the University of Toronto. Anyway, we ended up leaving Toronto as a whole around 5pm. Let me tell you how bad of an idea this was…it was bad. First of all, we had no clue how to get back on the QEW. We ended up turning on Yonge St (which happens to be the longest street…in the world…) and then, somehow, got lucky and made it back to where we wanted to be. We stopped in St. Catharine’s again on the way back through and had supper at Boston Pizza (yum!).

We woke up Tuesday morning and I, personally, was very sore. My legs hurt! Anyway, we got everything packed back up, all the trinkets and stuff that we bought were loaded in the car and then we went to the Hershey place again to get some soda and some Maple Walnut Fudge (if you were to die eating this stuff…it would be well worth the $6 C price…I promise!). We crossed back into the States and decided that we would go to a bank. I tried to exchange my $20C note for some American dollars, and got just over $15. Yeah, that’s fair. Anyway, we were once again on our way! We saw some signs once we got onto the New York interstate (yes, after you pay a toll), and then decided to go visit one of the wineries that was located just off the main road. Or so we thought. After 20-30 minutes of driving, we finally found the place that we were looking for and, shortly after that, were back on our way to Erie, PA. This trip felt like it was taking forever (as it seems to the reader, I’m sure!) and after a good 9+ hours of driving, we FINALLY got back into Maryland. Last night…I slept like a baby.

The Rumors of my Demise are Greatly Exaggerated

I know it’s been a little while since I last wrote, but I’ve really been busy what with working, traveling all over, cleaning, going through my stuff at the apartment and everything else that I’ve been doing that I can’t seem to think about at this time. So, while I realize that being busy is no real excuse for not writing, it’s the only thing I can come up with. Just to prove how busy I’ve been, I’ll let you in on what all has been going on (please be sure to add in around 40 hours of work each week as well as around that many hours of sleeping).

The weekend before last, after going through all the stuff at my apartment and determining what stuff I wanted to keep and what stuff I didn’t, I loaded up my truck with stuff that I didn’t want and went to Baton Rouge to visit with my family (and to give my sisters all the stuff I didn’t want). When I say the truck was full, I’m not saying that the wheels were close to rupturing or anything of the sort…the cab of the truck was, indeed, almost completely full (I could still see out the windows and stuff), but the back of the truck was all but empty (it contained a steamer truck from 1871 or something that I worked on once upon a time). Anyway, I went to Baton Rouge and spent a fairly relaxing weekend there with my sisters, parents and various other family members. I had coffee with one of my sisters at * insert coffee shop name here that is found on every corner in the world * and both of my sisters, my younger sisters husband and I went to best Buy to look for music. I ended up purchasing one of the Saturday Night Live greatest moments DVD’s that was pretty funny.

I came back home on Sunday, but not before stopping off at groovy’s parents house (they live near Baton Rouge). The visit went well, over all. I mean, nobody threw anything and my life wasn’t threatened (at least, I don’t think it was) and we just talked about current events and family stuff…nothing overly exciting. I was hoping to be able to prove that I was a different person and that the mistakes that I’ve made in the past taught me valuable lessons that did sink in and that I’ve made strides toward becoming the person that I know that I am supposed to be. Honestly, I don’t think I got those points across. After spending 3.5 hours driving home and thinking about it the whole way (and I actually drank a soda which I hadn’t done since May of 2001), I was rather upset and had written the whole experience off as a complete failure. Groovy and I talked after I got home and she assured me that everything went well and that I didn’t fail. That made me feel a little better, and, over time, I’ve decided that she must be right (logic, after all, makes more sense when emotion isn’t involved).

On Wednesday of last week, I went to work with a bad migraine and wasn’t feeling all that chipper. I went to * local catfish place * with my neighbor and a friend of ours for lunch. After getting back to work, my headache got worse and I decided that I probably needed to go home and go to bed, so I did that. I was “watching” The Princess Bride while sleeping, and I woke up not feeling very well. Actually, I was feeling quite queasy. I got to the bathroom and ended up being quite sick. Actually, I was sick pretty much from then till 3:30 the next morning. I finally got to sleep for a bit (from 3:30 – 6) and then called groovy to tell her that she really might want to rethink visiting this weekend. She assured me that she wanted to visit and that I might want to think about going to the doctor so I could start to feel better (at this point, I couldn’t walk around the apartment without being dizzy and feeling ill, added to this the fact that my hear was POUNDING with every beat of my heart). I talked to one of the ladies that I work with and she ended up bringing me some Gatorade that I promptly put in the fridge (I couldn’t think about eating or drinking anything yet). I called the doctor and they told me that I better come see the doctor ASAP. ASAP ended up being an appointment for 11:15 (very soon…hahah). Well…I was laying there on the couch trying to figure out how I was going to drive myself to the doctor’s office when I could barely walk across the room when my neighbor came by to see how I was doing. Apparently, I didn’t look that good and he offered to take me, which I, of course, accepted. So, after showering (an ordeal in itself) and dressing, we went to the doctor’s office at 11:15 only to wait (after filling out paperwork) till 12:10. The whole time I’m sitting there, my head is pounding and I can barely keep my head up. I was pretty bad off. When I got to see the doc, he looked at me for about 3 seconds and then decided that he wanted to see if I had the flu. I told him I didn’t, but he didn’t believe me (if only I would have bet him the cost of the lab tests!). For a flu test, they stick a q-tip to the VERY back of your nose. I’m not talking only an inch in…I mean, they touch the back of your skull with the thing! Anyway, the tests came back negative (of course), and he ended up saying I had a sinus infection (well no wonder! You just jammed a piece of cotton through there!) and prescribed some antibiotics and sent me on my way (I think he wanted to get rid of me because he didn’t know what I had and that scared him). Personally, I think I had food poisoning and I will never eat catfish again in my life (and maybe fries, I haven’t quite decided yet).

Anyway, there I was…it was 2 in the afternoon. Ten hours from then, I was supposed to pick up groovy from the airport, and I could barely walk around my own apartment. I sat down and drank some Gatorade and then took a short nap (the best thing to do when you aren’t sure what to do). When I woke up, my headache was gone, as was the nausea (as it turns out, I was severely dehydrated and needed the vitamins and liquids). I ended up eating about a half a bowl of soup that night and went to get groovy (although I almost fell asleep on the road, and in the airport while waiting) at 11:36pm.

We made it home safely (I didn’t drive…thanks groovy!).

Friday, I woke up feeling better, but still not 100%. I ended up eating some cookies for breakfast (not the best thing, I know) and some juice. We ended up going to my work so that she could meet the oldies that I work with along with some of the students that were interested in meeting her. As it turns out, NONE of the students were there that said they would be (no big loss) and we got to meet a lot of the people that I work with including Dr. Ornery. Four of the faculty went to Ryan’s to eat with groovy and I. I was able to eat half a salad and 3 bites of chicken and some jello, but nothing else. We left there shortly after that and went to this jewelry store called Beehive (http://www.beehivecentral.com/company.asp ) where groovy looked all over at the stuff that they had. Then we went to Follette Pottery (http://www.follettepottery.com/) and hung out there for a while. They have some really interesting things there that you should look at if you’re ever in town (also, Mr. Follette, you can mail my check to the usual address!). Friday evening, we went to the Dawg House with my neighbor and his family, but I wasn’t able to eat really any of my meal and ended up taking it home.

Saturday morning, I woke up starving (it had been, in all effects, Wednesday morning since I had eaten anything that had amounted to anything). We went out to get waffles and I was actually able to eat one along with a glass of OJ and a glass of water. We then went to Wal-Mart to get some things that we needed to fix some cookies that we were going to bring to our friend’s house that evening (as well as some milk to fix some cheesecake that we ended up bringing). I was feeling more like myself at this point and was able to joke around a lot more. We got to Mr. Audio and Mrs. Teacher’s house at 6 and had a great evening there playing with their kids (Pele Jr. and Barbie), as well as watching what very well may be the funniest show that I’ve ever seen (MXC!!!).

Sunday, we cooked waffles for breakfast (yeah, I know…why didn’t we do that the FIRST time?! Look…we didn’t want to, ok?!) and then sat down to start planning our next trip. We were, at one time, going to go to Hershey and then to New York City…but we’ve decided that we aren’t going to do that this time after all. Instead…are you sitting down?…we’re going to go to Niagara Falls and to Toronto! Yeah! Neither one of us have ever been there (heck, I’ve never been to New York state or to Canada either for that matter), and it’s supposed to be REALLY nice this time of year. Well, really nice year round…but with all the ice and snow (it was 14 degrees there this morning!). There are several interesting things there to see and do, but I don’t want to say anything yet…that’ll be for next time!