Oh Canada!

So, I went to Canada last weekend. Here are some of the revelations I had while I was there:
1. I haven't been "out of the country" in four years.
2. Michigan touches Canada - who would have thought?
3. Detroit and Toronto are not actually that far apart.
4. New York and Canada are divided by a river! Crazy!
5. Canadians really do say "eh"
6. I really like geography and borders (you've probably noticed this by now).
7. I've gotten a lot better at long roadtrips.

We had a great weekend. Because of a snowstorm expected to roll in just past midnight on Friday, we had to leave Thursday night and drive until morning. It was quite an adventure. Actually it went really well and there were no problems. Nobody fell asleep while driving... Nobody got sleepy while driving... To be honest, I got extremely CRAZY when I saw the U.S.-Canada border. It was four in the morning but I was bouncing off the walls of the car with excitement. It's a good thing my friends love me otherwise I might still be on the side of the road round about Sarnia, Michigan.

The six of us went to Toronto to visit Nate's family who moved there a few years ago. They live right on Lake Ontario so the view was BEAUTIFUL from the back of the house. Trish and I had a room that looked out on the water and it was pretty great. On Friday (after a catch-up nap) we drove out to Niagra Falls. It was mine and Paul's first time seeing the falls and was it ever impressive. It's hard to wrap your mind around so much water pouring over and down into the river below. It was incredible... and cold with the mist flying up everywhere. On the way there we also stopped by the first bar in Canada (and no, we didn't go inside :). I'd also like to mention that we stopped at a scenic viewpoint during the drive and took a picture ON THE BORDER OF THE U.S. AND CANADA! It was a highlight.

Saturday we explored downtown Toronto including Chinatown and the CN tower. The tower is the largest free-standing building in the world (at least for now). Toronto is a pretty fun, artsy city so it was great to walk around and see the sights. Also a highlight: they have a whole network of underground tunnels so you never have to walk above ground if you don't want to! Incredible.

Sunday we went to church and celebrated Easter with the Askren family. Then we headed back on the road for Chicago. We made a short (un-planned) detour through Detroit, stopped for a little "blow-off-the-steam-from-sitting-in-the-car-for-so-long" time in Trisha's grandma's hometown of Bethany Beach, Michigan, then landed back safely in Wheaton early Monday morning.

It was a great trip. I hope you enjoy the pictures. In the car photo, you'll notice i'm FLIPPING OUT because we're really close to the border. Yes, this picture was taken at 4 am. You know this is true based on Paul's face in the back row... In another picture, You'll notice the ever-exciting border behind us. Yes, that is New York on the right and Canada on the left. Oh hey! Look at us jump at Niagra Falls. The oldest bar is behind us in another shot. Trisha and I posed in front of the beautiful water. And then there's Niagra Falls. And those are the pictures.