The Windy City

Hello friends,

     We are in Michigan for the night, sleeping outside a Wal-Mart in Port Huron. It’s actually not bad. The towns nice, there are other people sleeping here and we are so close to the Canadian border I can feel the crisp clean air drifting over to us. Tomorrow, we are returning to Canada for the first time since we left, and to be honest it feels a little odd. Not to say that I don’t miss Canada, it just feels as if we’re starting the trip all over again. The point of this re-entry is to: Visit Oma Ronto (Natalie’s Dad’s mom), buy some parts for the Paj and finally, to breathe a final breath of real fresh air, before we plunge back into the highly-populated depth, that is, The Eastern U.S. of A.

     When we last left you, we were heading into Indiana to visit Natalie’s cousins Jenna and Keith Grubaugh. They live in the surprisingly happenin’ yet old school town of Goshen. And yes, I’m aware that that town description makes me sound like an out of touch columnist writing for a real-estate magazine, but that is how I felt. Back to the point, Natalie and I got to sleep in a real bed for a couple nights, eat indoors and even catch the third period+OT+Shoot-out of the Canucks vs. Blackhawks. I find it unnecessary to mention the outcome of that game. Jenna even made us a Thanksgiving dinner, complete with everything from cranberry sauce to stuffing. There was something very grounding about staying there for a few nights, like a total break from the road.

     Goshen is the type of town where you can find candy shops the sell candy of the nostalgic genre, legit diners that haven’t changed since the 50’s and a pub that had “Women-of-the-Bible” trivia. Jenna and Natalie felt they were sure to win this category of trivia but unfortunately lost due to the fact there were four pastors enjoying a pint one table over, and a whole slough of other Mennonites to boot.

     We also visited THE Notre Dame University. Sadly, Rudy wasn’t there.

Rudy ran down this hall to the field.

      There was also an absolutely incredible Catholic church on campus

      On Wednesday, Natalie and I decided to take a day trip into Chicago. Despite years of warnings given to me from my dad, we still managed to take a wrong turn and end up in the thick of Gary, Indiana. For those of you who don’t know, this very detour happened to my family and I about 16 years prior while driving across Canada. Now, I am certain some of you are thinking, “Gary, that sounds familiar.” This is because it is the hometown of Michael Jackson and the rest of the 5. But trust me when I say you’d be better off crossing this stop off your M.J. history tour. We drove in circles for a while because all the freeway on-ramps were torn out, then when we finally found an open on-ramp, we noticed we were on a totally abandoned freeway. This went on for a couple miles. Super creepy.

     Anywho, we made it to the Windy City® alive and had quite an enjoyable time. Once again I was reminded of Vancouver, except a more colossal version. I wonder what New York will feel like? Millennium Park was straight up awesome; including everything a big city park should have, like a giant chrome bean and a Frank Gerhy structure. (Gary?)

  Nat and I were also told we had to try the infamous Chicago deep-dish pizza, so we did, and it was incredible. Normal pizza will never suffice again.
          

     We did some site seeing and managed to track down an Aritzia. I’m told this is exciting because Aritzia is a Canadian company. We also walked the pier and rode the giant Ferris wheel, which gave us an outstanding sunset view of the city. I regret to say that the Canucks were even in town that night and we didn’t go because apparently it’s difficult to find affordable tickets just floating around the streets in a city you’ve never been in, minutes before the puck drops.
                                       

                                                                   That’s all for now