A Capitol Update

So we've had breakfast and learned a few things.

Rach and Diane have one room and Gar and myself have the other. I warned Gar that I snore, but he was game. What I didn't warn him about because I didn't know, is that I talk in my sleep. I know I do it if someone rings me or if a Mass. State Trooper starts talking to me while I'm napping in my car, but didn't know I did it unprompted. Apparently I kicked his bed last night, waved and said "hi" and then went back to sleep. Just like all the other times I talk in my sleep, I have no memory of this.

Redi-Whip contains milk.

Volumizing shampoo can double as washing-up liquid. Note that plates, cups and silverware don't change size when this is done.

Diane explained last night that lox are salmon - something I never learned living in Long Island (I'm very slow). This was timely info as I got breakfast at a supermarket and they only had salmon (not lox).

I finally polled an American taxi driver about the election. Amusingly, he'd vote for Hillary.

We also learned Diane doesn't read this blog. However she does think I can do an awesome Irish accent.

Enough learning! Now we're off to be touristy.

A Capitol Destination

We've made it to DC after a bit of a slow start - plus I slept in the car most of the day. No worries, Gar was driving and Rach was keeping him awake.

I've missed a few bits along the way that I thought I should mention (or other people thought I should mention). Oh, and I haven't forgotten any physical items lately. OK, maybe I forgot the US power strip in Toronto, but otherwise...

On that topic my Aunt Maureen shipped my shampoo, honey (I forgot I'd forgotten that) and some manuals (ditto) down to Florida. Which was very sweet. And no Paul, I am not leaving a trail of bread crumbs to find my way back to the start. :^p

Gwen gave us a tour of Detroit (hey, there should be an architecture section in that article! hint!) which is a very beautiful city in spite of its reputation. Plus she did a better job of conveying my reaction to corn on sandwiches and pizza than I ever have. Note to Americans reading this: in the UK and Ireland corn is offered as a topping on sandwiches and pizza. Note to Irish people reading this: that's really weird. Feel free to debate this in the comments.

We met up with Danny (and also Mike and Remy and, uh, some other people (help?)) in Toronto. Thanks to him we got to see an onion volcano and a British pub. Not all at once mind. And I think while waiting for us at one point, Danny and Mike met some interesting local talent but I'm not sure I recall the details...

On the way from Toronto to DC we stopped at a number of places. The full journey was around 550 miles and we went a different way than Google maps suggests. We went via Batavia in NY and Gettysburg in PA on mostly back roads - by this I mean US highways, not this.

We went past my old university for a quick driving tour (why are they already doing construction on the "new" Math/Chem building?). Then we met up with Nicki, Mike and Ian for dinner at Applebees. Not exactly to plan (I had meant to go to Duffs but forgot), but I finally had Buffalo wings in Western NY. My lips recovered a few hours later.

We stayed at a really nice hotel in Williamsport and did laundry until about 4am - hence my napping all day yesterday. We stopped in Gettysburg - which was OK though a bit hokey. Finally we made it to a nifty hotel just a few blocks from the White House and met up with Diane. Today the four of us will be exploring DC - or will be when everyone wakes up!

BTW our trip has been pretty well planned, but we've had hiccups and bumps along the way. Everyone we've met up with or stayed with has been great about being flexible which has been awesome. I hope we haven't been too much of a pain in postage or time off work or showing up at bizarre hours of the night or anything else.

The Keystone State

We've made it to Pennsylvania this evening. We had to make two tries for a hotel this evening - apparently there are things on in PA these days. Along the way we saw Niagara Falls (the Maid of the Mist was closed), Lake Ontario and a quick tour by car of Buffalo and the North and South campus of UB.

I've found a new way to forget things. Instead of forgetting things in rooms, I'm forgetting them on the roof of the car. So far I've left my ipod touch up there (thanks to the US Border Guard who noticed that one) and now I need to see if the donuts I left up there as we got bags out of the car are still there...

Myself and Rach are doing laundry in the lovely Hampton Inns and Gar has fired up the kettle for tea. The more mundane part to road trips.

Chasing the Pope...

After a healthy breakfast of Tim Horton's Donuts (feel the American Spelling!!!) we're off towards Niagara Falls. The Pope is in Washington DC today and in New York the following day, according to the TV, so it looks like we probably won't catch up with him. Tickets to attend the mass were compared to Willy Wonka's Golden tickets, but we've failed to get any... possibly because we've been eating donuts rather than chocolate bars?

Got a eeePC yesterday, after spending a significant amount of time jumping up and down on the glass floor of the CN Tower. Only annoyance is that despite advertising, it came with a 4400mAh battery, rather than the 5200mAh advertised. It was a sealed box though, so I'm not sure what's going on with Asus and their eeePC models.

More posts to follow, from the eeePC, no doubt ;)

DC bound

So we have about two days to go around 500 miles. Easy! We could walk that! OK, maybe not.

We plan on visiting the Falls and go on The Maid of the Mist. From there we'll head to Genesee (to visit a friend of mine) and then down to Gettysburg - or close to it.

Hopefully the large box of Tim Hortons donuts got Gar and Rach energised!

From the top of the CN Tower

For some reason Rach begged off this trip. According to her last text she'd found Vikings selling eeepc's? It wasn't completely clear.

Gar and I paid an extra $50 each for a parachute so we can do a BASE jump. Sadly my camera is out of batteries so we won't have pictures of that.

Entering Canada

We're waiting to get into Canada.

Forget it!

As I pack up my hotel room, it's fun to think of what I've forgotten along the way. There was the American cell phone at Ben's house (but I remembered the charger). The beard trimmer charger in Salina (but remembered the beard trimmer - sadly the cell phone charger won't work as a replacement). Some shampoo at my aunt's house.

Obviously this post is a totem to ward off forgetting something here! Here's hoping!

Oh Canada!

So we're off to the Motor City and Toronto today. Sheila (our GPS) has some funny ideas (south of Lake Erie?) on how to get to Toronto, but we'll figure this out in the afternoon.

Yesterday we wandered (ok, we got lost a lot) around Chicago and hopefully walked off one or two of our dinners!

Added link bonus: a BBC article on an Englishman learning about baseball.

Dinner!

Thanks to Charlie (phone a friend ftw) we escaped the freezing wind and found the Chicago Chop House. I'm still working on this one - blogging is giving me a breather!

Playing in Peoria

We stopped near Peoria for lunch this afternoon. Arby's doesn't have the best food selections but it does have wireless! Plus next door it has a filling station called "Freedom."

Stayed in a Best Western just past the Illinois / Kentucky border. So far it was the worst hotel we've stayed in (but at 12:30 we weren't too picky). The hotel in Salina was the nicest (better than the Triton) and the hotel in Reno was the best value for money - made better by Gar's l33t gambling sk1llz.

We saw the St. Louis Arch last night. It was cool. St. Louis is pronounced wrong just like Kev's first name.