Oh, Canada! - The Vacation 2006, Part 1B: What to do in London?

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written about my latest trip to Canada, but for those wondering what the heck happened, here's a recap:

1. After taking the red-eye, I arrive barely awake and not ready for an interrogation.

2. I get through Immigration after dealing with "Emily," the Gestapo-Customs officer who does not understand the oxymoron of "suspicious alertness."

So, as I was relieved to be out of the airport, I thought I was heading to Toronto, but I was wrong...

First, a stop in London - Ontario, that is.

For those that are unfamiliar with the geography in Eastern Canada, London is a city that is halfway between Toronto and Windsor (a city right at the Canadian border across from Detroit - imagine Detroit 60 years ago, and that's what Windsor looks like, An American Time Warp).

My father had arrived before me, and I was going to be spending the bulk of my time with him 'cause I was not only his travel companion on this excursion, but also another driver that would be helping him with drivig duties since we were attending one of this High School Buddy get-togethers (and one of a few people that would be providing transpo in and around Toronto).

Not a person to waste a moment's opportunity, my father decided that it would be nice to have my Aunt and Uncle visit us from Michigan, since we were so close by. The compromise was to drive to London to meet up for brunch, and also, I did not feel like being hassled again so soon by U.S. Customs - I just didn't have the strength for it.

The drive was pretty unspectacular, except for the road signs that were written in both English and French, which meant that whether we liked it or not, we were reading A LOT of instructions on the road. My father takes amusement at reading both sets of signs, much to my bemoanment - he butchers French better than anyone else I know!

We arrive in the sleepy town of London early, and find our meeting place (a hotel restaurant) with only minor difficulty. I say that only because for anyone that has ever driven in Canada, for some strange reason, Canadian road systems are littered with "inner-roads" and backways the force some to enter a place from the back, instead of the front. This makes spotting left turns crucial, and alert driving skills even more imperative. Luckily I didn't drive the first shift, or I wouldn't be sitting here at home writing this all out. Believe you me, 3 hour jet-lag sucks.

Per the usual M.O., my Aunt and Uncle arrive about 2 hours late. My father and I, both fairly hungry in the early 'morn, had already raided the buffet waiting for them, so by the time they got there, we were watching them eat, and enjoying our 15th cup of coffee in the morning (my father would not go into the details of why he had a late night, but perhaps I can coax the story out of him someday).

Although our timings were a bit off, it was nice to see my Aunt and Uncle again. We drove off, leaving them to ride their bikes around London - oh yes, nothing like seeing old people ride off around speeding traffic in Canada, and sadly, I have no pictures of those.

I guess the funniest thing about this leg of the vacation was my introduction of a certain someone to my father: Dane Cook. I had brought along my "Retaliation" CDs of Cook's material, and in a crazy act of father and son bonding, found ourselves both laughing at bits about douche-bag friends, and "nothing fights" involving jelly. Just me, my dad and Dane Cook blaring in the car. It made the drive to Toronto most awesome...

TO BE CONTINUED... ;)