Journey To The Next Adventure

 

A little late in posting this.  A retroactive look at our last day(s) in Indiana and our journey to Buffalo NY

Well our time in Indiana has come to an end. Jesse and I spent all of Friday doing laundry, planning our route and packing up the last of our belongings. After all that work we were hungry and decided we should end our time here like we started it, by going to Lafayette Brewing Company. That was the first place we ever had dinner at when we move to Lafayette so it was the last place we had dinner before we left. It was wonderful and our waitress settled a debate for us.

As I mentioned we spent part of Friday planning our route, at first I thought we had decided to go through Canada. But then Jesse started having second thoughts about getting the dog, cat, two cars and a trailer through the border. So instead we planned to go from Lafayette to Pittsburgh, stay the night then go from Pittsburgh to Scranton to Rochester and over to Buffalo. I did not like this idea. I just wanted to get there and I am not a fan of two day car rides. Plus we would have to find a pet friendly hotel since we had the animals. It just didn’t sound fun. It really was a lose lose. We went ahead and booked a hotel in Washington, PA and neither of us was very happy about our choice. So at dinner we asked the waitress and she said to go through Canada, less time in the car, can do it all in one day and all we really needed were our passports and the animals rabies certificates. So it was decided, forget PA we were going to Canada!

With the Jeep totally loaded and our bellies full from LBC we went to bed. Saturday was going to be a long day.

It started with loading up the trailer before the sun came up. We travel with plastic bins so in case of rain we don’t have to worry about things getting wet. Thank goodness they all fit with no issues. We tied down the tarp and I left Jesse to finish up that and clean the bathroom while I went for one last run with the Wabash River Runner’s Club. I didn’t get to run with them as much as I would have liked during the fall since I was stuck at work every weekend so I was happy to see them again. I ran with this girl that I could have run with forever. She had the perfect pace. We ran to Happy Hollow Park and up the cool switchback hill that they have there. It was a little icy and I ended up sliding down part of it on my butt. It was very cold and I was very wet so that sucked but it didn’t hurt at least. Jesse came to Panera a little later and we had some coffee and breakfast with the run group. It was great to hang out a bit.

We went home and loaded my little car with what was left and what would fit as well as getting the cat and dog loaded up. We headed out after handing in the keys with me as the lead car with the directions and Jesse behind me with the trailer. We have CB radio so we can communicate with each other. The drive up to Indiana proved that I needed a better antenna for my radio since Jesse had to pull up to my bumper to hear me on the radio. This new antenna is awesome. I can be much further away with a truck between us and he could still hear me. The best part is that it is not a huge obnoxious one like he wanted to get me.

The drive was very uneventful and boring. There is not much in Northern Indiana or the part of Michigan that we drove through on our way to Port Huron. I was both nervous and excited about driving in Canada. I have never done that before. In all the years I lived in New York I never visited Canada. I did discover that my car has a button that turns the MPH to KM/H so at least I wouldn’t have to worry about a speeding ticket or causing a traffic jam because I was going to slow.

Getting through the border was very easy. Thankfully Jesse did most of the talking since he was now line leader and I just had to show my passport. It was awesome. It made us feel so much better since that was one big hurdle we were very worried about during our trip. The drive through Canada was also uneventful. It was dark and rainy so that was not fun but I followed Jesse and we made our way to the Rainbow Bridge. This was a wonderful idea by a Buffalo friend of Jesse’s and it was the best way to get home. No trucks and no line. The CB radio also came in handy since it works no matter what country you are in at the time.

The border into the US also went well. When Jesse mentioned we were moving to Oneonta the guard said, “You are a US citizen so you don’t have to answer but why in the world are you moving to Oneonta! Jesse told him about my work and before I knew it he was done and all I had to do was mention Oneonta and show my passport and we were back in NYS!

At this time I was glad to be so close to home but I was also done with the car. We did not stop to eat, we only stopped once to pee and twice to get gas since we just wanted to get there. It does make for some cranky drivers towards the end and I may have gotten a bit snippy on the CB when Jesse dragged me onto the 290, a road I despise. It was dark and rainy and way too many people were merging and it sucked. I was happy to finally pull into the driveway at his mom’s house. We unloaded the animals and watered and fed them. Then we finally got to have some home cooked food. It was a great end to what ended up being a perfect trip. I am very glad we braved crossing the border into Canada. Maybe we were just lucky, but it was a really good journey to start the next adventure.

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