2007 Indiana and Canada Tour

Random thoughts on our vacation:

• We like to book hotels with indoor pools because the kids love to swim. I don't care so much about the pool as much as the hot tub/jacuzzi/whirlpool. (Can we please pick one name and go with it? Really.) Ideally, the hot tub needs to be (1) around 105 degrees, (2) nicely aerated, and (3) close to the pool so I can watch the kids rather than feeling guilty about Carol having to watch them while I soak in hot water and bubbles. When the first hotel on your trip has a very good hot tub, it's a bad sign for the rest of the trip. Sure enough, the hot tubs at the rest of the hotels sucked. There's nothing more depressing than sitting in "almost hot" water with minimal bubbles.


• During the first week of our vacation I had my two favorite pizzas in the world. Sausage, pepperoni and mushroom from Greg's Volcano Pizza, and a Spicy Mediterranean (Hot pepper rings, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, topped with herbs and olive oil) from Cottage Inn. The Spicy Med was particularly awesome. Had we stayed in Ann Arbor a second night, we would have gone back.


• We crossed the Canadian/American border four times. Each time the border guards asked us different questions, none of which would have prevented a terrorist from entering the country, unless the terrorist was importing fruit.


• American cash is colorless, boring and sucks. Canada's money kicks our money's butt.


• Unfortunately, at this point in history the values of American and Canadian currencies are almost identical. Canadian cash is worth 98 cents to the American dollar which is just wrong. Made Canada much more expensive. Boo.


• Toronto has a lot of street beggars. A lot. I was approached more times in two days than I am in Washington DC in a month.


• Walking on a glass floor when you're 1100+ feet in the air is creepy. Yes, I know that the floor could take the weight of 14 hippos and I couldn't break the floor with a jackhammer, but it's still creepy.


• This guy, Sir Henry Pellatt, got totally ripped off by Canada. But, to the plus side, they used his house as the setting for Xavier's school in X-Men, so that's something he could be happy about if he weren't dead.


• At Niagara Falls, the Canadian side is much better. Better falls, better hotels, better entertainment, more fun to be had. Sorry, America.


• The one thing that the American side of Niagara Falls has going for it is the Cave of the Winds. Awesome, even though it doesn't feature any sort of cave whatsoever. Walk a wooden deck right up to the base of the Bridal Veil. Only 1 percent of the water over Niagara Falls goes over the Bridal Veil, and it's still unbelievable to experience it so close. Far superior to Canada's Journey Behind the Falls.


• Kids like to whine. A lot.


• The five-bladed Gillette Fusion razor (which I use at home) is FAR superior to the three-bladed Gillette Mach 3 which is in my travel pack. Those extra two blades really make a huge difference. I can't wait for a seven-bladed razor to make the Fusion look like a chump.


• Metric conversion sucks. I wish we had earnestly switched to Metric in the 70's so it would be established in America by now.


• "English as the U.S. official language" advocates would hate Canada. Everything is in English and French.

And that's what I learned on our vacation.