Day 59- Home sweet home

Route: Milton- Toronto- Milton
Distance driven: 264 km

We made it home! Our final trip odometer reading was 14,625 km, with zero traffic infractions or animal collisions. 

We went to the final Blue Jays home game of the year today, Donaldson won it with a walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth!  Needless to say, Jasper went bananas and started chanting "MVP! MVP! MVP!".

Pat's parents, brother, and sisters came to the game, as well as Sara and Sarah, old friends from New College.

Little Jays Fan

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the group at the game

We got back home around 9:30 and Pat had a hockey game at 10:15, then right back to work on Monday morning.  What a trooper!

Finally back at home

This concludes our road trip, feels good to be back home and sleeping in our own beds.  I don't think Jasper realizes he is home yet, he's waiting for us to pack up and move on to the next camp site any day now...

We will try to throw a few photos and stories up once a week or so until Jasper hits the road again (Barbados in November and Finland in December) but the daily updates will be on hold for a while. 

Thanks for following along.

Patrick, Kristin, and Jasper

Day 58- Blue Jays Mania

Route: Milton-Toronto-Milton
Distance driven: 162 km

The main goal for today was to get Jasper back in the Skydome to cheer on his Blue Jays as they close in on the AL East pennant.  We drove up to Grandma Beaton's place in North York, picked her up, then got on the TTC to get down to the game.

Riding the subway down to the game

The dome was open, and it was warmer than forecast, a little too warm for Jasper and Grandma.  They managed to move up to some unoccupied seats a little higher up that were in the shade, so everyone survived the game.  Pat's friend Jordan and his 3 year old daughter Tessa also met us there, as well as Kristin's friend Laura and a bunch of her husband's friends.

Hot sun creeping up on us...

Grandma trying on Jasper's Babybanz sunglasses

The Jays won (barely) in a long 10-8 game.  After the game Kathryn came down and met us at her seats, she was at the game with some other friends.

Kathryn and Jasper after the game

We all piled in the the Cruze and drove back up to the North York Ikea for Swedish meat balls and sticky buns at the cafeteria.  We also picked up a high chair and full body bib (basically a rain coat that you wear while eating) for Jasper to use once he starts getting in to messy solid foods.

Supper at Ikea!

After supper we dropped Grandma off and went over to Dorcas' new house for a visit.  Jasper was very interested in the dogs, and giggled every time they licked his face.

Kisses from the dogs at Aunt Dorcas' house

It was a bit of a long day for everyone.  Grandma, Kristin, and Jasper all put up with the hours spent on public transit and the heat during the game very well, but all were very tired by the end of the day.

Day 57- Jasper's first day at school

Route: Milton
Distance driven: 0 km

Jasper went to school for his first time today when we took him to visit his Grannie's kindergarten class. The kids were pretty excited to see a baby and they swarmed him out on the playground.

Pat and I sat in the principal's office while Mom took Jasper around to meet the other staff . She said that after we left, the kids drew some pictures for Jasper and wondered when he would come back to visit.

Playing in the sandbox with the kindies

When we got back to the house, Great Grannie and Grandpa had arrived to visit. They were excited to see how much Jasper had grown and changed in the last seven weeks.

Playing with Great Grandpa Parr

Jasper was spoiled with attention all day from his grandparents, great grandparents and Uncle Colin.

Concentrate on the toy.

Aunt Katie and Uncle Andrew arrived after work and we all had a big family dinner together. Uncle Andrew even carried Jasper from one place to another without dropping him!

Trying on Aunt Katie's glasses.

Reading with Aunt Katie.

Same face as Uncle Andrew.

Great Grannie and Grandpa read Jasper a bedtime story, but Grandpa kept adding his own variations:

Day 56- Grandparents tour 2.0

Route: Milton- Toronto- Whitby- Milton
Distance driven: 201 km

Today we did the same trip to visit Pat's grandparents that we did at the start of our trip in August.

Grannie had to go to work, but she had a bit of a chance to play with Jasper in the morning before she left.

Playing with Grannie before she went to work.

We waited until after rush hour, then our first stop was to North York to see Great-Grandma Beaton.

With Great Grandma Beaton.

Jasper wants his own walker.

Then we zipped over to Whitby to see the Loves.

Tugging on Great Grandma Love's shirt.

Hanging out with the Loves.

There were plenty of miscelaneous old folks at both locations to give Jasper plenty of attention on our way through the lobbies of each building.  After running the gauntlet of cheek pinches and toe tickles, we managed to get back in the car and accross the city to Milton before afternoon rush hour set in.  Then dinner, then bed time.

Day 55- Back home! (ish)

Route: Skokie, Illinois- Milton, Ontario
Distance driven: 830 km

Another long day of driving today, all the way from Chicago to Milton. Nothing really eventful or interesting, just highway and fast food stops for meals.

In his car tent to keep the sun off.

Even though we're not at our home but it feels like we're home now. It has been a great adventure, but we missed everyone here in Ontario so it will be nice to catch up again. We're going to spend the next few days visiting with family and seeing the Blue Jays play.

With Grannie and Uncle Colin when we arrived in Milton.

Day 54- Chicago

Route: Skokie- Chicago- Skokie
Distance driven: < 30 km

Today we woke up in the Holiday Inn in Skokie and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast. It wasn't busy, and the waitress played with Jasper the whole time we ate. I wasn't sure if she was going to give him back!

Even though we only have a few days left, we had to do laundry today since Jasper barfed on Pat's last shirt this morning and we were out of diapers. While the laundry was in, we went for a swim in the hotel pool. It was a bit too chilly for Jasper.

One of the benefits of staying in the same place for two nights is that we had a bed to take a nap in. I tried to "sleep when the baby sleeps", and get into as comfortable a position as Jasper.

After the nap, we drove to the nearest CTA train station and took the "L" into the city. First stop was a pizza place for some Chicago deep dish pizza. It was a lot of cheese to stomach in one sitting.

Next stop was the 360 observatory on top of the Willis/ Sears Tower, just like they do on Ferris Bueller's day off. We wanted to do the full Ferris tour, but there was no parade today and we didn't have time for the art museum or Chicago Board of Trade. 

We got back on the train to head to boystown to The Chicago Diner. They specialize in vegetarian comfort food like chicken wings made from seitan and vegan milkshakes. The combination of a late lunch of pizza and an early dinner at the diner gave us both tummy aches as we headed to the ball game.

The Chicago Cubs game was our 3rd Major League game of the trip, and Wrigley Field is the 9th park we've been to. It was an exciting game, with the Cubs close to making the playoffs and the pitcher throwing a complete game shutout for his 20th win of the season. Wrigley Field itself was something to see, having been built in 1914. It's much different than the Sky Dome or other parks we've been to.

 

Jasper had fun at the game, and was so excited he insisted on taking a Wrigley Field selfie.

Day 53- Interstate day

Route: Barnesville, MN- Skokie, IL
Distance driven: 984 km

Today was our longest day of driving yet at nearly 1000 km. We made it to our hotel in Chicago at about 10 pm. Tomorrow will be a day off from driving, since we covered so much ground today.

Still working on his selfie skills.

We had lots of pit stops along the way, whenever Jasper would get fussy. There is somewhere to stop at every exit on the interstate, much different than driving in the north. Dinner was a bit of a dud when we stopped at Taco John's.  I thought it might be like Taco de Mar, but it was more like Taco Bell. We'll make up for it with some good vegetarian eats at the Chicago Diner tomorrow.

Like father like son.

Relaxing at a coffee shop.

Day 52- Back to North Dakota

Route: Regina, SK- Barnesville, MN
Distance driven: 859 km

Not much to report today, just a lot of driving through fields in Saskatchewan then North Dakota.

Lunch stop in Estevan, Saskatchewan

Jasper was pretty fussy, so it took both of us to keep him entertained. Pat invented a song/ game where he strums the ukulele and sings list of words in a particular category, like "things in the car". It kept Jasper pacified for a while.

Song and dance in the back seat.

We stopped for dinner in Jamestown, ND, at a place called Pizza Ranch. Pat really enjoyed the all-you-can-eat buffet of pizza, salad, dessert and drinks. It was quite the place.

Dad Edit: They also had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, waffle fries, etc and fruit punch and blue powerade at the drink station!  All for $11 USD per person!  The card in my hand is a list of all 180 locations across the American midwest, we are obvioulsy going to track these down and stop at every opportunity while we are still in the blessed country.  One more note, there was a kiosk selling Christian Rock CDs behind the counter!!!!  We left the restaurant chanting "USA! USA! USA!" and then spent the next 3 hours in agony in the car with crippling digestive issues.

mmmmm... gluttony

It was already dark at 8:00pm, so we kept driving for another couple hours before pulling over at a roadside campground. We're getting pretty good at setting up camp, even in the dark. Tomorrow, on to Chicago!

Dad, when can I eat mozzarella sticks too?

Day 51- Riderville

Route: Maple Creek- Regina
Distance driven: 380 km

This morning we left our tropical campground and finished our drive to Regina, stopping for lunch under the big moose in Moose Jaw.

Our arrival at our Bed and Breakfast in Regina was a bit confusing, since the staff member we met when we got there didn't speak any English. He kept using google translate on his phone to tell us that the house was "inhabited". I couldn't figure out how to tell him that we have a reservation, but eventually he got someone on the phone who could translate for us and we got to check in.

Jasper is 5 months old today, so we took his monthly photo with Fred. He is very squirmy, so it was hard to get a shot without his hands in his mouth or without trying to roll over and grab Fred.

Our main reason for coming to Regina was to check out a CFL game in the city that loves the CFL best. It was a sea of green, and we tried to blend in as much as possible, wearing our few green items of clothing. It was a packed house of over 30 000 fans, and it was a good think we had Jasper's ear protectors. They sure love their football here, there were even little Timbits kids playing at half time. The Roughriders lost to the Ottawa Redblacks, but it was still a cool experience- nothing like an Varsity Blues game!

We decided not to go to Winnipeg, since the human rights museum will be closed on Monday, so tomorrow we head straight for Chicago and we'll see how far we get. 

Day 50 - Drumheller

Route: Drumheller AB to Maple Creek SK

Distance Driven: 348 km

We got up in the morning and went straight to the dinosaur museum in Drumheller.  There were tons of kids there literally shaking with excitement in anticipation of seeing dinosaurs.  Jasper was pretty pumped too.  There were lots of big fossils that were found in Alberta.

The terrifying T. Rex, ferocious king of the lizards!!!!

Jasper relaxing in his bed while we pack up the tent

Dad saving Jasper from a becoming a dinosaur's breakfast

There was a 1km walk outside of the museum to see some examples of the badlands geology that these fossils were found in.  There were ground squirrels running around all over the place.  It was warm enough that Pat got a good sweat going where Jasper was pressed against him, very strange to think that we were walking through snow just 2 days ago in the same province.

The badlands walk at the museum

After the museum we drove over to the other side of town to check out some Hoo Doos.  Then we drove through the prairies until Jasper had a meltdown in the back seat, and pulled over at the first camp site we saw.  According to our GPS device, we are less than 24 hours drive from Kincardine now.  On to Regina tomorrow.

Hoo Doos

Day 49- Calgary(Halfway home!)

Route: Canmore- Drumheller
Distance driven: 228 km

Today we left the mountains behind and headed to Calgary for the day. After a brief stop at Chapters to pick up a book about how to start feeding babies real people food, we headed to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, at the site of the bobsled and ski jump ramps from the 1988 winter Olympics. We were the only people there for about an hour, so we pretty well had the run of the place.

Fun fact: Before he became famous as the voice of Discovery Chanel's "How It's Made", Mark Tewksbury was an Olympic swimmer!

Synchronized gymnastics.  Not pictured: flawless triple sow-cow dismount. 

Tandem shadow boxing against Lennox Lewis 

Close to the finish line on the bobsled/luge/skeleton track

Jasper and Pat also sat in the Jamaican bobsled that was used to shoot the movie Cool Runnings, but the lighting was bad and it didn't turn out.

Canadian 2 man bobsled team for the 2032 winter games

Jasper did a fair bit of crying in the car, but took a break to look happy wearing his yoga pants shortly before puking all over them.

These pants aren't too tight, are they?

We went to an all you can eat Chinese buffer for supper, it was pretty awesome.  Jasper ate so much that he passed out before dessert!  Pat's fortune cookie said "Your baby will stop crying in the car so much and resume sleeping through the night after the next full moon".  Sweet!

Drumheller tomorrow for some epic dinosaur times.

Jasper passed out at the Chinese buffet.  Not pictured: Kristin sleeping on the other side of the table.