Hey Puppy

Indiana Day 8 – Our final day! A shady character, fun, sun, goodbyes, a big purple friend, and a feast

Paul — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:00:57 +0000

Anyone still around? WELL, good! I didn’t update our last day yet because I’ve been back to work and didn’t have a whole lot of time. But enough about work, let’s talk about our last day of our vacation!

We woke up around 9am, it was time to check out of our hotel after a week of being in Elkhart. Today was our last day! ! We were both happy that the reunion the night before was a success! However I was a bit groggy from all that coffee from the night before.

If I remember correctly (it is all kind of a caffeine-induced blur) Heather had pretty much passed out after we had returned back to the hotel from the reunion, however because of the 10 shots of espresso or so that I had, I had spent a few hours bouncing off the walls and gibbering like…well, like a gibbon actually! I also completely packed my suitcase and finished reading a book I had brought with me and I think I may have also crocheted a quilt.

Too much coffee can have weird effects, it may explain why I had a dream that night where my arms turned into huge catepillars. You know, sometimes I think I share too much about myself on this hah hah.

The worst part about ending a trip is packing suitcases, so it was great that I had already done it the night before. So that morning all I really did was watch Heather pack while I made sure to give Heather words of encouragement such as, “You should put your socks there on the side! HURRAY! Now the shirt, WAY TO GO! HIGH FIVE!”

We finally checked out of the hotel and started driving to Heather’s grandma’s house, but as we pulled out onto the street we saw a really suspicious looking character on the side of the road.

Doesn't something look suspicious about this guy?? I don't think I trust him.

We arrived at the house to find it pretty full already! There was a lot of leftovers from the night before so everyone who was still in town was gonna stop by for lunch. I went downstairs to the basement to watch ping pong being played and to have a nice discussion with one of Uncle Paul’s sons, Titus.

"So in my dream, these small catepillars somehow got inside my body and layed eggs and then my arms turned into catepillars!" I said.

"CATEPILLAR ARMS? GLAAaaAaAAARG!!"

Heather found one of our wedding favors in the basement! Coooool. But she was kinda bummed that the chocolate dipped macadamia nut cookies weren't still inside (she completely finished the other cookies stashed in the basement freezer.)

We decided to go outside to play some baseball as it was a beautiful day. Philip was at bat and he's a natural and totally cranked it pretty much out of the ballpark.

Unfortunately another errant hit caused the ball to go into the bushes which was filled with poison oak. We figured maybe we should abandon the ball instead of poking around for it. Also, Titus and Matthias are actually practicing some of the tap moves they learned from Uncle Mark at the reunion.

As the threat of poison oak killed our baseball game, off we went to the next sport.

Hoops! Here I am showing my infamous hook shot. It's infamous because it sucks.

I think Heather got tired of watching the basketball game so she took some photos of her cousins who were at the playground nearby. That's Englebert (Owen) on the left, Henrietta (Olivia) in the middle, and Penelope (Morgan) on the right. The names in parenthesis are their actual names, I had to ask my wife Heidi since I'm horrible at remembering names.

I like this photo cause you got the slide and in the background you can see Uncle Tim watching the kids spin themselves silly on the merry-go-round

I don’t know about you, but being out in the sun with a bunch of kids playing baseball and basketball can be pretty tiring!

So I snuck away and headed back into the cool basement to play some more ping pong.

OHHH baby, lunch is almost ready!!!

Lunchtime!!!!

Heather posing as the food procession goes by. Heather has chipmunk cheeks because she was chomping down on some grub when I snapped this photo.

Good thing there's enough people to eat all these wonderful leftovers, otherwise Heather's grandma would have fried chicken and pulled pork for 6 months

Heather's mom realized it was a perfect time to make a skype video call to Heather's brother and his family up in England. Everyone gathered around to say hi. Isn't technology from the internets outstanding?

Mira, Chris, Kian, Danielle, and Kai up in England. HELLOOOOO!!!

HELLOOOOO!!!

The tradition is to take a photo of the three of them together in the backyard. Three generations right there folks, three generations! That's like more than two!

One by one the families left until we were almost the last ones. It was time to go because we had another long drive ahead of us back to Chicago.

Too soon it was time to say goodbye. Charles is saying goodbye to Maryann because she's going to stay up until the end of June.

Heather says bye to grandma

Goodbye!! See you later!!!

Because I was driving, I didn’t get on the freeway and instead veered off towards another direction. “Where are you going!??” asked Heather.

OH YEAH, Culvers baby!! AND LOOK AT THE FLAVOR TODAY! Butter Pecan Chicken Dinner?? That's a weird flavor

We couldn't possibly leave without one last snack now, could we??

Even the little tyke in the back seat got his very own chocolate shake for the long ride ahead.

It’s a good thing we made that side trip, because who did we see on the side of the road?? YOU’LL NEVER GUESS!! It was Heather’s most favorite purple furry blob in the entire world, Grimace!

We asked for just a photo with Grimace only, but the Hamburglar had to steal a place in the photo and jumped into it. And I really don't trust the fact that I can't see what he's doing with his hands back there behind Heather!!

We drove all the way to Chicago without any stops and made it to our hotel. The Hyatt Regency which was cool in a 70’s retro sort of way, but was still really nice, especially the rooms.

Check out this chandelier at the hotel?? It was MASSIVE. I want to get one of those for our house.

We were pretty tired so we decided to rest up for an hour or two and then grab some dinner. There’s a certain Greek restaurant in Chicago called Greek Islands that we’ve been to 4 times previously. Twice just Heather and I. Once with my parents on a trip back from Spain and we had an overnight layover in Chicago (yes I dragged my parents through 40 minutes of subway and taxi even though we were all exhausted just so we could go to Greek food). And once with Heather’s mom when we were in Chicago on another trip. So there was only one other parent we had not taken to Greek Islands. Heather’s dad! What a perfect opportunity!

At 9pm on a Sunday night, there luckily wasn’t much traffic so it only took us 20 minutes to drive to the restaurant.

Greek Islands! OPA!

"I'm ready to eat some food, are you ready??"

"Yeah!! Let's do this!!"

We ordered this entire meal thing that included appetizers, salad, main entrees, AND dessert.

First up, the appetizers! The fire is FLAMING CHEESE, that's right, FLAMING CHEESE. It's a Greek dish called Saganaki. Cheese is delicious, but if you haven't tried FLAMING CHEESE, you're missing out!

There's eggplant on the left, similar to baba ganoush, gyros meat on the top, and to the right all brown and shiny with a lemon wedge is the flaming cheese. Not shown in the picture is tzatziki which is a sauce made of yogurt, garlic, and cucumbers. They were all soooooooo goood.

The main dishes soon followed. On the left is Moussaka (sort of like a Greek lasagna), on the top is Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), on the top right is Spanakopita (layers of spinach and cheese in phyllo dough), at the bottom right is potatoes, at the bottom is rice, and the middle is lamb. If you're thinking, "Wow that's a lot of food for three people, especially after those large appetizers", well, you'd be right.

"We need a game plan if we're going to finish all of this. I need your help Charles."

"I'll eat ALL of that" I say.

"Well I can definitely eat all of that!" says Charles

"And Heather will eat the rest!" I say

We ended up making a full plate EACH similar to Heather's plate from all the food there was. After eating our entrees, there was no way possible we could eat anymore, the idea of any more food after this would be truly disgusting.

But then dessert arrived. Baklava (nuts and honey in phyllo dough) and a custard filled pastry. And coffee too. They need a defibrillator to be included with this meal.

That was our last meal! After that it was back to the hotel to go to sleep cause we had a flight to catch in the morning.

Heather in the hotel elevator, so ahead of the times in this 70's hotel with her 80's jacket.

We didn’t take any more photos for the rest of the trip as we were so busy getting to the airport, returning the car, and then catching the LOOOOOONG 8 hour plane ride directly to Hawaii. But actually it wasn’t a bad flight and in no time at all….

We were back in sunny Oahu. Here's me walking to the curb where my mom was gonna pick us up. We love travelling but there's something special about having to go to Hawaii to END your vacation.

We got to our house and found our yard an overgrown mess but otherwise everything was fine.

We did see a family of chickens though who had taken up residence in our yard. Who feels like chicken tonight?? Like chicken tonight??

Thanks for sharing another trip with us!! Who knows where our next trip may be?? It has been a lot of hard work and FUN writing this trip journal as a way for us to remember our trips but I hope you also enjoyed reading it as well. From Heather and I, we wish all of you the best and I hope if you get ANYTHING out of this blog, it is a desire to go and do some travelling yourself!!

Love and Aloha,

Paul and Heather

Indiana Day 7: The Reunion!

Heather — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:35:33 +0000

The big day finally arrived! Paul and I awoke starving and knew our vacation breakfasts were now limited so we opted not to have the same old hotel waffles and went back to The Daily Grind where we previously had lunch. This place has easily become our favorite place in Elkhart for grabbing coffee and quick great meals, but this would be a first for having breakfast there. We were not disappointed!

Paul sowing his wild oven-baked oats with a bagel on the side. He was never an oatmeal kinda guy before, but somehow this breakfast had a profound impact on him. Now all he ever talks about is baked oatmeal. Baked oatmeal this, baked oatmeal that... a conversation with him now is really quite captivating. Truly.

I ordered a bleu cheese and mushroom quiche with a blueberry muffin on the side. Plus I'm wearing blue. No this was not planned! Come on, color-coordinating with your food, that's ridiculous!!

After breakfast we headed over to my grandma’s house to start helping prepare for the big party, but when we got there, no one was home!!! We decided to just take a walk around the neighborhood to wait.

Here we are walking around the neighborhood, drinking coffee, waiting for the peeps to come home (sorry I couldn't think of a better caption for this one!)

Uncle Tim and his wife Penny drive on by while on our walk. Here Uncle Tim is telling Paul how funny he thought his "Funication at the Fountain" photo was in his recent blog post. I'm not so sure Penny appreciated it as much! But thanks for reading our blog, Uncle Tim & Penny! You're probably our biggest fans!

We made a full circle around the block and when we got back we saw that everyone had returned.

The walk around my grandma's neighborhood is always pleasant. Everyone has big yards and they keep them up nicely. That's the new red gangster mobile out in front.

Turns out, everyone had gone to pay respects to my grandpa at his grave that morning. Doh! Were we supposed to be there too??? OOPS. Sorry Grandpa! But if it helps, I always think of you every time I come to Indiana. You are surely missed!

The rest of the afternoon involved getting ready for the reunion which was to be held in the evening.

You may think they're in serious thought about the party plans, but in actuality they're quite captivated by Paul's PowerPoint presentation of the glories of baked oatmeal.

OH! Umm... hey! It looks like Uncle Mark color-coordinated with the cookie. That's... uhh, a brilliant idea!

Meanwhile Dad fires up the grill for his famous teriyaki skewers, they're legendary in this family.

Flashback some thirty years ago at another big reunion right here in my grandma’s backyard, my dad made teriyaki skewers during the party and he couldn’t keep up with the demand! People were grabbing them as soon as they came off the grill. Would they be as popular this time around? WE SHALL SEE.

Paul's saying "Excellent! But let me tell you about a little something I like to call 'baked oatmeal'..."

We were ahead of schedule and had some time to spare. Paul relaxes and catches up on the latest Woman's Day magazine. Judging from his expression, it appears that he discovered a great recipe for a certain baked breakfast cereal. And my my, look at those shapely gams!

Dad finished barbecuing and Grandma approved!

And finally it was time! We all headed over to the party location to get the place ready.

Uncle Mark and cousin Philip get the decorations ready. "Family Tree" was the theme of the reunion, so real topiary trees were a fitting centerpiece.

Dad fires up the charcoal grill to give the pre-cooked skewers a quick and final heating.

And cute kids everywhere have fun around the park.

My cousin Micah and his nephew Josiah (yes, his nephew!)

Meanwhile, Paul helps Penny organize the food table. "Put the food there!" says Penny. "Yes maam!" says Paul. His official title on my mom's Job Assignment list was gopher. As a side note, Paul says gopher yourself.

Believe it or not, my cousins set up a full espresso bar! Paul is in coffee heaven with unlimited no holds barred all you can drink bottomless cup of caffeine, it's his best dream come true.

This is my best dream come true. Look at the variety! All homemade of course. The two apple pies on the end are my grandma's.

Meanwhile my cousin Charity helps put the centerpieces on.

And Dad finishes up the teriyaki skewers with Uncle Bob hovering.

When my mom rented out the venue for the reunion, she had to put down $300 as a deposit for any damage done OR if anyone broke the strict ”no alcohol outside of the building” rule. She was adamant about letting everyone know they can’t bring alcohol outside and even posted signs up at all of the doors saying “NO ALCOHOL OUTSIDE!!!” Well, we all obeyed the rule, MOSTLY…

Paul's $300 infraction!!! Luckily he didn't get caught by the authorities. My mom is gonna have a cow when she sees this picture!

On the inside, the centerpieces are on the tables and everything's going as planned. Mom is happy!

Another shot of espresso. Paul is spastastically happy!

People start arriving and the food table is fit for a king.

Mom starts the evening with greetings and introductions and re-emphasizes the rules... "AND IF I CATCH ANY OF YOU WITH ALCOHOL OUTSIDE, YOU'RE IN FOR A GOOD SMACKIN!"

Finally, it’s time for the most important part of the entire event. DINNER TIME!

Paul and Penny unload a cooler full of piping hot fried chicken.

And the people start digging in! Look at all of those teriyaki skewers.

People were smart, they made sure to grab dessert at the same time as serving their dinner. In this family, desserts do not last very long!

Between snapping photos I finally had time to make myself a plate. I was lucky enough to grab a couple of Dad's teriyaki skewers... THEY WERE AWESOME!!!

After dinner I was so stuffed that I barely had room for dessert, so I just grabbed a few small morsels to nibble on.

And dessert was accompanied by a cappuccino for me and ANOTHER shot of espresso for Paul.

After dinner, we had entertainment!

Uncle Paul's youngest sons demonstrated an African stick dance which they learned during the 8 years they lived in Africa.

My dad sang a moving song he wrote himself, "Kaanapali" one of my favorites.

My cousin Matthias played us a tune.

My cousin Andrew played a funny gesture game with brave volunteers.

Uncle Mark taught the kids a tap dance lesson.

And Paul sneaked into the kitchen to snort up the leftover coffee grounds.

After the entertainment my mom talked more about our family tree and our heritage which she had been researching for months. She also gave away a children’s book about the oldest American family farm, I think we’re descendants of the family (sorry I wasn’t paying full attention at the time, I was wholly preoccupied by my dessert plate.)

Morgan shows off her prize, Tuttle's Red Barn

In addition, my mom passed around this shocking x-ray of when my grandmother swallowed an open safety pin as a child!

Ouch! I don't know how they got it out, I'm sure my mom explained everything but well, I was still a bit preoccupied...

And finally the reunion ends with group pictures.

The entire group minus Paul who was the one to take the photo, so sorry Paul... we forgot to bring the tripod.

Grandma with her children.

Grandma with her grandchildren and great grandchildren (minus a few that could not be here including my brother and his family.)

The largest clan of the family. Uncle Paul & Aunt Teresa with ten of their twelve children and three of their six (soon to be seven)grandchildren. Two of their older sons could not be here.

And that was the end of the big family party! It was time to put the food away and clean the place up.

Nothing says the party's over like a lonesome skewer of teriyaki! (that is a great quote all on its own, someone please put that on my grave's epitaph.) I'm sure a lot of people wanted to eat it but were just too polite to take the last one.

The Wonder Dad finished the clean-up with a quick mopping. Finally everything was done and it was time to go!

And lastly, I CAN’T have a blog post without a doggie!! In the parking lot on the way out a boy was riding his bike in circles with a cute little dog running close behind.

It felt like he had been hanging around the parking lot all evening long hoping to join the party or at least sample the last teriyaki skewer. I just smiled at him, took pictures of his dog, and told him to get his own darned family!!!

And that’s it from me! I’ll leave it to Paul to wrap up this edition of our travel blog with our last day spent in Indiana where we said our goodbyes, met my most favorite purple fast food mascot (how many are there?) and had our last belly-stuffing hurrah! HURRAH!

Indiana Day 6: A side trip to Chicago, and more family!!

Paul — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:35:38 +0000

Today we decided to spend the day in Chicago which is a couple of hours away. So we woke up bright and early at 8am and headed out. Heather graciously offered to drive the way there!

Just filling up some gas. I figure since Heather is driving I could at least clean the windows.

We decided to change our rental car since we were going to be in Chicago anyway. Our existing rental was for a week and we’d have to pay BIG money to keep it until Monday (which is what we wanted to do), so I went ahead a booked a new reservation. It would be nice to switch our car from a gangster hearse car to something more normal that didn’t stand out so much.

I asked the rental agency if they had anything that wasn’t a PT Cruiser and they were happy to oblige….. However it didn’t quite work out as well as I had hoped.

After we got our wheels, we wanted to go eat! We had read a lot about this place in Chicago called M. Henry, so we figured it was worth trying out.

Behold the new bright red gangster hearse! It isn't a PT Cruiser, but it is a Chevy HHR. Apparently that's all they rent in intermediate sizes, OH WELL.

M. Henry, where all your food dreams can come true

Heather is so excited at the prospect of coffee, fresh orange juice,and food!

Our drinks arrived. I think it is impossible to not feel great in this place!

Heather found the one person in the whole restaurant who wasn't that happy. haha

I got an open faced Santa Fe sandwich. It had wilted spinach, goat cheese, tomatillo salsa, red bell peppers, and chicken on it. As you can see from the photo, the plating on this food was very appetizing and the food was great!

Heather ordered a vegetarian sandwich that had goat cheese, avocados, and a whole lotta stuff in it. It was beautiful and incredible.

After our great breakfast/lunch, we drove further into Chicago. We had originally planned to go to the aquarium, but the day was so beautiful we decided to spend it outdoors which turned out to be a great idea!

They had a beautiful fountain that reminded us of our time in Rome.

Look how nice the sky is!! and the skyline! And the flowers!! And look at the clouds!!

They even had some nice gardens with purple flowers blooming

Doesn't she look beautiful??

More purple flowers!!

There was a lot of interestingly dressed people out and about today. From the casual to the super fancy. She ALMOST made the fashion mistake list for being too overdressed. What do you think??

If Heather and I start looking alike and dressing alike as this couple is, can someone please shoot us repeatedly? This is a total couple fashion mistake. Collectively they're a walking fashion mistake.

They have this cool kidney shaped bean mirror sculpture thingy that is really fun! People naturally congregate to it and everyone is taking wacky photos and there's all kinds of interesting things to see. Take this photo for instance, you got people on the far right doing weird poses with their arms and legs up, you got the yoga group on the center-right, the 3 people in the lower center having a nice serious discussion, us further back , and the two red-shirted kids with one of them with his leg being squashed.

There really were a lot of fancy dressed people

They have a tunnel going through the kidney bean and from inside, everything is all distorted and weird looking. We're at the very center of the photo if you can find us. We took the photo upwards.

I had to put this photo up. We have a friend, let's call him "Myles", he once went spelunking with us in California and you're supposed to wear kind of junk clothes because they get pretty much destroyed in the mud. However "Myles" must have thought that by junk, they meant "most ridiculous clown-looking pants imaginable" so that's what he brought. His pants were 5 times more clown-ridiculous than this lady, but even so, this lady deserves a fashion mistake award. I really gotta search my old photos if I can find a photo of Myles wearing the infamous clown pants, for now, enjoy this ridiculous photo.

They have a big outdoor theatre too with a lattice roof over there. All of this stuff is in Millennium Park I think.

Just a mom and her bimbo son walking by

Heather was so happy to notice a woman wearing a POPCORN shirt! Just like the ones they were selling at the flea market in Shipshewana. You know, now that we actually see it on someone, it really doesn't look that b...ahh who am I kidding

As big time traffic would start in Chicago once the evening commute started, we figured we should try and get out of the city as early as possible. But we couldn’t resist a drive down Michigan avenue.

I always liked the painting American Gothic and they had huge real-life replica of it!

We’ve been to Chicago several times now over the years, and one of our favorite places to go and get a coffee or a sandwich is right below the John Hancock observatory. As luck would have it, we found parking within a block of it!! I think it was some higher power’s way of telling us we had to go and get a snack, even though neither of us were THAT hungry.

Here's Heather in front of the cafe

Since we both were coffee’ed out and we were both full, we decided to just get a snack.

Gelato!!!

We were so happy to be able to have a snack at this restaurant and we still had a few minutes left on our meter so we went across the street to a church for some photos.

I like these old looking Churches with the ivy/plants growing on the side of the walls

I captured this bird having a good time in the fountain

One last photo as we cross the street to head to our car and leave the city back to Elkhart. 2 hours more of driving, hurray!

The drive was pretty easy except for a little bit of traffic getting out of Chicago. I think we missed the worst of it though!

We arrived back to Heather’s grandma house to find a full house! A lot of Heather’s grandma’s children and grandchildren had arrived and were visiting.

Heather's grandma and her 5 children! From the far left: Tim, Paul, Bob, Maryann (Heather's mom), grandma, and Mark

ALRIGHT! Leftover pizza! (yes we were already hungry after the 2 hour drive so we had a few pieces)

I'm not a big root beer fan, but Heather loves it! Especially in a root beer float! This is home made root beer one of Heather's uncles bought. There's gallons of it!

Heather's uncle Paul and his wife Teresa brought 6 of their 12(!) children along with them that night. Heather's dad decided to hang out with them for awhile. First it was darts and ping pong.

Then it was around the merry go round

and around and around and around

Now I know where Heather inherited her "get really sick while on the merry go round" ability haha. I think Paul's kids were smart to keep their distance just in case he got really sick!

Tomorrow is the big reunion! So we called it an early night, but not after doing a few last minute checks.

I'm just shaking the cole slaw and making sure it has enough salt.

Heather stole another cookie from the freezer just to make sure they were still delicious. YUP, still delicious!

See you tomorrow!!!

Indiana Day 5: Eats and Errands!

Paul — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:16:59 +0000

Day 5 was a pretty busy day! We’re getting ready for the big reunion so had several preparations to make. We woke up extra late though, around 10:30am. I guess all that lack of sleep caught up to us.

We knew it was going to be busy so we figured we might as well load up on a good lunch!

We decided to have lunch at Charlie's which is a local Elkhart butcher/deli that has great sandwiches and food.

Once again, the difficult choice of deciding what to eat. I wonder how much weight I've put on during this trip?

We ended up splitting two things. One was a deli sampler which had 3 kinds of salads in it: pea salad, mozzarella and tomato salad, and lemon dill green beans. All three salads were excellent! I especially liked the pea salad as it was crunchy, sweet, and creamy all at the same time.

The other thing we split was an Italian Panini. I don't know all the stuff it had inside, but it was meatrageously great!

After lunch, we had to go to the grocery store to special order bread rolls for the party. And we had to get some ingredients for the cole slaw that we were making. Well, we were buying the ingredients for the cole slaw but her grandma is going to make it. While at the grocery store, we ran into Heather’s parents! SMALL WORLD!

Heather's mom and dad decided to get some food to eat themselves. Her mom got sushi and her dad got a piece of fried chicken.

Heather decided to try the sushi just to see how it would be. She said it was "okay" as far as grocery sushi goes.

Meanwhile, Heather's dad for some reason decided to take the ginger that was left and smother it in wasabi so he could eat it. Yes, just ginger and wasabi together. "Don't worry, I do this all the time" is what his expression is saying

Stage One: OHHHHHH !@#!$!!@#, what have I done??

Stage 2: (quiet sobbing)

Stage 3: Hallunications of the rapture

Thinking we were still in Shipshewana, I visit the display of cheese hoping for free samples. DARNIT!

We had found out during lunch that the menu for tonight was hamburgers, so I wanted to make some guacamole to go along with it. I figured if I was going to make guacamole, I needed to find ripe avocados. Heather was patient enough to go along with me to a total of 4 different places until I found a place that had ripe ones. While in the parking lot we spied a couple of funny things.

I originally thought this was a stuffed fake dog but it was real, and totally ridiculous. How can anyone walk this kind of dog without getting teased?

As we were looking at this dog, we heard an incessant beeping coming from another car. It sounded like someone was REALLY impatient. They’d beep for a few times in a row, then beep a really long one, then beep several times again, and then a really long one.

It was when we saw who was beeping that we both busted out laughing.

Yes, it was this dog left by himself in the car that was beeping the horn. He would beep the horn and then start howling along with his beeps. If only we had a video camera!!

Look at this face that only a mother could love

Another place that we stopped by while looking for avocados is a place that we visit whenever we’re in Elkhart.

Bullard's is known for their fresh corn, but it isn't corn season so instead I just bought some fresh strawberries. They didn't have ripe avocados though..

While driving we saw this sculpture. Normally I see an eagle and go, "Whoa, eagle, awesome!" But somehow, the one wing outstreched and one pointing downwards doesn't work so well. And by the way, this is someone's lawn ornament.

We also passed by Lowes.

Check out the size of this Lowe's! It's like miniature.

In comparison, check out the size of MeNARDS!!! Arrrr, MENARDS is HUGE in elkhart.

We got back to Heather's grandma's house to see Heather's mom proudly showing off the grill she assembled. We decided to shoot a photo to commemorate the occasion as she Vanna White posed in front of it.

Heather's Grandma's Aunt Phyllis came to visit. Yes, I got that right, Phyllis is the aunt of Heather's grandma, but age-wise, she's 3 months younger. There really is a simple explanation for this, it involves a Delorean car and being able to produce 1.21 Gigawatts!!!

Heather's dad was busy weeding the garden. Some vacation yeah Charles?? haha sucker

I guess I shouldn't have laughed at Heather's dad having to work, because before I knew it, I had to start chopping onions. (Heather's editor's note: haha sucker)

The onions were being used for the 5 pounds of cole slaw we were making for the reunion on Saturday

He weeds, he cooks, he sings, he paints, what else can he do??

Here's the guacamole I made!

I don't know about you but it does appear that the angel is praying that all the food comes out good.

We all gathered in the outdoor patio to eat as it was the nicest day yet in terms of weather

All the food was a great success!! It was delicious!!! Best homemade burger ever!

It isn't a complete meal here in Indiana apparently unless there is dessert. Dessert was baked by Heather's mom -- shortcake covered in fresh strawberries and a scoop of ice cream. MMMmMmMmmm

That was day 5! Stay tuned for tomorrow because we’re headed to Chicago for the day! I’ll explain why then.

Indiana Day 4: Amish Country, Gluttony Galore, and The Playground

Heather — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:31:06 +0000

Hi everyone! I thought I’d give Paul a break today and write about one of our busiest days yet here in Indiana. We woke up early (8 am!) had a quick waffle and jumped into the gangster mobile to head out to Amish country. First stop, Shipshewana! We always go to “Shipshe” whenever we come to Elkhart. It’s a little town that features a lot of Amish attractions from shops to restaurants to historic museums. It’s a fun place to soak up Amish culture.

Luckily we went on Flea Market day. You can always find great things here at the Flea Market.

Paul thinks that they should have named this Whack-a-Mole

Lovely home decor, like this giant moss covered wicker basket

For a belated birthday gift, Paul said I could pick anything out at the Flea Market and he'd buy it for me... ANYTHING. I was just about to pick out one of these precious cuties when something beautiful and exquisite suddenly caught my attention from the corner of my eye...

I found it!!! This is what I want.

You can also buy some really elegant apparel here, like this classy yet versatile "popcorn" shirt

Paul looking marvelous in fashionable eyewear ($5 each!!)

After we finished with the flea market, we decided to visit some of the other things Shipshe had to offer… like the free sampling of Amish foods!

Cheese sampling at Yoder's Red Barn, a huge store for fine Amish goods and treats

The signs say only one sample of each item per person. But I took that as a "suggested" sample ration. I ate a ton of everything and I had no bad side-effects!

We must be the worst customers ever, becasue after eating a couple of pounds of samples, the last thing we want to do is buy more food to eat.

We then headed off to another Amish market area (there are several big barn-like buildings with a lot of different shops inside) in search for a snack (we didn’t consider the samples as a snack because samples are not snacks no matter how many you eat!) We ran into Jo Jo’s Pretzel shop that Paul remembered serving incredible pretzels the last time we were here. They’re freshly made and piping hot when you get your order.

Hot, chewy and soft and served with mustard. Best pretzel we've ever had!

We spent some time wandering around the neighborhoods that featured little Amish stores and bakeries down each lane while taking in the lovely Amish aromas.

All of the main shopping areas have a section for the Amish to park their horse-drawn carriages.

Shipshewana is always a fun place to visit! If we ever moved to Indiana, Paul and I are going to open up a Middle-Eastern restaurant right here in Shipshewana and call it “Shipshawarma.” *cymbal crash*

After we finished with Shipshewana, we headed out in search for something that Paul has been dreaming about for years, the elusive fresh blueberry pie.

Let’s go back in the time machine:

The first time Paul came to Indiana several years back, it was later in the summer and smack dab in the middle of blueberry season. Driving back from Shipshe we stumbled across a bakery that was operated right out of an Amish house on a random country road. We stopped and that’s where Paul had his first taste of Amish fresh blueberry pie, and he has been dreaming of it ever since. Sadly, the next time he was here a couple of years ago, it was too early in the season and when we visited the same bakery we had to settle for apple pie (still good but not as awesome as blueberry pie.)

Back to the present!

Would we be lucky this time around??? We had to find out! We searched for the hidden bakery and luckily found it pretty easily!

This is the place! Far into Amish country and easy to pass up if you're not in the know of the great things this place has to offer.

The huge Amish kitchen with their daily offerings

BUT DO THEY HAVE FRESH BLUEBERRY PIE??? Paul was dying of the anticipation, he was antsy and foaming at the mouth and very close to having an anxiety attack. We quickly looked at the pies listed on the board.

NOOooooOOOOoooOOOOO!!!!

Our hearts sank, but that’s okay. Again, it is much too early for blueberry season to be in full swing, it just can’t be helped. But the Amish man tending the bakery was so nice and friendly that we couldn’t leave without buying a little something. We decided on fresh strawberry pie, a blueberry turnover, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. When the man learned we were visiting from Hawaii, he threw in a loaf of bread for free! We left happy and ready for more Amish country exploring. If you’re ever in the neighborhood or you found this post through a google search, go as fast as you can to Country Lane Bakery, they’re fantastic!!

Up next???

THE CHEESE FACTORY!!!

This is another place we always visit whenever we’re in Amish country. It’s similar to the previous cheese/meat sampling shop we went to earlier, but at this place you get to watch them make the cheese right in the store!

A vat of cheese curds, I'd give anything to go swimming in there.... naked.

More sampling of the cheeses. They make a ton of different varieties. Paul and I tasted all of them, repeatedly.

After our cheese fill, we continued on with our exploration. We happened across ANOTHER Amish bakery and we just had to stop (I think Paul was still hopeful for finding the fresh blueberry pie.)

This place was loaded with great stuff!!! But no blueberry pie, so sorry Paul. However, we couldn't leave empty handed! Don't be absurd...

We opted for a fresh raspberry pie!

We then decided to start heading on back to Elkhart. The drive is always nice in the countryside with huge open farmlands, barns, Amish houses, and lots of animals.

I've learned on this trip that I'm challenged in my animal identification abilities. I mistook a field of sheep for a field of beagles, a spotted goat for a baby horse, and a hairy catepillar for a piece of chocolate. Anyway I think this is a horse (?) but I'm not ruling anything else out.

On our drive we couldn't stand it anymore and succumbed to our desires. We pulled over on the side of the road and chowed down on that fine blueberry turnover we bought earlier. It was good, but not fresh blueberry pie good.

At that point we realized we had been snacking all day long and never really had a square meal. But we didn’t want to ruin our appetite as my Uncle Bob was cooking dinner at my grandma’s house that evening, so we were on the hunt for a small yet tasty Amish meal that we could share just to tie us over. Something with seasoned meat and a yummy creamy garlic sauce wrapped up nicely in a warm piece of flat bread would be perfect… but where??? We then remember a restaurant that we had been to several times before that had the perfect solution for these type of predicaments…. the heavenly gyro!!

It's the perfect food! Paul is glowing with happiness and garlicky effervescence.

After our small lunch we did a little more driving and decided to stop by a large grassy field.

At this point Paul passed out from gluttony and napped near a nice flower garden. I've heard of people eating so much that they loosen the top button of their pants, but I've never heard of someone eating so much that they lose a shoe.

After he felt refreshed, we headed straight to another big market on the outskirts of Elkhart. This one was similar to the ones we visited earlier that day with lots of country knick-knacks and Amish goods.

Paul and I posing for another cutesy couple photo, awwww!

After we browsed for a bit we decided we were done with our Amish adventure and headed on home as it was nearing dinner time. When we got there dinner wasn’t quite ready yet so we walked over to the big park directly across the street. There’s a playground there that we always played on when we were kids (no not Paul and I, my BROTHER and I silly!)

Paul passes out again

This merry-go-round must have been here for thirty years at least. Every single time I get on it, I get sick to my stomach and am nauseated for hours. I must not learn my lessons very well, because I attempt it every time I'm here and the results are always the same. I'm still a little nauseated at the time of this writing.

After the park I snapped some pictures around my grandma’s house for sharing.

Here's my dad napping in the enclosed patio

The front of the house with the gangster mobile

The backyard with my grandma's garden and the barn shed, you can see the huge park that's just across the street.

Here's the back of the house, the enclosed patio is on the left.

Finally it was dinner time! We were starving as we hardly had anything to eat all day.

Uncle Bob made a salmon loaf. It was good!

Are you ready for the perfect ending to our perfect Indiana day?? YOU GOT IT!!

Paul serves up BOTH pies that we got in Amish country today! Take a good look at my mom's excitement, THIS is where I get my dessert obsession from.

I really liked both pies both but I think the consensus was that the fresh strawberry pie from Country Lane Bakery was the big winner

WAIT!! That wasn’t all we bought for dessert… can’t forget these babies:

Amish chocolate chip cookies from Country Lane Bakery, very soft and delicious

Okay, finally my belly is full, which can only mean one thing. IT’S TIME TO GO TO SLEEP! I can’t wait to find out what we’re going to eat tomorrow! Be sure to check out the rest of our photos on Flickr if you’re interested (slideshow mode is best to see bigger photo sizes.) Byeee!

Indiana Day 3: Getting Culverized, a whole lotta driving, a shy cow, the smiling goose, and food food food

Paul — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:36:39 +0000

Day 3 started with a quick breakfast at the hotel and then off to Heather’s grandma’s house to find out what the scoops were for the day. One of Heather’s uncles would be arriving around lunchtime, so in the meantime we helped her mom print some family tree stuff on Heather’s Great Aunt Doe’s printer at her house.

Heather's mom was making printouts for the reunion so in the meantime I was finishing up Kill Bill with this lovely country garden view. SPLAT - "That really was a Hatori Hanso sword!"

Heather was busy outside snapping photos of the garden, almost everyone here has a nicely landscaped yard.

The purple flowers are covered with the recent rain, like a black shirt is covered by pet hair from a light colored dog or cat. HURRAY FOR METAPHORS!

Printing complete, it was time for some serious business.

YES! Time for lunch at Culver's! We were meeting the rest of Heather's family here. Her Uncle Bob just arrived from Colorado and it was his birthday so we figured, what better day to go to Culver's!

Chocolate Shake, YEAHHHH!!

From left to right - Heather, her grandma, her mom, her dad, and her uncle Bob.

Our food has arrived! I can't quite figure out the expression on that girl's face. Anger? Confusion? Flattered?

Behold the Culver basket - Butterburger and french fries. This was Heather's order. To Danielle, my sister-in-law, don't worry, we ate this on your behalf. MUAHAHA.

I wussed out and got a chicken sandwich and a salad, but it was actually really good! But before you think I totally wussed out, I did get the choclate shake for an appetizer!! Hmmm..I never knew I poured salad dressing so daintilly

After the Culver’s gorging, Heather and I headed off into gray day in our hearse. We wanted to go exploring a bit and see some of the sites on the outskirts of Elkhart.

They have all these county roads criss-crossing the various towns, but you gotta pay attention cause occasionally you'll see an Amish buggy. Don't worry we'll have better photos tomorrow!

And now, prepare yourself for the second best photo of the day. Those who know me know that it is probably a photo of some kind of animal. Am I truly that predictable?

She's so shyyyyy, she's so shyyyyy, that sweet little cow who caught my eyeeeeee

Yes, she was udderly breathtaking. It was discowscerting how pretty she was. I cowdn’t dairyly take my eyes off of her. It behooves you to keep this photo. Okay I think I milked it for all it is worth. Teats!

Driving around these little roads makes you realize how freakin’ huge the US is. It is road after road of greenery, farmland, cows, horses, and just a vastness that you don’t really get to experience in Oahu except in a few areas for a short time.

Here is just one of many red barns, sitting in a big field of green like an enormous red frog in the middle of a lily pad. YES, ANOTHER METAPHOR!

We stopped at Amish Acres in Nappanee, it is like a polynesian cultural center in Hawaii, but instead of polynesian stuff, it has Amish things. We just wanted to check it out but didn't do any special tours or anything.

They had a store inside that was full of country knick-knacks made by Amish people. Heather apparently is some sort of Amish scholar because as I wrote this, she said in a professor-like voice, "Did you know that traditional amish dolls do not have faces?" Apparently it has something to do with their religion and not showing a human face on any object. Interesting, this blog is both educational AND uhh.. yeah.

I mentioned and earlier showed the SECOND best photo of the day. Well up next is the BEST photo of the day, and no, it doesn’t inovlve any animals or anything cute, that would be farrrr too predictable and I like to keep people guessing.

Outside we were lucky enough to see this goose and her brood. Doesn't she look proud and happy??

After the magnificence that was the goose and her little goslings, we figured it was time for some coffee and if we were extremely lucky, a delicious scooby snack.

We stopped off at Main Street Coffee house in Nappanee for an AWESOME blueberry muffin and INCREDIBLE coffee. It was really great!

MMmmMmMMMMMMM

Thinking deep thoughts. "I wonder if I can find a blueberry pie tomorrow?"

They had this funny sign at the coffee shop. If I had a kid I'd definitely let him run around unattended so I could get the free coffee. I could always put the puppy to sleep. HAH I kid I kid, I would just drop him off at my parent's doorstep in a bassinet.

As it was almost 5pm, we decided to drive back to Heather’s grandma’s house to see what was going on. And by “what was going on”, we of course meant finding out, “what’s for dinner?”

We arrived and Heather casually worked in the subject of dinner into the conversation.

“Hi Mom! ” she said as she entered the door. “What’s for dinner?”

Her mom said “we’re having leftover spaghetti.” Now don’t get me wrong, the spaghetti that Heather’s dad made was awesome, however when we’re on vacation, every meal is a chance to try something new, a journey to be discovered, an adventure to be had! But we knew that we should probably stay with them for dinner as we were out all day.

I asked Heather if she could help me take a few things out of the car so we headed outside, at which point we both ran to the car, jumped into the gangster-mobile, and we peeled out as I gunned the engine.

We figured with our newfound freedom, we should go somewhere gangster worthy. Like a roadhouse bar or some sort of grimey truck stop type of place.

Dinner was at a place in Middleberry called Culinary Treasures. It looks like a converted country house!

This appetizer was awesome! It had brie, covered in caramel sauce, and then with two types of apples. It was so indulgent and flavorful, more like a dessert than an appetizer (which is okay by us!!)

My dish was a portabella mushroom sandwich with an olive tapenade and feta cheese with a side salad. The sandwich was served on "pretzel bread" and was incredible. The feta and tapenade added a nice brineyness to the sandwich that I really enjoyed.

Heather got a salad with granny smith apples and candied walnuts. The salad was beautiful to behold and delicious with a mango dressing. The only complaint with the salad was that some of the greens inside were getting a bit old and slimy and should have been thrown out. Too bad, as otherwise this would have been a winner dish. In addition, Heather accidentally dipped the sleeve of her sweater into the salad dressing container and it soaked up half the dressing like a thirsty sponge. She smelled like mango dressing the rest of the night.

This is happy me because I have a perfect sandwich

After dinner, we decided to stop by a wine store and pick up some limoncello as a peace offering for our uncouth behaviour earlier when we so quickly fled the leftover spaghetti dinner scene. Heather’s mom had previously mentioned that she had tried a sip of limoncello and really liked it.

Limoncello is an Italian liqueur that is sweet and has a nice taste of lemons. It is 32% alcohol though, 64 proof, which was a bit strong for Heather's mom. But I think her Grandma loved it! Actually I think it was too strong for everyone except the three lushes in the family - Heather, myself, and Heather's dad.

Heather snuck yet another cookie from the freezer downstairs, much to the chagrin of her mom. Heather's mom thinks that these cookies are supposed to last until the reunion, but I highly doubt that they will make it that long.

It’s a wrap!

We’re off early to Amish country!

Paul — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:04:00 +0000

No post for Day 3 yet but we’ll post both 3 and 4 later today! I’ll be thinking of all my friends and family as I hopefully achieve my quest for the holy grail – that is, an incredible blueberry pie!!

Indiana Day 2: Free Breakfast, Health Snacks, Mutant Bloobs, a Fountain of Innocent Fun, Custard’s Last Stand, Spaghetti, and Books!

Paul — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:39:35 +0000

I woke up early so I could take a short jog on the treadmill. Thunder was booming outside, we were in for a rainy day apparently!

I got back to the room and Heather got up and it was time for us to head out. But first…

They have free breakfast at our hotel! SCORE!! They also have a waffle iron so you can make your own waffles. Or if you're a super duper guy, you can make your wife's waffles.

Heather admiring her waffle

After breakfast, we stopped by the house to see what was going on. We had to do some laundry so went into the basement and then suddenly Heather got a weird look on her face and immediately went to the freezer.

Everyone has a special super-power, Heather's super power is finding desserts. These cookies were hidden in the basement freezer. They don't even know that we took a whole bag yet, hah suckers!

Another great thing about the basement is the ping pong table!!! Heather and I are planning a fierce match later.

Our job today was pretty simple, we needed to buy some food for the upcoming reunion. We bought what we needed and then decided to get a healthy snack at the salad bar.

It was a Health Food Extravaganza, Elkhart style. Fried Chicken and Cole Slaw, yeeeehaw! Wait yeehaw is more texas isn't it? What do they yell in Elkhart? In any case, the cole slaw was "meh". The fried chicken was great though!!

By the poised forks and vulturistic expressions, you can tell they take their fried chicken pretty seriously here in Elkhart.

I promised you a picture of our gangster hearse mobile, here it is. The effect would be cooler if I didn't have my mother-in-law and grandma-in-law in the back seat. But just so you know, Heather's mom had a shiv in her purse and her grandma was packing a glock.

We dropped them off and then headed out to go exploring on our own. We had bought some blueberries from the store so had them for snacks.

This was not photoshopped and no, Heather does not have unnaturally small hands or anything, these blueberries were massive! If they had measurements, these bloobs would be size DD.

A drive down Main Street Elkhart

We decided to stop by this nice coffee shop for second lunch (it was actually first lunch, you can't count cole slaw and fried chicken as a full meal, that was just a snack Elkhart style).

Heather got a zesty tomato soup and half a club sandwich and I got a split pea soup with half a sandwich. They were both very good! If you're ever in Elkhart, stop at the Daily Grind, it is great cofee and good eating!

Okay single guys out there. Here's some advice. If you're trying to impress a girl and it is one of your early dates, don't take her to some fancy restaurant that is trendy with snuffy food. No sirree, you should be different and laugh at convention, you should take her to a musical... like HATS!

"Based on the women of the Red Hats Society, this fun-filled, fast-paced, high steppin', musical will make you realize that reaching 50 is just a state of mind." I don't know about you, but this seems MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARVELOUS!! Can you imagine how impressed your date would be??

Back in the car we went off to do some explorin’ and high steppin’ of our own.

As we drove past some houses, we spied this nice fountain outside. Ohh it looks like a girl dazing into a bird bath, how precious!!!

WHHHHHHHAT?! Uhhhhh.. Hmm...Will you uhh..Look at that. I guess he must be helping her up to look in the fountain. Hmm.. They're just having a fun ol' time aren't they, probably on summer vacation. I know! I'm going to call this photo Funication at the Fountain!

After the drive through the suburbs the sun broke through the clouds and it started to become a really nice day. We decided to do something outdoorsy.

Every time I've been to Elkhart (this is the third time), we visit Bonneyville Mill. It is a nice little place to stop by and when Heather and I were first dating, we have a photo of us in front where there seems to be a ghost in the picture as well. This story would be a lot better if I actually had that photo to post. haha

They have nice flowers and a small herb garden at the Mill

We take a photo similar to this every time we're here hoping for more ghost appearances. None were seen today, too bad.

Just Heather posing near the commemorative Big Crop Fertilizer sign.

This is me trying out some Russian Sage from the herb garden. I realized I suck at recognizing herbs, I used to think I was pretty good at it. It is a lot easier when the herbs are actually labelled and you can pretend you know everything. Incidentally, I do that at zoos to Heather's utmost delight. We walk up to a cage and I ask Heather (while secretly already have read the sign,) "Is that some sort of White Footed Magaradang Marmaset? What the hey... IT IS!" And how the heck did I end up talking about zoo monkeys from this photo? I have no idea.

Just a nice photo of us in front of a creek at Bonneyville Mill. This is a really great place to go for photos, just mind where you step because there is duck doodoo everywhere! But I think they were ghost ducks because we didn't see a single one there.

I have no idea how Heather can allow disgusting gross moving catepillars on her hands

Bleahhh these guys give me the willies. I just hate the way they move, they move so unnatural. Look at that gross hair all over its body, this is an abomination of nature.

After a bit more driving through the nice countryside and farmlands we ended up in the city of Goshen and we saw a place that we always try and visit when we’re here.

As we only had two hours before dinner, we decided to just PRETEND we're going to Ritters Frozen Custard. So we took a photo of this sign. We knew we shouldn't eat anything because otherwise Heather might get in trouble for spoiling her appetite just 2 small hours before dinner.

For authenticity purposes, I bought a double scoop of chocolate and butter almond frozen custard in a waffle cone, stuck a spoon in it, and then took this photo after which I threw it away. I didn't eat it, no sirree.

Heather wanted to pretend she was eating chocolate frozen custard too, so she pretended she ate the whole thing and that it was delicious!

Meanwhile, back at Heather's grandma's house, Heather's dad Charles was making enough spaghetti to feed an army.

Meanwhile Heather's grandma was drinking up every last drop of alcohol that was in the house

Luckily we had hidden a bottle of red wine where she couldn't find it. Here Heather's mom is saying, "this whole bottle isn't just for you, just ONE glass."

For some reason, Heather's mom was fascinated by this huge loaf of bread.

We barely started dinner when she grab the loaf and started to rend it apart!!

Spaghetti with meat sauce, italian bread, and a salad with homemade dressing. Delicious!!

Look how happy they look! I think it was all the wine.

After dinner we talked for awhile and then decided to head out to a bookstore.

The barnes and noble is located in Mishiwaka, very close to South Bend, maybe 20 minutes away from our hotel. It's HUGE!

Here's Heather enjoying a classic piece of literature

And here's me wondering why catepillars are so disgusting

That was our day in Elkhart! A very fun filled highly caloric day haha. See you later alligators!

Indiana Day 1: Goodbye Toronto, Hellllooo Chicago, the incredible(?) Sears tower, a flag waving welcome at Elkhart, some good eats and stuff for the feet

Paul — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:21:41 +0000

We woke up at 7:30am so we could pack and head out to the airport for our flight to Chicago. Toronto is a great multicultural city and we had a blast here!

Heather couldn't resist taking another photo of her flowers as they leaned toward the sun. I somehow find this strangely melancholic somehow. But appropriate as we are saying goodbye to our friend Toronto (at least until we meet again) as well as to the flowers.

One of the things I’ve been meaning to mention is that the Westin’s bathrooms are kinda interesting. They have a square light that surrounds the bathroom mirror. It works really well in terms of providing good lighting while standing in front of the mirror, but it also has the uncanny effect of making your eyes look weird everytime you look at the mirror.

Not sure if you can notice this, but click on the photo and you'll see the how our pupils are square-ish because of the light

We were surprised that there was absolutely NO traffic in Toronto on Sunday morning at around 9am. Absolutely none. We zipped right to the airport with so much time to spare that we decided to stop by a restaurant called Tim Horton’s to get breakfast. They’re a chain in Canada that serves donuts and coffee and things of that nature. They’re EVERYWHERE here and all of them seem to be pretty crowded.

I got a bagel with cream cheese and a coffee

Heather got an apple fritter, an egg/bacon english muffin sandwich, and a coffee. It wasn't what you'd call gourmet food but it was a step above McDonalds for sure!

At the airport, we killed some time by watching most of a movie.

Does anyone know what movie this is from??

The flight to Chicago was just over an hour and was fairly smooth. We arrived and headed to the baggage claim to get our luggage. We were meeting a special guest at the baggage claim in Chicago.

Heyyy...this guy looks kind of familiar

Yes it is none other than Heather's dad! He just flew in from Hawaii and would be hitching a ride with us all the way to Elkhart. Our flights were a bit over an hour apart but ours was early and I'm guessing his was just slightly late so it worked out perfectly where he barely had to wait at all.

We got our car from Avis. It is a black PT Cruiser which kind of makes it look like a little gangster hearse. I’ll take a photo of it tomorrow for you. From there, we jumped on the freeway and off to Elkhart we went.

Chicago really has a nice skyline and it was a beautiful day. But we were just passing through!

I had heard a lot of things about the Sears tower and how it is the tallest skyscraper in the United States so I thought it would be pretty cool to drive right next to it.

But you know, I don't know, I'm not sure what the big deal is? I guess I thought it would be bigger.

We encountered a lot of traffic but once we got outside of Chicago it wasn’t too bad.

Welcome to Indiana! Elkhart here we come!

On the way we passed Gary, Indiana. According to Wikipedia, it is known for its large steel mills and high crime rate. It is also the birthplace of Michael Jackson.

We stopped at a rest stop to get some much needed coffee. We also were fortunate enough to see a guy carrying his dog like a sack of potatoes.

We passed this while on the toll road. Talk about bad billboard placement!!

Hurray! After a little over a couple hours of driving, we finally reached the Elkhart exit

We're staying at the Jameson Inn. Normally we'd stay at Heather's grandma's house but because there are so many people coming to visit for the family reunion, we decided to stay in a hotel. p.s. We laugh everytime we see the name Menards (it's a hardware store.) Need something? Why not check MeNARDS!

We quickly checked into our hotel and then drove the 5 minutes towards Heather’s grandma’s house. Heather’s mom has already been here for a few weeks.

As we drove towards Heather's grandma's house, we noticed two people standing on the corner. Hmm, what the heck are they doing??

Yes, it was none other than Heather's mom and grandma! They were waiting outside the back of the house to welcome us. Unfortunately their plan was momentarily foiled because like I said, our car kind of looks like a little gangster hearse. You can see the uneasiness on their faces as we passed.

But after a moment's hesitation, they saw us waving and we got a wonderfully patriotic reception!!

We walked into Heather's grandma's house which smelled incredible! They had made a wonderful Sunday dinner to celebrate Heather's birthday

These beautiful peonies are from Heather's grandma's garden. They're HUGE and smelled so floraltastic!!

Breaded chicken, crescent rolls, green beans, potatoes, and a waldorf salad. A wonderful midwestern home cooked meal, it definitely hit the spot!!

What birthday would be complete without a song and some cake! Heather's great-aunt and her husband joined us for dessert.

Time for some gifts. Colorful socks from grandma! Do you think Heather was secretly giving me the finger?

What an appropriate card!!

Heather's parents got her some specially-ordered shoes they found on the internet. These shoes are special because of the shoe's name and coincidentally, they were only available from Toronto!

Crazy shoes for a crazy girl! Happy Second Birthday Heather!

Tomorrow’s plans are up in the air, but don’t worry, we’ll find some interesting stuff to take pictures of, we always do!!

Toronto Day 6: A farewell to Niagara in all its cheezy glory, High Park (no, not that kind of high), a coffee, helllloooo Havana, and a visit from ROY G. BIV

Paul — Sun, 31 May 2009 04:18:19 +0000

We woke up hoping that magically it was 7am, but it was not to be. 9am seems to be the earliest we can wake up, I don’t understand!! We go to sleep by 2-3am, why can’t we wake up any earlier?

In any case, we woke up and were RAVENOUS because if you read yesterday’s entry, we only had CRAZY BREAD from little caesars for dinner, and we split one order between the two of us. We’ve become eating machines on this trip!

So we quickly packed and then ran across the street to The Famous which is a restaurant where we ate the vegetarian sandwich and salad the day before. We had seen some other people eating breakfasts there and the plates looked big and delicious!

Here Heather is trying to make perhaps the most important decision in her life. What will she order for breakfast??

We both were able to make decisions and then began the long wait.

I would quickly look up everytime the waitress walked by with a plate thinking, "Is that it? Is that my food? Is it?" And then when she'd stop at another table I'd go "Awwww." This went on again and again and as my friends can attest, I have immeasurable patience/annoyingness in repeating things over and over and over and over and over again

Whew, my plate finally arrived and unfortunately it was a bit smaller than I had hoped. hah hah. My plate had bacon, 2 slices of challah toast (you pronounce it like Holla as in Hollaback Girl), beans, scrambled eggs, and potatoes. In case you're wondering, Heather ordered a Canadian egg muffin thing that was huge too. Both plates were delicious!

And that was that. We went back to our hotel room, checked out, and picked up our car. We figured we should do one last drive by the falls so I pulled off to the side of the road and let Heather out with the camera and she snapped this last photo of the falls.

It truly is a remarkable spectacle!

We also decided to drive through the main strip of Niagara. Remember yesterday when I mentioned how touristy Niagara was? I had NO idea at the magnitude of cheesyness. We weren’t even on the main road yesterday. The main road is like 5 times more touristy. We took some photos to show you.

Here you go, another Fashion Mistake noticed at Niagara. Look at the outfit the guy on the far left is wearing, animal skin is so last year!!

When you think of the majestic beauty of Niagara falls, I also think of a Haunted House. What about you?

Apparently Frankenstein likes the whopper over the big mac

We were very surprised to see someone we had encountered the night before standing on the side of the road. I’m pretty sure he saw us too, and it was pretty awkward. We gave a quick embarrassed wave to him, and he waved back but we knew that it was best that we did not acknowledge what happened the night before so we continued on our own separate ways instead of stopping to chat.

Goodbye Crazy Bread. We will never forget how you were there for us in a time of desperation.

We drove the hour or so drive back to Toronto, threw our luggage back at our hotel (we actually had two hotel rooms booked on the same night, one in Toronto and one in Niagara Falls so our Toronto room was empty that night.. DOH.. Long story I’ll explain some other day haha), and then we headed out to see what we could see on our last day in Toronto.

Oh yeah one thing I forgot to mention was that we chose a perfect day to NOT be in Toronto and instead be at Niagara Falls. Apparently Toronto was a big old mess near our hotel because Bill Clinton and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named were the two past presidents who were in town giving some speeches or something. It was good we were far away to avoid all the commotion!

We decided to stop by at High Park which is a large park on the west side of Toronto.

This little guy was there to greet us which already made the whole visit to High Park worth it

As I looked at the purple flowers while eating my Flavor Blasted Goldfish, I wondered what it would be like to experience the world while the size of a squirrel.

Whoaaaa..what was in those flavor blasted goldfish??

Make a wish! Heather wishes for a puppy for the five billionth time!!

At High Park, they even have a section with some animals!!

Behold the peacock in all its splendor!!!

Behold the peacock's ass in all its splendor!!

I didn't know this, but Heather is some sort of pine tree druid. Notice how they are bowing reverently to her.

It was a nice stroll through High Park but we realized we were overdue for a caffeine fix.

We stopped by Clafouti bakery for some coffee. I also bought a loaf of olive bread. I'm always trying to find the perfect olive bread loaf. The coffee was awesome but unfortunately the olive bread loaf was not all it could have been. Neither was this damn coffee lid that wouldn't stay on!

We walked across the street to another park to drink our coffee and soak up a little more sun. Notice Heather's coffee cup does not have a lid because I failed.

We were having a really hard time trying to figure out what we should have as our last dinner in Toronto. Somehow we ended up deciding that the last meal would be…. drum roll please….. CUBAN FOOD!

Julie's Cuban Restaurant. We were lucky enough to have parking right in front!

We had a nice little table in the back of the restaurant

Cheers! I had a beer and Heather had a mojito. Both were delicious!

We started with chips and guacamole. The bowl may look small but it's because the chips were HUGE. We couldn't even finish the guacamole because there was so much, what a sin!

Heather got grilled shrimp in a garlic/white wine marinade that came with plantains, saffron rice, and a carrot salad.

I got a Chicken Breast that was stuffed with ripe plantains, saffron rice, and fried plantains on the side.

Both dishes were good, but it wasn’t quite what we’d call truly authentic Cuban food. It was more like a trendy Cuban influenced restaurant. I did like the ambiance but the chicken could have used a sauce to put over it. Heather liked her shrimp more than I liked my chicken.

After our meal, we were stuffed! We decided to head back to the hotel room and start packing and to get some rest. The weather also had turned ugly yet again and it started to rain, so we figured it was time to get indoors!

The tulips I got Heather had bloomed nicely while we were in Niagara and were glorious!

We heard thunder outside so Heather opened up the drapes and was wow’ed by the view outside. This is a wonderful photo from our last night in Toronto!

The rainbow was uncannily vibrant (the photo doesn't do it justice). What a view from our hotel room for our last night!!

Thanks for spending the week with us in Toronto. Tomorrow we head out to another incredibly diverse and multicultural city, yes, we’re of course talking about Elkhart, Indiana. Stay tuned for adventure!!