Hey there! Today I am recapping the second part of my road trip in July. You can find the first part here.
Here’s where we went for part 2:
From Tupper Lake, NY –> Ottawa, Canada –> Toronto, Canada –> Buffalo, NY –> Penn Yan, NY –> Binghamton, NY
Friday morning July 22nd, Brian and I left for Ottawa, Canada. For some reason I was exhausted that morning but I was better after a nap in the car and eating some snacks. The drive to Ottawa was only 2.5 hours. We met up with my friend Jenny as she was practicing her pole dance routine at her studio.
Side note: I feel like pole dancing has a negative connotation with it. Sure there are strippers, but there is also the art and dance form of pole dancing. Plus you have to have great strength to be able to lift your body and perform many tricks.
It was interesting to watch as Jenny was trying to choreograph her new routine for a competition. After she was done practicing, we headed to her house and had some lunch and then headed into the city of Ottawa. Jenny showed us around and we headed to Parliament Hill. We couldn’t get tickets for an inside tour as they were all out for the day, but we joined an outdoor tour for a bit learning some of Canada’s history.
We walked around and watched the locks on the Rideau Canal as boats passed through. Then we walked around the market. I was amazed at all the fresh produce they had. It all looked so good. I left with a bag of tri colored carrots as I had never had them before and they were perfect for dinner.
A few hours walking in the heat and getting a brief tour of Ottawa and then it was time to head back to Jenny’s. Jenny gathered her things and Brian and I headed to a cupcake place down the street. Brian mentioned to Jenny how much I love cupcakes and we found out there were 2 cupcakes places near Jenny. It was a must to get one of course. Cupcakes for the road and then we met up with Jenny at her parent’s place about a 30 minute drive out in the country.
Once we arrived, Jenny and her friends were already there. Jenny’s boyfriend brought some meat on skewers and cooked them on the grill while Jenny prepared sweet potato fries and corn on the cob. I cut up my carrots and Jenny boiled them. It was a really healthy and colorful meal. I wish I had taken a photo but it was getting late and I was hungry so I dug right in. Right as we sat down, it started to pour rain so we didn’t get to eat outside as originally planned. Instead though, we enjoyed eating inside and then played Cards Against Humanity. That was actually my first time playing I believe. It was so fun with 6 of us and around 10pm, the game finally ended and everyone headed home except me and Brian and Jenny of course.
Even though originally I was tired, somehow we stayed up talking until after midnight. I don’t think I have stayed up that late since New Years haha. Finally it was time to sleep and I only slept until 8am. I got up and spent some time journaling and eating breakfast before anyone else was up. I hung out with the cats and the dogs. During vacation I was pretty much “unplugged” from the internet minus a couple times I looked up directions or something. It is always great to be unplugged for a bit and spend time writing or reading.
Around noon we were back at Jenny’s apartment and we walked over to the other cupcake place. Cupcakes for lunch? Yes please.
Both cupcake places were good but I would have to say The Cupcake Lounge was the best of the two.
After that, we headed on the road to Toronto. Originally we were going there to see Jenny perform in a pole competition but she had to drop out last minute. Since I already had tickets and Jenny still wanted to watch, we headed there and drove Jenny since she wasn’t up for the 4 hour drive. She met her dad there so that worked well.
On our drive to Toronto, I learned that Canada Tim Horton’s doesn’t have iced tea and that was highly disappointing. We snacked through the car ride which was pretty much lunch and the cupcakes.
By the time we arrived in Toronto, we checked into our Airbnb and figured out a place to eat. This was my first time using Airbnb and being one night in Toronto I picked a fairly cheap place and I soon discovered parking would be a challenge as I could not get a permit for the street overnight. Luckily I planned for the Airbnb to be within walking distance to the venue for the pole dance competition and it was only $10 to park there for 24 hours. Now I know for next time.
We didn’t have much time before the show but we found a Japanese restaurant and I enjoyed some pad thai with tofu for dinner. I can’t remember the name of the place but it was a cute hole in the wall type restaurant and the service was quick and the food was delicious. From there, we headed to the venue for the 2016 Canadian Pole Fitness Championship. Yep, I am officially the best fiancé bringing him to the championship. I swear the smile never left his face. I was enjoying the show too though. Here are a few of the pictures I took. There was even a men’s section.
Afterward, we headed back to our Airbnb for the night and went to bed. We left around 9am on Sunday morning. I never met our hostess for the Airbnb. The place was definitely cheap, but good enough for 1 night. I stopped at Impact Kitchen, a place recommended to me by Davida. I got a cookie and toast and chia jam for some breakfast. I really should have tried one of their smoothies. I guess I will have to make it back to Toronto sometime.
I have to say of all our driving, Toronto really did have the worst traffic, even on a Sunday morning. It then took us a good 40 minutes to cross the border back into the US. Mostly there was a big line of cars. I then turned on my cell phone after it was off for 5 days. I wasn’t fully ready to catch up though. I like having it put away from time to time.
We made our way into Buffalo and stopped at Duffs for wings, because that’s what you do in Buffalo. I then contacted another friend last minute and we stopped by her house and got a tour and learned about everything they have been fixing up in the house. It was also her due date for her first baby (which she ended up having 4 days later), so it was fun to talk and catch up with her. It had been 3 years since I last saw her.
We ended up chatting for a couple hours, clearly in no hurry, but finally had to get back on the road as we still had about 4 hours of driving left. I finally got my Tim Horton’s ICED Tea in our super large American cups. Oh yeah I learned that a large is more like a medium to us Americans if you are in Canada. That is not too surprising though. Our larges are quite large and there is still that XL.
Next stop was in Penn Yan, NY to visit with another friend and her husband. She was just over halfway through her pregnancy and I was dropping off her baby shower gift as I wasn’t able to make it. We enjoyed chatting on the porch for a while. The boys talked and the girls talked lol. It worked out well. It made me wish we lived closer though. It would be great to get together with other couples.
Finally we were on the last leg of the journey to Binghamton and made it back around 10pm. Basically we got out of Toronto around 10am…so 12 hours of travel, but we made long stops to chat and that made it fun.
Sunday night it was time to catch up on some sleep and then Monday morning we went to breakfast and it was time for my drive back to Philadelphia. I wouldn’t say the week went by really fast, but I didn’t want it to end. I loved that I got to catch up with other friends unexpectedly too. Though usually I am a planner with needing certain times to be somewhere, it was freeing to go on this vacation and plan as we went and not be rushed for our next stop either.
By the time I got home after a quick trip to the store, it was time to meal prep, do laundry and check my work email to sort out a few things before going into the office. I didn’t know how much overtime and meetings I was coming back to, but I would take this trip again in a heartbeat.
Do you like road trips?
Have you ever been to Tim Horton’s?
