Days 2-3: Toronto, Sault Ste. Marie, Minneapolis

Minneapolis. After two straight days of driving, we've covered 1500 miles (~2400 km). I'm looking forward to getting some camping and hiking in, which we'll be doing for the next six days.

Andrew and Ricardo arrived in Mississauga on Sunday evening. We relaxed in the evening by seeing the new Star Trek movie, and set off early Monday morning. Fortunately, we ducked rush hour traffic leaving Toronto, and had lunch on a picturesque little lake somewhere north of Barrie. It looked so inviting that we would have jumped in if it wasn't so cold.

After many more hours of driving, we crossed the border at Sault Ste. Marie (the guard was convinced we had drugs and searched our car). Andrew dragged us down to the Soo Locks, which connect Lakes Superior and Huron, which turned out to be an awesome idea. We watched the sun set as a giant freighter pulled through, headed towards Wisconsin. We rounded off the evening by having dinner at an Irish pub, which served wonderfully fresh whitefish, had an excellent house brew, and played some rounds of pool.

The following day, we set out for Minneapolis. Our mood on the drive there was dampened by the constant raincloud that dogged our car as we move through the Upper Penninsula and Wisconsin. It was a gorgeous country, with forest, pasture and little picturesque towns interchanging and fading in and out of each other. Ricardo narrowly avoided hitting a suicidal deer which decided to jump in front of our car. Perhaps more surreally was hearing a report on NPR about post-college unemployment by fellow Columbia graduates, in the middle of the Wisconsin wilderness.

The Mall of America was incredible. I admit that I wasn't too convinced going in: I thought you see one big mall, you've seen them all. Until we saw an entire amusement park inside the mall. Ricardo and I rode a roller coaster... entirely inside the mall. Each store tried to outdo the others in being special. The Lego store had a life-sized Boba Fett! The architects took advantage of the mall's height to great effect with giant skylights and cross-walks right out of a sci-fi movie. It was like being in the future, without going to Japan.


Unfortunately, our next pit stop will be Seattle, six days from now. Before then, we'll be visiting the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Glacier Nat'l Park, and perhaps more importantly the SPAM Museum. Until next time, take care!

Pictures to Date: http://picasaweb.google.com/lok.kin.yeung/RoadTrip2009Days23#