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#

The Final Outpost of Civilization

It's 7:3o AM in this cloudy Minneapolis suburb, as I write from our austere Motel 6 hotel room just off of the highway. It has been two days since last we updated this blog (and don't worry, Ricardo and Lok-kin will actually write something soon, so, er, "all" our faithful followers don't just have to deal with me), over which time we have journeyed through the northern wilderness of Ontario, passed by four of the five Great Lakes, traversed the villages and national forests of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and, disappointingly, not encountering a single cheesehead in Wisconsin, though plenty of cows.

Our trip on Monday ended, after a run-in with a gruff border agent who wanted to make sure we weren't on a transnational drug run (it was a mistake to tell him I had prescription drugs in the car), at the former trading post of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Founded in 1662, it is the oldest Midwestern settlement in North America. It is also the location of the Soo Locks, which allow ships to travel between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Having never heard of the locks myself, my mother harangued me about them as soon as we checked into our budget motel on the outskirts of town. Thankfully, Sault is not exactly a metropolis, and after grabbing our cameras (which are rapidly accumulating photographs of, well, everything) we shortly found ourselves mere feet from towering container ships inching their way through the narrow straits. At sunset, it was quite an impressive sight. Next stop, Panama?

I will leave descriptions of yesterday's travel to Mr. Lok-kin, as I believe he enjoyed the Mall of America far more than I did. I mean, it's cool, but really it's just a gigantic airport shopping center, complete with that funky terrace-like architecture distinctive of a surprising number of airports. I'll conclude with a question: why in gods name would there be a guy waving a confederate flag in WISCONSIN? I ask merely for information.

Today were off to the International SPAM Museum and our first National Park, the Badlands! Take care, wherever you are in the world, and tip your waitresses.

Canada: The Next Frontier

Good morning, my fellow Americans. I am pleased to report that our merry band of travelers has been reunited in the bustling Toronto suburb of Mississauga, where the highways are well-paved, the kids apparently do drugs called "zig zags" (or something called zig zags, we're not really sure), and the Tim Horton's are EVERYWHERE. Also, what they say about Canada being about 20 years behind America in appearance is eerily true. I feel live I'm observing the early 1990's, where the shopping malls are oddly retro and the soda machines only take coins. On the other hand, city sanitation actually picks up compost from individual households in addition to the recycling, so 10 points for Canada.

The drive up from Virginia yesterday was a pretty pleasant affair, as we cruised past rolling forests, rolling refineries, and to my surprise only 3 Walmarts. I'll be keeping a count throughout the trip, but thus far the Walmart tally is only slightly ahead of the tally for Indian River Casino's (2).

We realized early on in the drive that we were starting our search for America--appropriately, perhaps--on Memorial Day. For me at least, in the past the holiday weekend has meant little more than an extra day's rest, some barbecuing, motorcycles, and overpepped advertisers proclaiming sales and bargains beyond your wildest dreams. In short, the typical American holiday as it plays out on TV. The underlying significance of the day though--honoring those who have served and are serving in our armed forces--is generally lost on me. This may be symptomatic of my removal, and the removal of a large portion of the population, from the immediacy of war and connection to it through friends and relatives. Driving past cemeteries yesterday, though, I was struck by the site of people, mostly older men, walking to the gravesites of fallen comrades and laying wreaths. There are still people who commemorate the day according to the original intent, but we seem to have lost the meaning among younger generations.

At any rate, Ricardo and I still tried to show our American pride, even as we drove into Canada from our first stop at Niagara Falls (which are as jaw-dropping as they are hyped to be). Crossing the Rainbow Bridge on our approach to our neighbors to the North, proudly, ostentatiously, and thankfully with the windows closed, we blasted Igor Stravinsky's orchestration of the Star-Spangled Banner to protect ourselves from the noxious fumes of socialism and syrup. Today we will pick up once again the mantle of our mission as we make our way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our destination: Sault Ste. Marie, the first European settlement in the Midwest (1662). But first, we have a constitutionally-obligated stop at Tim Horton's to complete.

Quote of the Day:
Andrew - "We're getting pretty near Canada. The air's starting to smell like..."
Ricardo - "Despair."
Andrew - "...Maple syrup. Yes, precisely."

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins

...in roughly 9 hours, at any rate.

Good evening, netizens. I write to you from Square One, as it were, in the quiet Virginian suburbs of Washington, D.C., be-they-ever-so-pretentious (but not as bad as the Maryland ones). A few meters from where I sit, Mr. Saavedra lies asleep, preparing for our imminent departure tomorrow morning for Toronto. And so, not three days after being reunited with my home, my family, my dog, and my bed, I shall steal away and leave them all in early morning somnolence, as we two Musketeers go to reunite with our compatriot in the French Territories (pronounced 'Canada'). At last, the summation of a year's daydreams and procrastination is about to move from design into production, most likely only partially resembling our expectations. Elaborate timetables have been wrought; they will be wrecked. Supplies have been inventoried; they will be insufficient. Directions have been printed; they will not be precise. We hardly expect this trip to go entirely to plan. Given that we are in search for America, we wouldn't have it any other way.

We all look forward to regaling you with tales from our search for that elusive, shimmering city on a hill. Hopefully we will be able to tell you that, beyond the Walmart's and McDonald's on the climb up, there is a rich history being built upon, and natural beauty being protected at the top. That said, we're also stopping at the International SPAM Museum in Austin, MN, so all bets are off.

The opportunity to while away a month exploring this vast land we call America, beforing spltting off our separate ways - two going back across the border to NYC, and myself to Beijing - is one we all cherish and look to capture completely through photos, writings, and, of course, blog posts. So please continue to check back with us as we journey on our way, we three ancestors of immigrants driving in an imported Japanese car, to do what we can to boost the U.S. economy...mostly by supplementing the ledgers of already bloated oil companies. But before we can play the part of blogging bards, our quest must, like all journeys, begin with a single step.

Hello!

Hello friends,

As you may know, Andrew, Ricardo and I are embarking on a month-long, cross-country road trip after graduation. After having spent four years in New York City, we're looking forward to seeing the natural wonders of this beautiful country, and other places as yet unreachable by New York subways. We'll be crossing 24 states (plus Ontario and DC), visiting at least 12 national parks, and camping in the great outdoors as often as we can.

We will try our best to update you on our adventures whenever we return to civilization. From our schedule, that should be at least once a week, if not more often.

Currently, our itinerary is:

• May 24: Toronto
• May 25: Sault St. Marie
• May 26: Minneapolis
• May 27: Badlands National Park
• May 28-30: Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park
• May 31-June 1: Glacier National Park
• June 2: Seattle
• June 3-4: Mt. Rainer National Park
  
• June 5: Crater Lake National Park
• June 6-7: Redwoods National Park, San Francisco
• June 8-9: Yosemite National Park
• June 10: Las Vegas
• June 11: Hoover Dam, Bryce Canyon National Park
• June 12: Zion National Park
• June 13: Grand Canyon National Park
• June 14-15: Mesa Verde National Park
• June 16: Albuquerque, Roswell
• June 17: San Antonio
• June 18: Houston
• June 19-20: New Orleans
• June 21: Memphis
• June 22: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• June 23: Washington, DC

Please feel free to add comments below. Right now, we're really appreciate any advice on places to see/things to do at the places we're visiting, as well as general advice on what might be useful to have on a long camping/road trip.

- Lok-Kin