Northern Lights 2024 - Part 1
Finally, we begin our annual Fall Adventure. This year we decided to venture up into Canada, for my Son's first visit to his Father's (your's truly's) homeland. The first part of the trip involved a stop in the great Canadian City of Toronto. Getting into Canada was fairly quick for us, and the adventure didn't really start until we were well into Canada. Of course the QEW was busy, but moving very well. I made a stop in Clarkson, Ontario to visit one of the old locations I used to work at. The CFRB Transmitting site. I was curious how many of the signs on the fence were still there, which I had originally installed in 2006. Most of my signs were still there.
We made a stop at the nearby Mastermind store, which sells toys and games for kids. My little guy picked out a cute little cow, which he was very excited to see, so much so that he was shaking as he reached for it on the shelf while I held him. There will be more on the cow later.
The adventure continued up towards Toronto Pearson International Airport. I'll admitt that I got a little distracted showing Tigga some things, that I ended up heading into the Terminal, and driving around airport onramps for about 15 minutes until we found a way out, but it was fun. I noticed that the Russian Antonov-124 cargo plane was still on the Tarmac, much to my surprise, as it had been removed from Google Images over the summer time. The Russian cargo jet is privately owned, and it was delivering COVID-19 supplies when Canada suddenly closed it's airspace to Russian registered aircraft as a response to the Russian's invasion of Ukraine. Currently the Russian company which owns the airplane is using an international treaty as leverage to file a lawsuit against the Canadian government for damages and losses.
We continued our adventure and booked into our hotel before heading to meet my father and step-mother. I was also very happy to see my aunt, who was excited to see my little one. She babysat me many times when I was young, so she was super happy to see my own son, at around the same age I was when she used to babysit me. Our little guy started playing with some of the furniture and enjoyed exploring. He also got to watch a garbage truck pick up garbage from a bird's eye view! This was really his first experience and also Tigga's first experience in a larger apartment condo building, so it was a little new for both of them.
My father has an interesting print on his wall, which really brought back some memories of Canadian nostolga for me, From P'tit Quebec cheese (Only the finest for Poutine), to Max coffee mugs which stood for Maxwell House Coffee. Which also reminded me of Mac's Milk! One of the few stores allowed to be opened on Sunday's in Ontario back in the day. Yes, at one time it was illegal for non essential stores to do business on Sunday in Canada. I personally think times were better back in 'the day'. At one time families had time to spend together, and mothers were able to stay home and raise children. Now I am sad that so many families where mothers want to stay home to raise their children, can't because they are forced to work just to make ends meet. Families can't survive on a single 'bread-winner' income anymore. Our society has gone from a family centric / human centric society, to a corporate centric society. A simple life in the country would be so enticing to me.
It was a lovely visit with my father and aunt and step-mom. We had dinner and went to a nearby park. We all shared storeies and had some good chuckles and moments. Then it was back to the Hotel for the first night's sleep. We were unsure how this would go, traveling with a toddler. Especially with us needing to cuddle so often. But things seemed to work out alright. The hotel bed was comfy and my little guy went down without too much effort. The Hotel was neat because it was at the end of one of the runways of Toronto's Airport. The room provided a good view of airplanes taking off and landing all through the night. The hotel was well insulated from the sound too, which was nice. Click the picture below for a timelapse video from overnight!
In the morning we had a lovely breakfast at the Hotel, and I was quite impressed with the selection. It was a very nice Hotel. We then headed out into Weekday Traffic in Toronto. The amount of vehicle traffic was intense, as always in Toronto. It is often difficult to really convey Toronto traffic unless you are there. Usually, the roads in Toronto do move. The city and province both have advanced traffic management systems where every traffic light is controlled by a central computer, sensors in all the roads monitor real time traffic density and speed, and even highway onramps have traffic signals which will prevent too many vehicles from getting onto the highway at a time. Click the picture below for a timelapse video!
If you can figure out my route, I would be interested. Shoot me a message somehow (I am sure you can find a way) and maybe I can even give you a shout out in the post. But that was our path, and I cut it off short from our destinations, so you can't stalk me too much. I eventually passed by my childhood home, and if you can find this I would be impressed. It still looks similar to how I remembered it - tho now worth over a million dollars, I believe.
We then headed to find some lunch, and hit up Swiss Chalet. It had been over two decades since I had had Swiss Chalet, and I had forgotten how yummy it was. The price was super reasonable too. I had a Chicken Club Wrap which was super delicious. I ensured to get extra dipping sauce which is kind of like a spiced gravy, or mild BBQ sauce.
So many people in Buffalo have fond memories of Swiss Chalet as there used to be one on Main Street, and I think maybe some others around the area too? Buffalonians rave about Swiss Chalet, almost as much as Canadians rave about Olive Garden... Tho really don't think Olive Garden is much to brag about these days.
Their Poutine was also excellent!
The adventure contines in Part 2, which begins another chapter, post-swiss chalet consumption. Stay tuned!