Timmins to Cincinnati in two days

Well, I've been Stateside for a little over a week now and Michael and I are just starting to settle into something of a routine. Our apartment is nearly in order I'm just about done my "cleaning spree" as Michael has been referring to my daily activities while he's been at work. Next week, once I'm all done organizing, I'll be sure to post a few pictures here for you.

The trip down was actually relatively uneventful. The weather was decent until we got to Toronto, where we ran into freezing rain. As we drove further West, the weather continued to deteriorate and drove our last two or so hours in heavy snow and freezing rain. Yuck!

After a looooong day of driving from Timmins to London, we went for dinner and met up with Brian and Brandy. Too bad we were too exhausted to be much in the way of good company though (sorry guys!)

The next day, we picked up our last Timmies' order (the true Canadian tradition) and then we drove to the US Border at Sarnia/Michigan, where we crossed around 9am. (See the amazingly ugly photo of the landscape on the left of the screen and you won't wonder why we didn't stay longer!)

The guard we got actually had a bit of a sense of humour so it went much better than it might have had we ended up with the guy Mike encountered last time... The guard actually informed me (at least three times) that Michael and I now had 90 days to get married and to make sure I was very careful to adhere to this stipulation to my Visa. He also reminded me that I HAVE to marry Michael - no changing my mind and marrying some other guy I meet in the next three months. haha... I think the most difficult part about crossing the border was the waiting while everything processed; which is, of course, a very good thing. Although I'll speak for both of us in saying that, as we left, we weren't sure which was more of a relief - getting in without too much questioning, or the fact that they didn't search our vehicle. Our poor Spectra5 was packed so tight, I'm not sure we could have fit in another pair of shoes (and we all know that if I could have, I would have!)

Once we crossed into Ohio, the sun seemed to come out again and we were off to Buckeye Kennels to visit the dog breeder from which we've chosen to get our Labradoodle-to-be. We had such a great experience visiting Sheryl and the dogs she has there. Since they breed Golden Retrievers, Labs, Labradoodles and Goldendoodles, they do have quite a few dogs but as we walked around the outdoor area where they are all kept, I can honestly say that there wasn't a single doggy there that I wouldn't want to have in my home. Our pup isn't born yet (the litter is due in about a week or so) so we won't get to take him home until February but we're both very confident that we'll end up with a great pooch. (Of course we'll post some pictures here of our family's new addition as soon as we can!)

Once we were back on the road and after a quick stop for lunch, Michael and I were home in about four hours. My first impressions of the neighbourhood were pretty good. Because we were clearly too tired to cook, we went for dinner at one of the little restaurants across the street. The fact that I can get amazing Pad Thai and scrumptious Spring Rolls from someplace literally 150 meters down the street from my doorstep is going to seriously challenge my willpower... :)

There are actually a few places on our block that seem to be very busy places to eat and/or hang out. We can get pretty much everything from gas to dry cleaning to beer on our block. I'll make a post devoted to "the neighbourhood" in a few days perhaps... There are a few things I think you all might get a kick out of so I'll save those details for later, when I have pictures to post with my antidotes.

That's all for this post... more tomorrow!

Mariah