The Long Trek Home

The road home from the big apple was rather serene until we arrived back on Canadian soil. As we traveled through New Jersey the setting sun helped create a reflective backdrop to us as we all were lost in memory of the various highlights of the weekend. As our thoughts turned to the tasty foot long hotdog smothered with cheese and kraut we all had at Shea (the best ballpark dog I’ve ever had; so good in fact I had two) our stomach’s broke the calm by reminding us all that the last bit of nourishment we ate that day was that tasty hotdog at the game.

After finding our intended place for dining, Perkins, and filling our gullets we continued our drive through Pennsylvania in darkness. At least it was late enough for the evening sports to be on and we landed on WGN radio and the Cubs game. The innings past by in the game and each mile got us closer to New York State and more importantly, Carlos Zambrano inched closer to the Cubs first no hitter in 36 years. As the announcers found every possible way of letting us know the predicament without actually saying “no hitter” our attention to the game intensified and peaked in the ninth when the rare feat was accomplished.

That was the peak of our enjoyment on the road too (except for the brief stop at duty free when we got to buy alcohol for cheap). Not too long after the game ended we started looking for a place to sleep. As the wind picked up outside we were growing restless in the car. Relying on a GPS unit we took a cutoff in hopes of finding a hotel/motel but instead of finding one we spent half an hour driving in circles before getting back on the interstate. As an aside: all trip long we had a discussion going about old school maps and the new fangled GPS units. I defended the use of maps while my traveling mates held the GPS unit in high regard. In this instance neither helped.

We finally found shelter not long before the remnants of Ike unleashed in the area. The next day we saw the outcome of the storm’s wrath as we dodged tree limbs on the interstate. After a short stop at the duty free, we were finally back in Canada but our troubles were far from over. Unbeknownst to us, somewhere along the way one of our tires picked up an unwanted passenger that caused what began as a slow leak and progressed to a more pronounced leak. We made several stops to add air to the tire before arriving in my driveway and called CAA. The trip, which was great until this side of the border, was over for me. Half an hour or so later, will full bellies, my dad and sister were on their own home stretch.