T Dot Stop

Day 2 of our journey left us in downtown Toronto. After lounging at Shel's for most of the morning we mustered up the nerve to follow the smell of garbage to downtown. (Kidding. Not really smelly at all.) We successfully navigated the subway all by our onesies...

...and visited the newly renovated ROM (Royal Ontario Museum).

We were feeling like professional tourists when we were approached for directions! We looked quite cool getting our map out, but unfortunately, we had to pass the question on to the hot dog vendor to answer.

We left the downtown core for the suburban sprall known as Etobicoke to visit Ash's adoptive parents, Les and Gayle Takahashi and their son, Koji.

Once there, we were spoiled with a delicious BBQ and the company of a few other special guests: Katie (aka Shel), Chris (Midori's BF) and Brent Capel (Jeff's former co-worker). Very nice of them to come by and see us off . They surprised us with an awesome farewell cake too!

Day 3: After a wonderful breaky of Kosher blueberry-stuffed buns and "Gayle's Famous Three Alarm Croissants", Gayle and Les acted as our personal tour guides during a trip to the Niagara region. Jeff and I followed Brad Pitt's footsteps and rode the Maid of the Mist in our gorgeous blue ponchos. The Falls were quite impressive and quite misty.

After a stroll along the boardwalk to the top of the falls, G&L picked us up to take us for lunch. We drove along the escarpment with a quick stop to look at the gorgeous Gorge.

The parkway was lined with immense houses and even immenser wineries on the way to Niagara-on-the-Lake. (*Darren: we tried, but we couldn't find "Taps"!) We came across a hotel with a lovely patio, full of bright-coloured flowers. We enjoyed a delicious meal in the mid-afternoon sun and by the time we left, we were just as bright! Good to get the base burn down early. :) We napped in the car on the way home and before we knew it, it was time to eat again! Andrew was able to break away from church camp for a few hours and joined us for another fantastic Takahashi spread. As predicted, we laughed our derrières right off! It was a quick visit, but we are so looking forward to seeing Andrew on our side of the country in August!

We hunkered down for the rest of the night and watched "Into the Wild" (sad story, but a great film) and enjoyed yet another great night's sleep!