Trip to Toronto for the Big OS Conference (No Kids Allowed)

At an unusually scenic rest stop: On the road...somewhere in Michigan, I think:

Crossing over Lake Huron:

At customs. Steve said in a frantic voice, "Put your camera away!" "What!? Why? What's the matter?" He said, "Sometimes people take pictures to find a way to sneak past customs." Sure enough, when we pulled up, the customs guy drilled me, "Why were you taking pictures?" and I felt like an idiot when I said, "I just wanted my kids to see what it looks like at customs." So here's a picture for all of you criminal sleuths out there who want to sneak into Canada illegally.

In Toronto, our hotel in the background:

The lobby (the first of many bad pictures...still not sure how to take pictures in a dark room.)

Our room:

The view from our window:

Escalators that lead to the vast underground, a maze of shops and food courts so that you never have to go out of doors in the winter:

What it looks like underneath:

It wouldn't be a Jenn-post without a cheesy, blurry photo:

Toronto at night:

We were taken to lots of fancy, expensive restaurants while we were there (free for us!) and this was the coolest, though you can't tell from the pictures. The restaurant had two levels above ground, but these pictures are taken of the two-story wine cellar where we dined. It was kind of creepy, descending the cement steps to get to it. All around were flickering candles set on wine crates. When we entered the wine cellar, it took my breath away, and even though the room was so big, I felt a bit claustrophobic. Two of the wives we were with were both pregnant, and one of them said, "What a bad time to be pregnant!" And then she looked at me and said, "What a bad time to be Mormon!" But I wouldn't know what I was missing, so I could fully enjoy the atmosphere anyway.

Waiting for the subway:

Driving through Toronto on our way out, I was confused by these spiderweb-like contraptions everywhere:

Until I saw this:

Driving through Little Italy (most of it was quite dumpy, actually, this was the best shot I could get):

One final destination before we leave: Walmart Super Centre:

To get a stash of these:

Lake Huron (bye bye Canada): Twelve hours of driving past this to get home:

Not too shabby!