Toronto, The First Leg

So I'm lying down on the bed in my hotel room in Mississauga, Ontario. The city is near Toronto, probably twenty or thirty miles out. We're about sixty seconds from the airport. Surprisingly, I haven't heard any planes taking off; I suppose we are oriented towards the city and away from the airport, though.

Thursday, I packed all my stuff and said goodbye to my mom. After loading my car I headed to my dad's for the remainder of the week. While there, I mostly bummed around the house, painting and playing Starcraft 2 with Rob. Despite being so hesitant to drop $60 on that game, in three weeks I've already gotten my money's worth. I know I shouldn't sit inside and play video games while I have the whole extent of China at my perusal. But it is a way to stay connected to the States.

Anyway, as Saturday came 'round, my trip hit its first rough patch. The original plan was for Courtney, my dad, my step-mom Andrea, and I to drive up together. They would leave late Sunday and after spending one last night in North America I would board the plane Monday. Andrea was unable to find her passport, though, so just Courtney and I went.

Well, I drove. Since she will have to drive the whole trip back, I offered to drive up. It wasn't bad at all. We stopped once and got some Tim Horton's iced coffee. It was terrible. I didn't know it was possible to make coffee that bad. It was almost like she tried to make the exact opposite of what I ordered. I couldn't taste the sugar, and either she forgot to put in the caramel flavoring or it was, in reality, just water.

After we checked into the hotel, we went downstairs to have dinner. I ordered the fettuccine alfredo and Courtney got the cheese tortellini. We felt adventurous, so we also ordered a calamari appetizer, some Pinot Grigio, and a whiskey sour. All three were stronger than expected. We felt a little bad because we were still finishing up while the poor waitress was trying to close. At least we tipped well.

We woke up cotton-mouthed at 9. We then struggled mightily to rouse out of bed in time for the complimentary breakfast. We made it. Coming back to our room, I tried to get on the internet with my laptop. For whatever reason, though, mine is unable to. So, naturally, I'm on Courtney's mac writing this. We're in the process of getting ready and will go get lunch and shop at this amazingly huge shopping mall we found. I only have a couple pounds left in luggage space so I better not find something I really like.



Square One: "Located in Mississauga's City Centre; it's a city within a city with over 360 stores including BCBG, Coach, Apple, Hugo Boss, Bench & four major department stores. Over 40 places to eat including Earls, Lemongrass, Panera Bread and many more. Conveniently located at Hwys. 403 & 10, 20 minutes from downtown Toronto and 10 minutes from Pearson International Airport."