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For those of you not “in the know,” I am currently on a trip to Canada/Michigan until June 4th with Ellen and her family. Canada is that place to the north, and Michigan is the one that looks like a hand.

Ellen and I are currently sitting in traffic on the QEW, which is the Queen Elizabeth Something-Starting-With-W. It’s not nearly as bad in the towards-Toronto direction as the away-from-Toronto direction, but we are slowly closing in on our hotel outside of the city.

We drove through Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York on the way here. I must compliment the state of New York on its free wifi at rest stops. We saw some win-a-DVD arcade games, but they were completely full of DVDs, which doesn’t bode well for their winability. The last few tolls were your choice between Canadian and American dollars, and then we got to customs. I’ve never properly left the country before (small Caribbean islands do not count), so I got to bust out my new RFID enabled passport. Technically you don’t need a passport to drive here until January 2008, but it’s a spiffier form of ID than a driver’s license. We parked at Niagara Falls ($10 CAD or $9 USD, too bad we didn’t have any CAD). Niagara Falls is really big, and sort of misty. Photos are attached and on my Flickr account.

As far as traveling goes, the best method is really a combination of a GPS unit and Google Maps. The Google Maps generally get you where you need to go, but if you mess up you can fall back to the GPS. Relying solely on the GPS gives you trouble if it loses its satellites or tries to do something wonky. Plus, map skills are always good to build, and GPS is like cheating.

Another thing I have found surprising is the way that currency works. I don’t have any CAD with me, but my credit card can evidently charge them. I’m not entirely sure what exchange rate it charges me, but it’s a bit more convenient than having to stop at a currency exchange. Having different currencies is confusing, and I think the Euro is one of the best inventions ever. Evan and Christina are in Europe right now, and they can just tote around all their money and not have to worry about it. Nifty.

Anyway, the traffic has cleared out, and we should be to the hotel in a little while. Stay tuned for exciting stories of my adventures in Canada. Maybe I can even find a bag of milk!