As mentioned before, the trip to Canada is about to kick off in the next 24 hours. However, our method of organization has been primarily e-mail driven and it’s exciting to see how easy some things are when done via e-mail (perhaps we should have used Groove) – no room for discussion or disagreement and consensus on every item.
The joy of road trip planning and a sampling of one of the e-mails that were exchanged this week:
-We will meet at 1232 at 5 pm
-We’re thinking we’ll stop to eat at a rest stop somewhere after leaving Philadelphia. ‘A’ and ‘B’ are going grocery shopping Thursday night to get snacks and drinks for the trip. So, please send us any requests for food or drinks that you want. Otherwise you can eat what we get! Oh, and bring a water bottle if you have one.
-‘A’ just said the word money, and speaking of money, make sure you bring some! Also, save receipts of stuff you buy for communal consumption and enjoyment and we’ll figure out money stuff when we get back.
-So as not to drive the poor housekeeping staff crazy and to avoid eviction, ‘A’ is going to bring some basic toiletry stuff i.e. shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, body wash and face wash. ‘B’ will bring washcloths, towels and blankets and somehow we’ll sneak these in without being obvious. Oh, and if you want a pillow, it might be good if a couple of us bring our own. Maybe we should also bring one sleeping bag?
-Don’t forget passports, or birth certificates, or visas ‘A’ and ‘C’
-There is an indoor pool at the hotel so if you want to swim, bring swimming suits/trunks.
-Bring ideas and information about things you want to do in Toronto and we can talk about it in the car on Friday. Some ideas suggested already include the Niagara Falls, Church on Sunday, biking, museums, Niagara-on-the-Lake, immigrant towns. So, keep in mind clothing for these various activities. Also, when we get to B’s house Friday night there will be a campfire ready and waiting (no roast pig this time) so you might want to bring a sweatshirt as well. The weather in Toronto is supposed to be in the low 80’s with possible rain on Sunday (which we can do anti-rain dances in hopes that it won’t. Or maybe we should do plain old country line dancing to keep the rain, and scary people, away).
-Okay, so contact information. In the car Friday we can make sure we all have each other’s phone numbers, and, if you let ‘B’ be extremely obsessive, we can exchange emergency contact information as well. ‘B’s house is in a rather secluded location and does not have cell phone reception. So, if you need anyone to get in touch with you late Friday night until we leave on Saturday you need to give them the home phone number for ‘B’ which is (XXX) XXX-XXXX. If you need to make any outgoing calls, it’s totally fine because ‘B’ has a great phone plan and calls are free, which is also the same plan that gives us those cool free Blockbuster coupons, which is kind of beside the point, but since this is so long anyway, I thought I would just annoy you more, and if you are still reading this email I know that you really love me. 🙂
-If you have any fun car games (i.e. cards or keep-the-driver-awake-games) feel free to bring them. We will be playing the animal game and the berry-spotting game (a.k.a. forest-fruit spotting game).
-Don’t forget your CD’s
-The tentative itinerary is leave Philly Friday night, drive to ‘B’s house in upstate NY (similar to a bed and breakfast except that one of us won’t have bed) Then, Saturday morning after breakfast we head to Toronto via Niagara (?) spend Saturday and Sunday in Toronto and drive back to B’s house late Sunday night into early Monday morning. Then, we return to the city of Sisterly and Brotherly Love by 4:00 PM on Monday.
-Remember cameras to commemorate this crazy trip.