Trip Details besides what I choose to skip

Been home for a few hours now, and whatever the messages I may have (because even I will have accumulated a few by now) they can wait for a second.

I ended up going on a trip to the states this weekend, there wasn't really any good reason not to go and I did need to adventure.

Ah yes. Just before leaving I got a cell phone call. I spend so much energy working on not needing anyone, it's really amazing how fast one can build up an expectation only to have it thoroughly quashed, even when you should really know better by now. The call was my dad, from the house (I was in the driveway) letting me know we'd be driving my brother to the subway, so make room.

I drove the latter half of the trip, across the border and through the forbidden zone that is Michigan. I shouldn't be surprised but it was really quite lovely out- the dense foliage you see.

My dad, brother and I were making the trip for a friends 40th birthday in Clawson, Michigan. While it was nice (and I ended up being loaned a copy of that P90X exercise series which is a pretty sweet deal) there wasn't a whole lot to do. The ages of everyone else around were either 15 years older or 15 years younger than us. That's quite a gap.

It was arranged that we'd spend our nights at a campground 40 minutes away. A weirdly long distance. But also, calling it a campground is misleading, it was more like a cottage. Or just a really really nice house surrounded by a lot of trees. Or whatever you call a place where if there are a few more co-eds around you get murdered in your sleep because you're in a slasher flic.

On the saturday we visited Warp 9 comics and the Wunderground magic shop. They were on the same block, and I wouldn't have seen the comic store without the magic shop. I felt bad visiting and being unable to buy anything- my last trip to the states taught me that the debit system down there isn't compatible with my bank card, so I was cashless.

The comic guy didn't say anything, but the magic store owner was friendly, he showed us a couple of tricks (you get told how it's done with the purchase...). I volunteered my brother for a trick, I didn't feel like playing the fool that day... I learned my lesson years ago.

But kudos to Wunderground for reaching the 40 years in business mark. Of all the magic shops I've been in, that was the first.

Ah, I love that joke. Or at least I use it a bunch.

Then because of course! we went to a Barnes and Noble in the adjacent town of Royal Oak. I did some browsing, there are a few books I want to check out when I've got an opening.

There was something weird about the town I couldn't put my finger on until we were leaving the bookstore. Any train tracks up here at home will usually have some high fencing around it that's, what, almost 2 meters? Something like that. But in Royal Oak the fence was waist high, picket style. (Okay, I should clarify- I say picket style as in "picket fence" but I only really mean that height. The actual fence outside the tracks were made of black iron bars, the kind you'd find surrounding a hedge or something.) The height and the tracks proximity to everything inside the town- it was like a train set or toy town or something.

That night I ended up watching the second half of the Bill Murray Stripes film, which I've never actually seen before. I mean the second half, I've seen the first half bunches of times. It was fun.

Then I decided to watch the end of 50 First Dates and that made me sad.

So channel surfing- has its pros and cons.

Didn't drive as much on the way back, basically from just past London to home. The traffic got terrible outside of Toronto- how is there no traffic anywhere ever except for Toronto?