On the road to Toronto

We made a very important visit to Lansing, Michigan to visit my friend Emily. We had not seen each other in about two years but we picked up right where we left off. I love friends like this. It was so great to see her doing so well and her optimism is definitely contagious! And she so graciously fed us dinner and gave me her selfy stick! We stayed the night in Ann Arbor with Wilkinsons in their beautiful home. It was great catching up with them and meeting all their cute kids they have now! 

Oh and I have to write about Indiana too. We went there on our way up to Michigan to stop at the Albanese candy factory! We discovered this place existed by going to this cute little candy shop in Seattle  where they had these delicious gummy bears that were way overpriced. We found out the manufacture and vowed to go to the factory and store. These gummy bears are amazing and can be bought in bulk online. So if you are a gummy addict you've got to try these out!

It was such a  cute cheerful factory and it had a giant chocolate fountain inside too!

Our first selfie with our selfystick. You can see how packed our car is here

We crossed the borders over into Canada just in time for Canada Day!

We watched the cutest little parade ever in the township we were staying in just outside of Toronto. Then we headed in to to Toronto to explore and join in the festivities. We were able to ride in on their public trains and we really liked their public transportation here. It was very clean, organized and really easy to get around on. It was fairly priced too. 

At the square Younge and Dundas, their kind of Time-Square sort of place 

Love me some hula hooping

They were having a big party down town to celebrate

The CN tower, we didn't check it out since we just did a tower tour.

The best part of staying in Toronto was the people we met. People in Canada are very nice and yes they do say "sorry"  a lot there! Canada kind of reminds me of an American version of England witha  French twist. We stayed at an airBnB again and had a really fun time with the host and the other residents there. The other residents were German so it was really fun watching the USA vs Germany women's world cup game with them, probably more fun for us than for them though in the end. On Canada day we also celebrated with them and the Canadian host by having a delicious German feast! We also went to watch the firework show together nearby and it was really well done. I guess I wasn't expecting much after the cute local parade but they went all out on this at least 20 minute firework show. It was a fun hodgepodge of cultures coming together for a celebration. Which is a true reflection of what Toronto is like too, a melting pot of different peoples and cultures. 

We also visited the Casa Loma in Toronto. It was a great tour, with an audio guide  telling you all about the rooms and the history of Toronto. The man who built this mansion helped bring electricity to Toronto and had a big part in almost every aspect of Canadian investments and charity funds. He unfortunately did not have a financial planner like Matt and died without a penny to his name. Although the legacy he left behind seems pretty priceless to me. But I have learned on this trip that it is not always wise to build a big mansion. This place has been the set for quite a few movies, such as "The Vow" during the wedding scene.

I loved this ballroom and on the other side is a whole wall lined with a cabinet for books.

Of course we had to have Poutine on Canada day