Back in the States
Our return to the new world went pretty smooth, Canadian customs and immigration took no time at all and they didn’t even stamp our passports. It actually took longer waiting at Hertz for our car than it did to make our way through the airport. The drive to Detroit was also quite pleasant, we were treated to some nice fall colors which looked great in the warm afternoon sun. It was also great to be back in a car and be able to sing along with the music. We had to have “Canadian” food while we were there, so we stopped at a Tim Horton’s.
For our last border crossing of the trip, we drove across the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan. The formalities at the border were only complicated slightly by our special request for a stamp. Heather still didn’t have a North American stamp in her passport and she kindly asked for one at the border. We had to wait in the secondary search area for a bit while the guard went to the next building, but now we both have seven continents all in one passport.
John and Janet picked us up from the Hertz rental office and we were greeted by the smell of freshly baked chocolate cookies, blueberry muffins, and apple pie once we arrived at their house. There was even a “Welcome Home” sign for us. Mary and Grandma Wiktor also came over a little later for a visit.
We spent most of our time visiting various family members in the area. Rachelle met us for lunch in Royal Oak one afternoon and more extended family came over for a small party one evening. We put on a slide show of some photos from the trip, we didn’t make it through all 13,000, but did hit every continent.
For another fun activity we stopped by an apple cider press. The press was being cleaned at the time, but we still got to sample the treats and look through the pumpkins and other fall treats. They even had freshly-made donuts. John took us on a Detroit tour one day with a stop for lunch at a Polish restaurant. The dill pickle soup, pirogies, meat loaf, and mashed potatoes and gravy were quite a treat.
It only lasted a few days, but it is nice to be back “home” and great to get a chance to visit more family. The beautiful colors of the changing seasons and perfect weather made it even better. We even got a free ride to the airport when we left town.