made it back

We got back to Kansas, from our almost month long jaunt across the country and back, on Monday night.  The drive home felt much easier then the drive out.  It was cooler and I was really excited for Niagara Falls and Chicago IKEA.  We also made stops in Upstate NY and Cleveland, OH

 Niagara Falls, Ontario
We both had our passports.  We didn't have anything dangerous or suspicious in our car.  However, we didn't have Jim or a note from Jim and the Canadians were under impressed.  Something about traveling across boarders and child abduction.  I got a million questions, from the drive up immigration folks, about what I was doing here (in a major tourist area) with my kid.  After that I was sent to the official immigration office to speak with someone about my intentions.  Eventually we made it in.

after parking at our hotel we went down to the
falls to ride the maid in the mist

 

Oliver's comment was "wow that was a misty ride"

dinner at the Hard Rock

Leaving Canada wasn't quite as challenging, we didn't need to get out of the car, but were still questioned for a good three minutes longer then most of the cars in front of us. 

A night in Cleveland and then onto Chicago.  We hung out at Millennium Park, enjoyed snacks and fancy non-alcholic drinks at the top of the Hancock Tower, and deep dish pizza for dinner.  Next morning we stopped at IKEA before our last and longest drive of the trip, 8 hours to Kansas. 

inside the bean

silly fountains

is Kansas City the only place with no
open free splash area for kids? 

Back tomorrow with some details about the 50ish hours of driving time we logged.