My Head, It Hurts. A Lot.
Jason and I ended up in Canada. We joined Matt, Jeff, Jeff's girlfriend Cindy, and their friends Tim and Greg. Tim I'd met once, Greg I just met for the first time, and Cindy I'd seen on three occasions prior to last evening. We decided it probably wouldn't be safe to drive home for several reasons, so we called the Hampton Inn and got two rooms.
We anticipated a ridiculous amount of traffic going through the tunnel but were pretty sure it would be easier than the bridge because of the trucks so we stuck with our usual. When we got off the Lodge, traffic was such a mess. Everyone on the right had to go to the left, everyone on the left needed to be on the right to get in line for the tunnel. So we sat there, cars entwined in a zipper shape for almost 40 minutes. We sat through a bunch of revolutions of the traffic light and it was getting very annoying. Nothing was happening. So an Escalade being driven by a guy who looked just like Lebron James asked me to back up a little so he could squeeze his TINY car in front of mine and go to the left. Jeff was behind me so I backed up almost to his bumper to let this guy through. I held traffic and let Lebron go through and miraculously turned the GTO completely sideways and crossed all 3 lanes, which made room for all sorts of movement. Next, Farmer Joe in his F-150 decided to scream out his window at everyone and it got crazy. Horns, yelling, cutting off, people complimenting my car, it was great!
Eventually, Jeff ended up in front of us and we got in line for the toll booth. Paid that, then on the way through the tunnel, I rolled my windows down and listened to how loud my car was. A sweet moment. Customs was another story. We pulled up and the guy already raised an eyebrow. I said hi. He said "What are you doing in Canada?" I said "Going to the Casino." He said "Who's car ya drivin'?" and I replied "Mine." He said, "And what is it you do for a living?" I said "I work in Marketing." Then he asked for my registration (because I still have my dealer plates, no title yet!) and our birth certificates and driver's licenses. We gave him those and he said "one moment" while some other Customs guy comes running over with a printed photocopy of the rear camera view of my car. They shut the little window and we sat there for a bit. Then he came out of his box and asked me to pull forward. I did. He put a yellow paper under my windshield wiper and made me pull over to the office part. So we pulled over and they asked us to step out, pop the trunk, and stand by the wall. We did. They searched. The French-speaking lady asked me if it was new. I said "yep" and she said "it's VERY clean!". Exactly. So when they were finished, we were on our way. It only took a couple of minutes so it wasn't a problem.
We got back on Ouelette and headed toward the hotel, which was about 4 miles away. We found that, checked in, and went up to drop off our very few belongings. When we were all ready, we called two taxis and went to the lobby to wait. We were there for awhile since some other kids took our taxis. Not a big deal.
Eventually, we got to Casino Windsor. We went in, got stamped, and walked around. We decided to have dinner at their buffet because that line was the shortest. So we all got something different and it was good, except for Jeff's burger...it was not-so-good. After dinner, we decided to go play the slots. Jason gave me a Canadian twenty (he knows I play the little things so I never lose as much!) and I went and sat down at a Blazing 7's machine. In 3 minutes' time, I hit for $60 and was thrilled so I printed my ticket and went racing back to the group. They were all irritated by my early win and kept plunking in coins until we were ready to leave. Cindy won her $10 back so she was happy too! We saw a few girls from our high school standing in line for the cashier, that was weird. They used to be so little!
After the casino, we hopped in the shuttle and went downtown. We went to Club O. Poor Cindy...as we were crossing the street, the wind lifted her skirt and she screamed. Only about 15 people were looking! We got inside and the club and it was very cool. "I'm not a big drinker", famous last words. We all danced the entire night. At midnight, there were little goblets of champagne and balloons fell from the ceiling...well most of them anyway! At one point, I looked over and Jason had Matt hoisted up to the high ceiling to tap the rest of the balloons down that failed to fall. It was amazing how high up he lifted him.
There were broken bottles on the dance floor and I had chunks of glass on my shoes. Very strange feeling. I looked down once and saw my cell phone, but when I picked it up and opened it, it wasn't my cell phone. It was someone else's with the same kind. Talk about confusing. So I walked it up to the bar and gave it to someone, I hope they worked there. And I don't know whose idea it was to locate the restroom in such a ridiculous place. Three flights of stairs? Really, people. Tim won a dance-off with another kid. That was HILARIOUS. A guy came up to me and asked me if I remembered him. I don't think I knew him. He said he was James from church. I didn't recognize him. I pretended that I did cuz it was funnier that way. He told me not to tell anyone I saw him in Canada (so I'll just tell you!) and asked if I'd be there on Sunday. Of course I will be! I saw a few people get carried out by security.
All in all, the night was great! I seriously had more fun than I have had in a VERY long time. At about 2:30, we left the club and went out on the street to hail a taxi. Other activities included singing, skipping, sitting on fire hydrants, I remember I found a dollar in the road. Of COURSE I picked it up and smooshed it in Jason's hand (it was all wet!). After about 20 minutes of standing on the side of the road and every cab being full, we were all freezing. Cindy especially. Matt was nice enough to give her his shirt (Jeff was cold too!). So Greg and Matt grew impatient and decided they could EASILY walk the 4 miles to the hotel from the club. And off they went, Matt in just his undershirt. After we couldn't see them anymore, we called them and told them to come back. They said they'd already gone too far and they couldn't turn back.
We ran across the street and found a taxi van. We asked if he would go pick up our friends and he said yes. I told him where they were and he turned down a side street and headed to our hotel. I was freaking out. He said he couldn't go get them. I knew they'd get lost, it was really far. So I stayed on the phone with them til we got to the hotel and made the taxi driver take Jason and I to where they were and pick them up. When we found them, 2 miles from the hotel (they'd run 2 miles!), they were ice cold.
We went back to the hotel and we all ordered pizza. Not one order, but two. We waited up til 4 for those to show up, ate them, and then crashed. I woke up at 10 and got everyone up. I'm always the waker-upper. No one likes to be woken up.
Anyway, we left the hotel at 11 and took the bridge home. No trouble. Matt, Jason, and I went to Red Robin on the way home because we were starving. Then we dropped Matt off and on our way down the street, we passed Alison and her boyfriend, Chris. She called my cell and we talked about our celebrations! Jason and I then picked up Molly from Grandma and Grandpa's house (Riley's at the kennel...a day of freedom!) and came home and slept til 7. Well, Jason's still asleep but I'm up. He's going to get up soon, too...because I'm hungry! I'm sure I probably forgot a million funny things but I can't remember everything. So if it hits me and it's worth mentioning, it will be in an upcoming update. Oh, I know what I forgot. I get carsick. Taxi ride bad. I won't post pictures of that. Anyway, that's all for now. I hope everyone had fun, too! Happy 2005~