If you’re just reading this blog for the first time, we are a family of three traveling across Canada (and likely beyond) in a 1994 VW Westfalia camper van called Juju Jr. Our son Ethan, age 9, is unschooling and so we want him to learn from being on the road and traveling. So he’s also now a roadschooler and we are documenting the trip and his learning on this blog.
We spent the day in Toronto today and had a decision to make: Drive or take transit. We chose to drive and it turned out to be the right choice. Road tripping does take some energy and we didn’t want to poop ourselves out by walking around a lot and also taking transit.
Fortunately, the excellent turkey dinner we had last night re-energized us and we all felt great throughout the day. We were able to see everything we wanted to see in Toronto, so it was a great day, overall.
Video to come!
Morning
We were quite fortunate that my sister lives in Toronto because it was the perfect pit stop for us. We’re now just over halfway across Canada and needed to freshen up and recharge. A breakfast of feta cheese and tomato omelette with some homemade maple bacon got us off to a good start for the day.
After breakfast, we got to go out in my sister’s new Tesla for a spin, which was a lot more fun than I expected. I even got to drive it, which was very cool. Dong Eun and I now know what car we’d get if we got another car again.
While we were on the drive, Ethan spent time with Shane and Sue playing Telestrations again. We played last night and it was great fun.
After the drive, it was time to get going. My sister’s place had a massive mint bush growing in the backyard, which we’ve now made a part of Juju Jr.’s decor.
Afternoon
After saying goodbye to Connie, Shane and Shane’s mom, Sue, we made our way to downtown Toronto. First stop was Toronto City Hall to get a photo with the Toronto city sign.
City hall was an impressive sight in itself and we were lucky enough to arrive before 1pm so we could park for free until then. It was only 15 minutes, but it was just enough.
We then wanted to see the CN Tower, and heard that we could park for free behind Steam Whistle Brewery. It was a little tricky to find but we found it and parked.
However, there were no parking signs for all the spots, as they were reserved for employees. But there were a couple cars parked along the curb, so we also parked there and asked a security guard if it was ok. He said we could park there for 30 minutes, which was perfect.
On the way there, Ethan made a new fidget toy from paper.
So we only had 30 minutes to see CN Tower and get a photo with the Canada 150 sign.
When we went to get a photo with the Canada 150 sign, we asked someone to take our photo but we got photobombed by another family.
But we eventually got the shot on our own.
And the old train station relics were very cool to see. Ethan knew what a turntable was from his days as a Thomas the Tank Engine fan.
Our 30 minutes was about up so we took a drive up Yonge St., which is 86km long. It was mistakenly called the longest street in the world up until 1999. Anyway, it was sort of a bigger version of Vancouver’s Robson St. or Granville St.
On the way, we passed Union Station and Dong Eun snapped this cool photo with the light coming from behind the station.
It was time to move on from downtown Toronto and see some nature. While driving towards the beach area, we stopped at T&T Supermarket for only our third meal out. For $13, we all enjoyed a taste of Chinese food, and Ethan ate a ton. Dong Eun’s tummy didn’t quite like it afterwards but luckily, she was fine.
We then made our way to Woodbine Beach and on the way, Ethan was again busy making origami designs. This was a pop up elephant, I believe.
It was at Woodbine Beach that we met a Korean family. Actually, it was Ethan who met the family’s son, as they were playing together. The other boy, I believe his name was Aidan, asked if Ethan was Korean. They hit it off and played together with Aidan’s sister for almost 2 hours.
We talked with the parents and it was nice connecting with a new family who is also sort of traveling. They’ve only been in Toronto for 6 weeks, but will be here for another 4-5 years while the dad gets his PhD. Hopefully, we’ll have a chance to meet them again in the future.
After saying goodbye, we headed to the beach for a few minutes. There were a lot of seagulls and Ethan tried chasing the flock to get them all to take off at once. It sort of worked, but it was just nice to see the beach and water. The sand was surprisingly soft and clean.
Ethan wanted to show Dong Eun a couple of magic tricks he learned from YouTube that can only be done at the beach.
It was now time to move on and head to Niagara Falls. We thought we could make it there to see the falls at sunset. Ethan folded more origami while we waited to get out of the parking lot. Yes, he loves origami as much as ever.
On the way out of Toronto, the views were pretty amazing. From a silhouette of the CN Tower to an orange sunset, it was beautiful.
So we made it to Niagara Falls, but it was already way too dark. We heard they have fireworks, but not after Labour Day. Anyway, we’ll see the falls tomorrow and then head over to Grand Island to meet up with my good friend Nate McMurray. Oh, and Ethan made more origami on the way to Niagara Falls…A Christmas ornament (left) and a house (right).
Ethan played for over 2 hours at Woodbine, and then we drove for nearly 2 hours, so he was rightfully hungry when we got to Niagara Falls. He started off having some orange but quickly moved onto devouring half the leftover turkey we got from my sister.
His appetite has dramatically increased in the past several days since we started eating meat more regularly. This is a good thing for him, and Dong Eun and I are also feeling more energized and healthy.
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