DAY 119 & 120: TORONTO!

This road trip has too much happening every day to keep up! And so, blogging can only capture so much. The rest I will have to treasure in my memory!

Today is Thursday. Last blog post was last Sunday. (Start time machine)

It was total serendipity that another “long time ago” friend happened to be in town for less than 24 hours, and it just so happened that I was there as well. Considering the last time I was in Toronto was over a decade ago, this is quite amazing. I had not seen “V” for over 30 years!

It was an opportunity to get quickly reacquainted as I was able to offer her the 2 hour drive back to the Toronto airport on Monday so that my friend could rest and recuperate from the camping, hosting friends, and insanely brutal drive going to the airport the night before (summary: deadly accident on the 401).

“V” lives in Switzerland and when she was calling her colleague in Switzerland while riding the Tesla, it was clear her Swiss friend knew what a Tesla was. I recall that the little country of Switzerland hit some kind of European Tesla sales record at one point earlier in the year, didn’t it? We had a “sort of” attempt to capture auto lane changing on camera, but as all Tesla owners know, nothing beats the real life experience!

While in Toronto, I was able to meet up with another long ago friend (I think his wedding was my last time in Toronto about 10 years ago). He asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner, and I was specific... KOREAN! I realize now that when you are road tripping to get to places on time, your meals are reduced to snacking in the car between supercharging spots. I am also noticing that buying more than what you can consume between these stops is pointless. Buy just enough, and stop wasting food!

Well, I had him drive the Tesla around even though he had never been in a Tesla before. He went straight from greeting me to sitting in the driver’s seat until our visit was over! 

I can appreciate someone who understand car performance driving my Tesla. Once he felt the responsiveness and acceleration, he started really having fun. Now, I wouldn’t let just anyone do this, but I know my friend, and he has a decent sense of responsibility driving someone else’s car. So no problem.

And then I heard those two words again that I heard from my brother a week ago:

“I’m sold.”

He has a lot of equipment to carry around, and so he does need a SUV-like vehicle. Told him about the Model Y, and then next thing you know, we are watching the Model Y reveal on this big screen at his home. Now I’m a little more disappointed than before that Elon didn’t give more enthusiasm at that event. But it still seemed interesting.

*****

After a good night’s rest, and having my fill of dog love from Ruxy, I was off to the city of Toronto.

Now here’s the thing with driving eastward in North America. I had thought until now that Vancouver drivers were the worst. I’ve heard it from visitors to Vancouver. I’ve seen news articles about it. But I have to tell you that being on the east coast, every day ends in gratitude that Sparky has not been struck. Aggressive driving takes on a whole new meaning when there are this many highway intersections full of rush hour traffic. It was like everywhere I went took over an hour just because of the traffic. (Don’t even get me started on Montreal... you’re next!)

But I had sights to see and experiences to have.

After city hall and the Instagramable “TORONTO” sign, I walked a little ways and found the hippest food fair ever! I loved it!!

After getting some delicious avocado “toast” (actually brioche bun) and some coffee from a Canadian Barista Champion, it was off to do errands. I was hosting a Korean dinner at my friend’s house with other friends.

It bummed me out that I missed a Toronto Tesla Meetup as I passed by the Markham Supercharger on my way back to Kitchener... DOH! Missed my chance to meet some of my favourite Canadian Tesla Youtubers. *sigh*. I’d say “next time” but I’m not sure that’s in the stars.

FYI: Typo in the Navigator... I’m pretty sure it’s spelled “Waterloo” (with only one “T”)