Rain, rain go away..why must it rain on our last day?

We left Chicago at 8am and drove a LONG way through Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Canada in a continual downpour. When we finally stopped for lunch (our picnic plans were rained out) we had to wait out more thunder and lightening and rain as it was too dangerous to drive. One warning when you eat at Panera. When it rains, the small strip of metal at the bottom of the door gets wet and slick. When Randi went to run to the car she slipped and went flying into the sidewalk. No injuries; just hysterical laughing to relieve the boredom of our rainy drive.

After many hours we crossed the bridge to Canada. The border agent was a humorless young man who grilled us. Ann did not disclose our mace as a weapon when the agent specifically asked, "Do you have any mace or pepper spray or weapons?". We are now fugitives in Canada.

We had not made reservations in Hamilton as we anticipated stopping and just checking into a local hotel. Unfortunately, by 8 o'clock all hotels in Hamilton and St. Catherines were all booked due to some local flood, a football game, some festivals and a regatta! We were tired and hungry and found this oasis in the rain to stop and regroup. At this point a miracle occurred. We told our waitress our story and she began to call all around the city until she found us a room. We stayed in a beautiful downtown hotel called the Crown Plaza and had a great meal at the Fool and Flagon.