Stop dragging my car around
So yeah, there was more to the vacation than just a trip to lovely Shea Stadium. One of the main reasons for the trip north was a cousin's wedding in Montreal. I hadn't been there in a while, and it was good to get a better feel for the city since I'd have to do some navigating around town to find stuff to do.

That included an Alouettes game at a packed house at McGill (albeit with a capacity of just 20,000). That trip included two uphill climbs as we searched for an ATM to get Canadian bills for our tickets, plus a strange exit from the stadium that included walking through a construction site and jumping a concrete barrier to get on to the main road. It almost seemed like we were refugees fleeing the stadium, which could be a good way to describe it after a last-second loss.

Later on, I got to see the loneliness of Olympic Stadium and the modernity of the Bell (nee Molson) Centre while doing a more "traditional" city tour. Hey, I even got to try out some poutine at a curiously named sports bar next to the arena. I'd end up in that general vicinity later that night, at one of the multitude of bars a couple of blocks away.

Another part of the Montreal leg of the trip was trying to find English-language TV. I ended up watching some CNN and a lot of TSN. However, it was very surreal watching Canada's version of Cartoon Network, getting Futurama, The Simpsons and Family Guy (Les Griffin) in French.

The wedding was a wedding, albeit at a really nice cathedral in Centre-ville. The only thing odd was the ubiquitous videographer with a really bright light. The only things missing were a boom mike and Anna Nicole Smith. The reception was very lavish, very long and had a good band. However, when this song was being played, a whole bunch of us turned into the Happy Hands Club.

There was plenty of driving on the entire trip as we went by car to Montreal, and included a quick stopover at the Ben and Jerry's plant outside of Burlington on the way up. It's a nice drive to get there (great views on the interstates in Vermont) but I'd be massively disappointed if that was the only reason I was driving in that part of New England.

So what happens after a 1,000-mile round trip to Canada? Phase 2 (or 3) of the trip as I take my "new" car on a 900-mile one-way trip from New Jersey to Atlanta. It was a good chance to get used to the car, and give the iPod a good workout, although it took me a long time to realize the tape adapter seemed to work better than the FM transmitter. I also learned how varied the sound quality of my MP3s really are.

But anyway, my solo road trip went pretty well as I broke up the drive into smaller parts. Part I got me from Jersey to Baltimore to visit Kristin, which was one of my early plans for the road trip. I also got in a quick trip to DC to visit more quizbowlers (including two of JD's other groomsmen), for pub trivia no less. Thanks to Tricia for tipping me off to that.

I eventually ended up in Richmond overnight, then took off for Chapel Hill to see another friend who just moved into town. At least know I have a better idea about what's in that town, compared to my last time when I drove around late at night to find something to eat.

After my "am I there yet" voyage to Durham a few years ago for a Duke-NU football game, I made sure not to drive straight to Atlanta from the triangle. So I ended up stopping by Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, although the gift shop appeared to be closed, so I couldn't get this hat. Then went down a couple of exits to see Lowe's Motor Speedway, which is best described as ginormous, as well as the big mall on the other side of the exit.

At said mall, there were plenty of chances to get sports logo gear, including the dreaded K hat and vastly reduced Bobcats gear, but ended up passing on everything. I had done the same with more "interesting" choices in Montreal, and I wonder at some point if I've grown up and overdone my sports stuff.

However, I was lucky not to be enticed by all the NASCAR stuff at Lowe's and the mall -- there's a ton of garish looking gear. Unlike the major team sports, there doesn't seem to be a "basic" look for driver gear -- there is no standard logo. When wearing a ballcap with a number of a driver is the most "conservative" look, I think we've got a problem.

So it took me officially 33 hours (but only about 16 actually on the road) and just over 900 miles to get back home and work on all the mumbo jumbo for getting the new car registered and the old one donated to charity. And hoping to get all that stuff taken care of this week since I'm off to Vegas next week. I'm starting to pile up the miles in all sorts of ways, with more yet to come.