New City, Old Friend

I was contemplating taking the scenic route that would take me to Toronto via ferry, but since the weather wasn't great it worked out better that I took the not so scenic route. I was not really ready for more driving with no cell phone service. In Canada, I am making the most out of my alone time and getting some self-reflection out of the way. With the inevitable return to the real world fast approaching, I don't think I am ready for it. This whole trip has been awesome, and it is going to be tough getting back into the swing of things.

The drive itself wasn't bad. I learned that there are ~1,238,293,604 lakes in Southern Ontario. The traffic wasn't too bad until I made it closer to Toronto. That's what you get when you get close to a city. Even though a city is where everything happens, is it worth sitting in traffic for days of your life? Ehh, tough call. Toronto definitely felt like an east coast city. It was very industrial all around, but it was odd because I never noticed any suburbs. I then found out that the suburbs are actually right outside of the city. This was interesting. Whereas in the US, it usually goes city, ghetto, then suburbs, in Canada it was city, suburbs, ghetto. It was a nice change.

I got to Toronto a little earlier than planned. My friend, Molly, who graduated from Penn Dental last year, was going to be my host for the night. I had about an hour to kill before she got home, so I decided to walk around a little bit. Finally, I ended up at a pub down the street to grab a beer. Everyone was pretty friendly, and the happy hour specials were decent. After a couple beers, I headed to Molly's apartment to meet up with her. When she asked me what I did to kill the time, I told her I went to the pub. She then informed me that the bar I went to was a gay bar. We got a good laugh out of that, and it definitely explained why everyone was so friendly.

Molly took me down to the waterfront for dinner. I got to see the CN Tower (which apparently is different than the Space Needle.) The dinner was very good and it was nice to catch up with Molly and find out what it's like outside of dental school. Seeing one of my peers out of school, definitely made me realize that the end was near. We had a really nice time and then headed back to call it a night. It was a shame I showed up on a week night because Molly had to work the next day. Regardless, we still had a great time. Got to sleep on a air mattress for the night and I was very comfortable. Tomorrow is the long drive home :( ULTRA day 38/39: COMPLETE