Work-travel-lopnik

"KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs" (kusabisensei)
03/05/2015 at 11:01 • Filed to: None

Two weeks from now, I have to travel to Toronto. Now this doesn't seem that bad, all things considered. But in fact, you would be wrong. That's because I'm not going to Toronto.

I'm going to someplace that is likely closer to this picture than the GTA could ever hope to be.

Now having been to Middle-Of-Nowhere, USA before, I can deal with it, but it's not that pleasant. Hotels generally do not have cookware and stoves for guests to use, so I have to eat out every night.

However, this isn't even like trying to get something to eat in, say, somewhere just beyond the 407 ETR (Markham, Richmond Hill, or Vaughan). This is well, a bit more spartan than that. I'm perusing Yelp and Google Maps to find something reasonable in the middle of nowhere, Ontario.

I also have no idea what my rental car will be, so it could be good (like last time, a Chrysler 300), or it could be bad (One trip to Montréal had me in a Kia Rio with a bad heater, in January)

Ugh.

DISCUSSION (10)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
03/05/2015 at 11:19

Snow presence or lack thereof may play into the practicality of plan ZZ-9 Plural Z Alpha: construct an igloo to stay in.

kanadanmajava1 > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
03/05/2015 at 11:27

I like visiting Middle-Of-Nowhere. I live in a big city (but big city in Finland doesn't yet classify as big city in a global scale though) and usually when I'm going somewhere it is big city.

And I do like weird and slightly crappy hotels more than the boring copy-pasted franchised hotels. If there isn't stingy or hungry critters living in the same room and neighbors aren't trying to rob me I'm fine.

Near London I spent one night in a really weird hotel. It was just a large house with maybe 4 rented rooms. The room didn't have own shower and the shared shower didn't have hot water. The rooms was quite cold but the blankets were excellent. The downstairs lobby (living room) had the largest the collection of Doctor Who apparel that I have ever seen. It seems that the other guests were helping the owner with some yard work in the morning when I left.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
03/05/2015 at 11:29

But who cares about that when you have nothing beyond that pinnacle of Canadian civilization-in-the-middle-of-nowhere: Swiss Chalet Rotisserie and Grill.

#HelpINeedTorontoOrTomatoICantRememberWhich

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > kanadanmajava1
03/05/2015 at 11:35

Middle of nowhere is fine, but my main thing is that you have to have a few good places to eat within reasonable distance.

This really doesn't qualify, however.

The reason for this is due to the fact that the closest large town is 30 minutes away.

kanadanmajava1 > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
03/05/2015 at 14:43

Well that seems to pretty far away from civilization. Sometimes getting food is surprisingly hard even in some big cities and countryside will make it even harder.

Stephen the Canuck > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
03/06/2015 at 10:03

Where exactly are you going? I'm a bit east of Toronto but still in the GTA. So when I actually go west towards Toronto I drive through lots of area that looks exactly like that picture.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Stephen the Canuck
03/06/2015 at 12:29

Past St. Jacobs. So it is like that picture.

When the closest town is something like St. Jacobs, then you know you are in the middle of nowhere.

EDIT: That also means I'm technically outside the GTA there. Help! I need to find a way back to civilization in general!

Stephen the Canuck > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
03/06/2015 at 13:17

I'm not as familiar with the west side, but looking at Google maps, St. Jacobs is within 10 kilometers of Kithcener/Waterloo. So even a bit past that you're probably within 20 minutes of decent restaurants there.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Stephen the Canuck
03/06/2015 at 14:02

I may still drive to Toronto, since there are very very nice places in Toronto. And I can make my client reimburse for that.

Most of my other GTA clients are in Richmond Hill, Markham, or in the Toronto city limits.

Stephen the Canuck > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
03/06/2015 at 14:06

Wabora Sushi in Toronto is really nice. Most of my fancy dining experience has been Niagara Falls/Niagara on the Lake, which is a little far from St. Jacobs area.

I like Richmond Hill. The streets are nice and wide to drive through.