The Van Blog

Hello out there.

It’s time for me to write one last post before the border, and I have a funny story to share with you all.  I’ve been on the road for three and a half months now, and I’m starting to miss Canada ever so slightly.  A few hours ago, J.T. and I were on I-71 North—just plugging away to eventually reach Erie, PA—when suddenly I spied a Tim Horton’s on the side of the highway.  Tim–freaking–Horton’s!  In Ohio!

Lex, TJ, and J.T. discover Nashville's first official citizen was a French Canadian guy!

And I wasn’t seeing things.  It’s actually here.  In fact, I’m writing this post with a Double Double in my other hand.  Sigh.  Home away from home—or just home on the way home?

I took a picture of the rogue Tim’s location for evidence purposes and then asked the girls behind the counter what Tim is doing way down here.  Turns out, this place is owned by the cousin of a famous Canadian hockey player—someone who just won a gold medal at the Olympics, but whose name the girls here couldn’t quite recall.  That makes sense then, doesn’t it?  A Canadian opening a Tim’s in Ohio?  Spread the love, right?

This Double Double and the fact that I just left a good Canadian friend of mine back in Nashville are enough to tide me over until I reach the border in two days’ time.  J.T. and I visited my good friend Lex in Nashville this past weekend, and it was so good to see a familiar face in the midst of a (mostly) unfamiliar state.  As we walked through downtown Nashville one afternoon, I turned to Lex and said “What the hell?  We’re in freaking Nashville together!”  Unbelievable where one can end up after graduation.  Sometimes, one can even end up in a van…

Final fun fact: halfway through my sandwich the Tim Horton’s girl remembered the famous hockey player’s name… Sidney Crosby.  Go figure, eh?

And just so you know, Lex… the closest Timmy’s to you is on 71 North in Grove City, Ohio.  This is valuable information; no need to wait ’til you’re north of the border!

Look out Canada… I’ll be back (and in Ottawa for a spell) in two days—or about 845 KILOMETRES!