Well, this is it. A planned four-part blog of my cross-country journey turned into seven and here we are at the last. When you last left Alex and I we were headed to our respective bedrooms in our AirBnb on the small farmhouse outside of Detroit. We woke up the next day and packed up the car, taking some final photos of the pigs and getting in the car to head to the airport where I’d be leaving Alex to continue the rest of my journey alone.
Because of work, Alex had to head back to LA and we wanted to make sure to get him to the airport with plenty of time. We pulled out of the driveway of our final road home and drove the ten minutes to the Detroit airport. Alex and I exchanged hugs and I sent him on his way.
It felt strange to be in the car alone. I basically hadn’t spent a moment alone over the course of the last eight days. It says a lot about a friend that you can survive spending eight days in a car with them with little sleep. Alex is one such friend and I couldn’t have picked a better person for the adventure. His absence was very deeply felt on that last part of the journey.
I decided to get my last fancy coffee of the road-trip and drove into the city to get a latte at the most hipster, warehouse coffeeshop that I’ve been to in a long time. I chatted with the owner, who had grown up in Detroit, while I drank my coffee and ate my almond pastry and prepared for my last five hours on the road.
I got gas at the last station before the boarder because gas is 100 times cheaper in the US, a fact that I grew up hearing and which hasn’t changed.
And then, I crossed the boarder. I was in Canada. It’s funny how arbitrary boarders are. Everything was exactly the same and yet inherently different. “Welcome to Canada” popped up on my phone, along with a message that indicated that I’d be charged $5/day for the privilege of having a working phone.
I put on my favorite podcasts (for the true crime aficionado – My Favorite Murder, Up and Vanished, Serial) and drove until I got to Oakville. I grew up riding horses here, but it has certainly changed since I was ten. I pulled off the highway and headed to the Lakeshore to get a quick lunch before making the final hour-long journey into the city of Toronto, where I grew up.
I’ve lived in Los Angeles for ten years and Vancouver for a year before that, so it’s been a long time since I’ve been in Toronto, but it’s an adventure of its own to get to see how the city has changed after so much time.
After eight days, eleven states and one province, I had reached my destination. For now…more adventures in photography next week. Thank you to those who have read all seven weeks for bearing with me on this extended story. A cross country road trip in pictures is something that I always wanted to do and I’m so glad that I finally got around to it.