Grab your coat–it’s cold where we’re going. Well…compared to California. It was 98 when we left Fresno and mid-50s when we arrived in Detroit. Felt quite refreshing, at first.

Detroit, Michigan, USA. What an interesting place! Our first landmark of interest: a giant UniRoyal tire on the side of the road. Sadly, traffic was zipping along too fast for a photo op. Same with Henry Ford’s first plant. There’s a big celebration going on right now. 100 years since the first car rolled off the assembly line.

But we got to spend a lovely Sunday afternoon in downtown/waterfront Detroit and were impressed by what the car culture created in its heyday.

For a buck, the little girls got to ride a carousel and eat “Look, Mom!” color-coordinated ice cream.

We enjoyed Detroit–especially getting to spend time with the Smiley family. Thanks, Frani and George, for the great hospitality.

Next stop: Toronto, Ontario, CANADA. We emerged from the tunnel under the Detroit River and after a quick look at our passports (I highly recommend traveling with a current one, even if they might not be required by car travel until the first of the year), we headed out of Windsor on the infamous 401. Infamous? We were told two things about this highway:
1.) it eats multiple car pile-ups for breakfast (we didn’t see any)
2.) it’s THE #1 most-traveled road by volume in North America. (I’d like to add to that the view of the 401 from Harlequin CEO Donna Hayes’s office is mesmerizing.)
Here’s a shot from the QEW. I like its name. In the distance you can see that icon of the Toronto skyline, the CN Tower. We didn’t have time to go to the top, but I’m told the view is pretty amazing. Maybe next time. )

We had a corner room on the 24th floor of the Metropolitan Hotel METRO We were so happy to get there alive, we didn’t even blanch at paying $6.50 a bottle for organic beer in the mini-bar.

My dear friend and former editor, Laura Shin, gave us a native Torontan’s walking tour that included a stop a Chapters, a huge bookstore, where, yes, I found HIS BROTHER’S SECRET and we rearranged the shelf to put the Supers at eye level.

Toronto is a true melting pot (except maybe in winter-kidding) of cultures from around the world. After some debate–there are a million restaurants to choose from–we decided to eat at Harlem–a Cajun restaurant with the best jambalaya I’ve ever had. My only side note is don’t look too closely at the art work.

Many thanks to Laura for the most excellent tour.

The next morning, we were up bright and early to tackle more of Toronto’s highways as we ventured north to the Harlequin Home Office. WOW! Was there a lot I didn’t know about the publishing business. And you’re dying to see candid, completely un-staged shots of the Superromance editors, right?

Tomorrow.

I still have a couple of hundred emails to catch up on. Sigh.

Deb