The following events took place on March 10th, 2009
No, you’re not crazy; there isn’t a Day 8 entry. I spent my off day at home: sleeping, studying, and visiting with my baby cousins. I decided to go to Detroit anyway. I wanted to visit with my friend, Jason. I hadn’t seen him since the last time I went to Milwaukee, which was December 2005! I got my ticket right through the arena box office, so it was nice to only have to buy one seat for a change. The ticket agent asked me which team my “favourite guy” played for! Women always know.
Doing a game-day commute to Detroit was really tight this time around. I had to be in court downtown Toronto at 1:30PM for a speeding ticket I got last season (the most recent installment of the Curse of Grand Rapids). Luckily, I had the points removed and the fine was reduced to $30! I was one of the first to go, so I was able to get out of there around 2PM. I celebrated my speeding ticket victory by speeding all the way to Detroit!
I managed to avoid the GTA rush hour traffic (just barely), and I pulled up at the Ambassador Bridge three hours later (I know, great time!). I was in the longest line waiting to go through customs. You know that line. The line that holds everyone at the booth as long as possible because the security officer in charge is a raging asshole and takes his job way too seriously; yeah, that line. I was starting to panic. The guy in Buffalo was the same way, he was just looking for a bitch slapping. He started yelling at me when I said I was going to Boston for a hockey game! I knew it would look suspicious trying to cross for a hockey game, especially when I just crossed back into Canada the previous morning. They always try to quiz you on the team as well, even though I’m sure they don’t know the answers. When I had crossed the previous Monday, they quizzed me on the Flyers. I knew that stuff inside and out, but I realized as I waited in line that I probably couldn’t answer any specific questions about the Coyotes. Oh no! However, after all that waiting and worrying, I pulled up to the booth, told the guy I was going to the Red Wings game, and that was all he needed to hear. Phew!
I hadn’t been to Joe Louis arena in two and a half years! The building was the site of my first ever NHL road trip taken on my own. It almost felt like I had come full circle, and returned back to where I had started at the beginning of the 2006-07 season. So much had changed. I had changed team alliances, what now appears to be, four times. Though, I don’t really feel like a Coyotes fan. I feel more like a crazy girl that has watched Serendipity too many times. I was missing the Flyers. That game in Boston seven days earlier felt like years ago now. I missed coach, the team, the staff, and the fans!
The arena was empty! It’s crazy what effect the recession has had on an NHL super power like Detroit. The last time I was there, you couldn’t get tickets. Now they were giving them away, and no one was taking them! I finally had one of those frozen drinks from the cocktail wall! Last time I had to pass because I was en route to Nashville later that night. Also, I sat across the ice this time, so the wives didn’t see me and stalk me. Mind you, I’m not blonde anymore, so I probably look like less of a mule-whore, and, thus, less threatening.
There was a glimmer of hope. The Coyotes pushed the game to overtime, but ended up losing their third straight. At least they got a point! I haven’t seen Detroit play live since October, when they came to Toronto for a pre-season game. They are like this big red machine. They look almost impossible to beat! Maybe that’s why they are always leading the league!
I met up with my friend briefly. Nothing was open! And APPARENTLY Detroit is stuck in the ‘70s and there isn’t a smoking by-law. Smoking makes me vicious. It ruins clothes and HAIR and LUNGS! This old smokey bastard was blowing his smoke directly into the face of a baby that couldn’t have been more than a month old. Oh dear! I was vocal. I couldn’t help it! Yes, I publically referred to him as “Smokey Bastard” for all to hear – and they did hear.
There was torrential rain all night long. Entire ramps on the I-75 were flooded. The puddles wrecked my car! I decided to take the tunnel back to Canada to try something new. The Canadian border guard was trying to ask me a lot of questions, but after the smokey bastard, and my tiredness, I was in no mood. I just kept saying, “yeah.” Finally, he gave up.
I drove through the rain the whole way home. I stopped only once to grab an Iced Capp from Tim’s. That used to be my all-nighter drink back in high school. Every morning we’d get off the bus and grab a large one to get through the day. I don’t know how we managed to go to school for 8AM for so many years. I find it a struggle to get to my 10AM classes.
I got home around 4:30AM. I was deliberating the action I needed to take. When was I going to go to Phoenix and was I going to continue on and complete the road trip in New Jersey on Thursday? I had the cards done the day before on New Jersey. I was told to follow my dreams. I eagerly went to bed that night (morning), hoping I would find the answer.
