We left Richmond Hill on Sunday morning and headed towards Tichborne, Ontario where our summer camp is located. Camp Oconto holds a special place in our hearts as this is not only a place where we spent 7 summers soaking up the sun on the shores of Eagle Lake but also where Tory and I met.
We arrived at camp right in time for dinner and were greeted but numerous excited camp friends who we hadn’t seen for years. It was absolutely wonderful to catch up with old friends and spend some time at this familiar place.
On Monday morning, I took Tory out sailing on the Hobie Cat, a personal favourite of mine. It was epic. We then visited until the early afternoon and then hit the road and headed towards Ottawa. I stopped in Perth for directions to a back road and the lady at the Chamber of Commerce was so excited about the journey that she immediately got on the phone to the local newspaper and they were over within three minutes for an interview!
I then continued on towards Ottawa and about half an hour later dark black clouds started rolling in. I met up with Tory and we decided to stay close to one another since it looked like a big storm was coming our way. About half an hour later I rode past Tory in the van as she was parked in a lot on the side of the road. I didn’t event get 500 metres up the road when all of a sudden it started raining. Not just drizzling but a full on torrential downpour!
I got on the phone with Tory to tell her that I was up the road behind a parked blue SUV. I decided to go under a tree to avoid getting wet. Then all of a sudden I hear: “BANG! CRACK! BOOM!” Thunder and lightening! I ran out from under the tree since the last thing I want is to be hit by lightening. As I’m jumping out of my hiding spot I see Tory rolling past me in the van.
Within ten seconds, I was completely drenched. As I tried to protect my cell phone and ipod from termination, I called Tory to tell her to turn around as she had passed me. When I finally dove into the van three minutes later, I was completely soaked! I threw on some dry clothes and we drove the rest of the 30km to Ottawa. The rain was coming down so hard that I declared it a hazard to be out on the road on a bike since we could barely see two feet in front of us!
We arrived to Ottawa after having a delicious Dairy Queen Blizzard and Tory’s Dad, Jeremy, took us out for a massive feeding of burgers. The burger joint offered the option of a portabella mushroom cap instead of a patty so I decided to try something different. Well this was big enough to feed a rabbit. So, I had to have some onion rings as well as a massive decadent chocolate milkshake. Believe it or not, this was the first milkshake of my life. Let me tell you, I’m hooked!! Amazing! I then followed the milkshake with some more chocolate…mmmm…this biking is making me eat like a horse!
Today, while Tory slept in and enrolled for her fall classes, I walked downtown to meet a friend for coffee and then another for lunch. It was great to catch up with them! I then decided to go shopping. After having spent the past two months in bike clothes I figured I needed to get some nice outfits. I have no idea what I was thinking! In a matter of thirty minutes I managed to spend two hundred dollars. Wonderful! It was a good little spree. Good thing Tory was coming to pick me up or I might have done some really serious damage to the Visa card.
Tory and I then went out with both of her sets of grandparents and her dad for a delicious Italian dinner. It was a great way to end our little stop-over in Ottawa. Tomorrow we are off to Montreal!
