July 3
July 4th, 2007
Having recently been exposed to the vast amounts of food at a typical Reid meal, I woke up this morning with visions of eggs, bacon, french toast, pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit and omlettes dancing in my head. But when I realized all the Reids’ had left for work before I was even up, a little piece of me died inside. Guess I’ll have to settle for a bagel and an orange. I can’t really complain, though. Adam and his family provided me with an amazing barbecue a couple nights ago and now they had taken us in for another night before we headed towards the great white North.
The drive to Angus where I left off the last night was about as exciting as it sounds. I’d never been up this way, so it was nice to see the countryside. The blade from Angus to Collingwood was pretty nice. Good roads with a light tail wind, but no shoulder. I was in Collingwood a few years ago for New Years with Crystal and a bunch of friends, but I’ve never been in the summer. It’s really a beautiful area and seems to have a lot to offer in the summer. The local ski hills looked to have a lot of hiking and biking trails. We stopped for lunch just on the far side of town and got a phone call from A-Channel television in Barrie. They were sending a reporter all the way to Collingwood to see me! So I did a quick interview for the camera and then headed out of town. The reporter also drove ahead of us a few kilometers to get some action shots too.
A big Thank You to Chris and the Canadian Tire Gas Bar in Collingwood for the free fill up (and the junk food for my dad). Believe it or not, this is only the 3rd time we have had a tank of gas donated to us. I can’t remember if I mentioned before, but Phil Egan and the Canadian Tire Gas Bar in Kingston also donated a tank. Is this the start of a theme? Will Canadian Tire set me up the rest of the way?! Sure would be nice. Right now we’re spending at least $40 a day on fuel.
We hadn’t been holding up traffic at all even though the highway was only 2 lanes. Everyone was pleasant and seemed to have no trouble sneaking past us. But on the way into Meaford, that all changed. I could hear the low rumbling of a large vehicle coming up behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a large Coach bus slowing down behind our RV. Whenever a transport or bus comes up behind me, I’ll hug the side of the road as best as possible and slow down to allow them to pass with ease. This time, I watched in front of me for a break in oncoming traffic and then signaled to the bus driver that it was OK to pass. The driver responded to me with a blank stare. I tried pointing at her and waving my arm for her to get around me. No response. What the heck was she doing? My dad had the RV almost completely off the road on the gravel shoulder and I was making it very obvious that I wanted her to go by. There was no car coming towards us, but she just continued to cruise behind the motor home. And just like that, her opportunity passed. A thick line of cars was coming towards us and now there was no time for her to get through. With a huff and a shrug, I turned and started skating again as if she wasn’t there. I told my dad that it’s not our problem now. She had all the time in the world to pass us but chose not to for whatever reason. I knew there was a line of traffic collecting behind the ridiculous bus driver, but there was nothing I could do. So when I finally got to the next village of Meaford, I was able to pull over into a turn lane and allow the entire line to pass. I was expecting all the cars that had been waiting to be upset with the delay, but I actually got a lot of friendly honks and waves as they continued on.
Meaford is about 30 km East of Owen Sound (yeah, I’ve never heard of it either), but they do have a weekly newspaper called the Meaford Express and they were happy to interview me and snap a photo for their next issue. Up to this point today, I’d been following along the water’s edge of the Georgian Bay. But when I left Meaford, I took a hard left and headed directly east to Owen Sound. The road along the water had been very flat and easy skating. But locals in Meaford warned me that the next 30 km would be exceptionally hilly and difficult.
I guess the Meafordites haven’t seen the Rockies, because I’m not too sure what hills they were warning me about. But I flew through the last 30 kilometers and stopped at Boston Pizza in Owen Sound giving me 100 km on the day. A reporter from the Owen Sound Sun Times as well as one from Mix 106.5 fm met me at Boston Pizza. So I fired off a couple interviews before going into the restaurant where the Owner, Trevor, treated us to dinner. It was a Tuesday night, so unfortunately Boston Pizza wasn’t very busy. I would have liked to give the store a bit more publicity. But Trevor was an awesome guy and willing to do whatever he could to help.
Tonight I’m determined not to fall asleep on the keyboard. So after a nice little chat with Crystal, I turned in early. Well, as early as I could. It was still almost midnight by the time I was done. It was nice chatting to Crystal because we’re both feeling a bit disconnected. Our schedules are tough to find time to talk. Miss ya, babe!
Watch out, Sudbury! I’ll be in town Saturday night at Boston Pizza! Be ready for me!
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