Weekend Adventure

Oh, the weekends are full of such adventure.

On Friday I suddenly worked a Tourism Research Centre booth at work for the official opening of the new building. It was nice to actually be out and talking to people, instead of hiding in my office, hissing when the sun comes up and people walk by with cloves of garlic. So that took up most of the morning and a wee chunk of the afternoon. At 4:30, the TRC went to our director's house to partake in "team building"/"beer drinking". Then I tried to go on a boat cruise with Doug, but we missed the boat. Literally. So we went to Peake's, ate, and left. However, we did get free things at Peake's as part of the Shellfish Festival promotions - glow bracelets, a blinking set of lip lights, t-shirt, and an OYSTER.

The oyster taste like ass; I can't believe people happily eat those as a delicacy. They could just lick the beach - it would almost taste the same. Just add hot sauce.

Saturday was the REAL adventure - oh my. I hitched a ride down east with ma and pa (70-mile coastal yard sale - I bought stuff, it was fun) who dropped me off in Montague so I could bike home. It felt a little windy, but I figured I would be okay as most of the trail is pretty sheltered. I checked when I got home, and the winds were about 30 km/hr, sw. Not sure what gusts were. Anyway, I biked the trail from Montague to "Montague Junction" (10 km). I was just going to head on west towards Mount Stewart, then to Charlottetown, but decided I may as well go to Georgetown since I was so close and, well, had never been! So I detoured 10 km to Georgetown and biked around there a wee bit. Took the road back to the trail, and away I went! I biked about 18 km and noticed the trail was washed out and muddy ahead. No worries, I will BIKE AROUND THE WASH OUT! Ooops but the grass was actually holding a kajillion litres of water and poor Sexay Bicyclette promptly sunk into the ground. So I had to hop off and walk through the mush, feeling water filled my primarily mesh sneakers. I biked to the nearest bench, listening to the squish squish of my thick socks. I sat there, took off my sneakers to survey the damage. Actually - not bad! My feet had been getting cold biking lately so I was wearing thick socks which pretty much absorbed most of the water from my light sneakers. I had brought an extra pair of thin socks in case my feet were to get too hot, so I happily put those on after sitting in the sun letting my barefeet dry, and my damp sneakers. Thumbs up!

I biked about another 6 km or so and met another cyclist on the trail. He warned me about a loose dog ahead, a large german shepherd, that had chased him for awhile, and the trail was pretty soft and ick as they were resurfacing. This didn't sound very ideal, so I didn't I would take the road for awhile... possibly all the way to Mount Stewart, then the trail or Rte 2 home, or maybe just take the road all the way back to Ch'town on the other side of the river. Hmm. So I started biking on Rte 22 in St. Theresa's, heading towards Mount Stewart. Looked at map and decided to take Rte 21 back to Ch'town, thought it would be a nice change. What a friggin mistake. I literally turned onto Rte 21 only to be standing at the bottom of a massive hill and the feeling of my jaw dislocating as it hit the pavement sharply. No worries, a hill won't kill me, I've done 'em before! So up and up and up I go... heading south... into the previously mention winds. Find myself a little windy at the top of hill so stop to take picture of giant strawberry. Cute. Proceed to go down hill a bit, peddling against the wind... to find... another massive hill. Begin to second guess decision to take road. More hills, and more wind later, I find myself in Fort Augustus, wondering if crying will magically transport me back to Ch'town. Instead I sit down on the side of the road to look at my map to see how much further. How discouraging. Very far. In the meanwhile, mosquitoes feast on me, euphoric to have found such a delicious, accessible treat. They did quite a number, and must travel in packs as I have multiple bites on my lower and upper legs, a few on my ass, two on my elbow, a couple of the back of my arm, two right next to each other on my stomach, and one (!) on my forehead.

I hop back on my bike and trek towards Stratford. Eventually I make it (hurrah!) and contemplate stopping at Captain Sub in Stratford. I realise that if I get of Bicyclette, I may have difficulties getting back on it. So I bike straight past and over the bridge... the bridge leading into magnificent Ch'town. I'm heading west, and the winds don't bother me nearly as much. I dramatically stumble through the door at 223, collapsing onto the couch. Sweaty and dirty. Then I kind of pass out and wake up freezing about two minutes later. Struggling, I make it up the stairs and, even further eventually, manage to work up the effort to stand up in the shower. The rest of Saturday night involves me eating, oh, everything in sight.

According to the trail map and google map, I went 89.5 km yesterday. I'm rounding up to 90 km in about 5 hrs. I've had longer days (distance wise) before, but not against such hills and wind. My knees are shot right now, but I went for a walk in Greenwich National Park today and they were okay, just a bit tender on the drive home.

Which leads to Sunday's adventure! Not quite as exciting, but I felt like going for a wander so I went to Greenwich National Park. I had never been before, but the pics of the floating boardwalk have intrigued me. So away I went! It felt nice to go for a drive on the highway, I don't drive very much. Mostly because I bike everywhere, and also I don't really have anywhere to go. First I went to the beach where it was windy and the water was full of waves! The water looked frigid. Then I went to the walking trails and went exploring on those. You know, all the interpretive signage showed many wonderful animals that live in the woods/marsh. I saw only a hare, chipmunk, and a dog someone was walking. Anyway, I will write a strongly worded letter requesting more ferrets and owls.

Then I ate lots of pizza with Keri Shields. If my body were a temple, it would be crumbling under marathon bike rides and junk food. The empire of Jen Mac wouldn't hold many armies away.

11:15. Time to wind down and get ready to face tomorrow's work day. Cry.