Aug 21, 2006

Birthday in the Boonies

Going...Another busy weekend. I had another triathlon to race in on Sunday morning up in Orillia. Saturday was also Chris' 13th birthday. He's been at summer camp for three weeks now, just across the lake from... Orillia. So Saturday I drove up at mid-day to visit Chris and spend the afternoon with him in Orillia. Our first stop was Couchiching Beach, to pick up my race package. It turned out we were too early so we strolled the water's edge where we saw an old "boat car" driving in and out of the lake. What a strange contraption! We had a classic burger, fries and shake lunch at French's hot dog stand, which has been operating on the beach since 1920.

Chris slept off his lunch while we drove out of town along the triathlon's bike course. When we got back into town and Chris had finished leafing through the Maxim magazine that was one of his 13th birthday presents we returned to the beach for my race kit. We ended up staying for a while to watch some of the Kids of Steel triathlon races, just like we did in Cobourg. I always get a kick out of them.

Heading back into the downtown we discovered that Orillia was in the grip of an enormous display of restored automobiles. Eight blocks were closed off and perhaps as many as 300 restored automobiles were lining the streets. There had clearly been a lot of love and attention paid to these vehicles. Almost all had been restored to mint condition, many had been customised. I've posted photos on my Flickr page if you're a car nut, Chris and I were just bemused pedestrians.

Father and SonWhen the afternoon ended it was time for (groan) dinner. We joined ten of my triathlon club mates at Montana's Cookhouse. Most of us had the chicken penne for the pre-race protein and carbs, but Chris went with the ribs. At the end of the meal the staff, who had been alerted to Chris' birth date, brought out a big moose antler hat for Chris to wear while they sang. Too bad I left the camera in the car!

With that important humiliation out of the way it was time to return Chris to his camp and then find my motel. Race day started at 6:00 AM the following morning and I needed my sleep!

Race report tomorrow...

Listening to: Gyasi Went Home by Bedouin Soundclash from Sounding A Mosaic.

No comments:

Post a Comment