Days 311 to 323: Nearing the end...

I felt very lucky as days 311 and 312 were spent up in Ontario cottage country. After picking up my friend around noon we headed up to our headquarters for the next couple of days.

But not before a first stop at a local bakery. I discovered that if they tell you the butter tart is runny, you’d better listen to them! I made quite a mess on the floor.

And! We discovered the world’s largest Muskoka chair. No joke.


We got to the hotel shortly after 3 pm.

And look at the price!

($400 per night!) That’s pretty much why I can’t stay in the room normally!

We started out taking it easy by going for a swim and shooting the breeze. Around 6 pm, they had “raid the fridge night”. What was this, then? Well, they got out all the good food that kids (and big kids like yours truly) enjoy – nachos, brownies, lemonade… you get the idea!

We took a bit but not too much as we were off to enjoy dinner – again, on the house!

I actually tried swordfish… it was great!

After having a brewski we took it easy, watched some youtube clips and headed to bed (after a late night swim of course).

Day 312 and it was still in relaxation mode. We got up, and had breakfast – FREE! Look at this yummy waffle, tastily done in two minutes.

After breakfast… more swimming, a nap, Let’s Make a Deal, and then checkout.

We decided to go for a dive in Bala on the way home. Which was of course, wonderful, and freakin’ warm! Outside and in the water. Relaxing as all gets out.

We then drove home and actually drove by where my family used to have a cottage. Good times, great memories.

Day 313 and it was bonding win the car again… all the way to Kingston to visit with Kay and Jeff, my friends from the UK who were over visiting. (That's Cheeks the baboon, in case you're wondering).

We had a great lunch at Chez Piggy, followed by a bit of a walk around and a visit to White Mountain Ice Cream (which if you haven’t been, you should go, it’s delightful).

On the way home I also took in the Germany-Spain footy semi-final on the radio… it was definitely exciting! But a tiring day too, that’s a long 700 km drive!

I had a exciting time on Day 314 in that I got to babysit! It was for a good friend and it was great… we played Monopoly Princess Edition (I lost), Hungry Hungry Hippos (I lost), some other game (I’m sure I still lost) and watched some Wipeout. Good, wholesome fun!

Day 315 brought some different excitement… a friend of a friend got tickets to see Legally Blonde: The Musical. We had a great dinner of Indian food before the show and the production itself was superb. Fun, loose, exciting. Songs are still stuck in my head.

I got a call during the evening of Day 315 which led me back up north for Day 316. I wasn’t supposed to go diving but I ended up going out on the boat anyway. Actually it turned into a really nice day – clear sky, awesome boat ride, and a couple of fun dives as well.

Later that night I dropped over to my friend’s house to play some games… we ended up chilling with a round of “Things” as well as $25,000 Pyramid. Which is difficult to play if you haven’t seen the show, but I digress.

Day 317 and it was all hands on deck. Yes, it was the day of the world cup of football final (a bit of a snoozer) but it was time to rip apart my couch! I am inheriting a love seat so it was time to get rid of the big pull out bed couch that hadn’t really become a productive member of society.

And the aftermath... inside and outside.

All in all a great time was had by all, and it was nice discovering the room I had never had.

Day 318 and it was back up to Barrie for a discover scuba night. It is always exciting to introduce new divers to the world of diving. And one of them signed up for a course… bonus!

Day 319 and as part of my “bouncing” up and down with my house in the middle, I popped down to Pina’s house to meet with her and Jimmy to shoot our video for Le Moment De Vérité. We had a great laugh doing it and it was up to me to edit it (as that night we had enjoyed ourselves too much to spend time in front of an editing bay!).

Never have I spent so much time playing Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Day 320… back up to Barrie to run a night diving course… Day 321 (contact?) back down to Toronto to visit with a friend of mine from out East who I hadn’t seen in a couple of years, and it was great to catch up. He was in town for work so we went out for some pub grub.

I think at this point that a) Gunther feels neglected and b) I should buy stock in public transport in Toronto.

Day 322 and it was back up to Barrie. Enjoyed a great dive with a new diver and then off to lunch.

It was also one of those days whereby you just want to take it easy and that’s what I did. It was my friend’s birthday so we spent the afternoon underwater practicing our matrix moves. Is there a club for this? There must be, somewhere.

We had a great birthday dinner featuring three types of cheesecake! Followed by a showing of The Sorcerers’ Apprentice at a theatre downtown. Which now features recliners in some of the chairs! Hot dog.

Day 323 and after driving home it was time to get ready for another game night. Discovered that while Press Your Luck rocks that DVD games don’t always!

Next time… more catching up and SUPER EXCITEMENT!

Cheers,
Vick.