Day 66 July 11, 2011 Barrie to Orillia 44km – Mike’s View
11 Jul
A nice and early wake-up (as usual), and I found it difficult to get out of the big and comfy bed at the Holiday-Inn Express. First thing was a quick shower then downstairs for a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausages, bacon, pancakes, a cinnamon bun and a yogurt! Hey, we have a big day ahead of us.
Riley, Derek, Lauren and Jeannie filled the rental car while I took the MCC to the Hitch House in Barrie, where the rest of our problems would be fixed (hopefully)!
All went well for me there, except it was hot! Very, very hot! The Weather Channel said it was going to be mid 30's, but feel like 40 with the humidity. When I texted Lauren at 10:30am to see how Riley was doing, she said he was sitting in the rental car with the A/C blaring and he had already completely wrung out both shirts and shorts from sweat twice. Yikes!
The RV was almost completely repaired (the windshield wipers still don't work because they would need to order parts) by noon. Jeannie, Lauren and Derek all had to leave at 1pm to catch their flights, so I rushed to catch up with them.
I joined them in Morning Star Park, just off the highway. We all said our goodbyes and our See Ya Laters, and suddenly it was just Riley and I again. We sat for a while chatting on the grass, then decided to move into the newly repaired and Air Conditioned MCC. As soon as we got in, we both sort of stood at the top of the steps and almost at the same time said "Well, it looks like it's back to just you and I."
After a short chuckle it was back to running for Riley, and back to the drivers seat for me.
The early afternoon was rather uneventful as he ran through a few small communities, but then Google Maps told us to take Highway 11. Riley did not like this, as he had been on it this morning and had called it "HELL". I opted to re-route us onto the next non-highway road, which is a long and empty farming road, which was quite nice for Riley.
All day there had been dark clouds hanging above us, along with the heat and high humidity, it was only a matter of time before the downpour came. That time was 4:00pm. Riley stepped into the RV to cool down, rest for a bit and snack as it rained. 20 mins later he was back on the road with only 8km left to complete his 50km day. He ran 1 more, then walked 2km to finish at only 45km instead of the scheduled 50km.
This was a necessary decision as he was having tight muscles, which were causing him to run differently, which in turn stresses other muscles and joints, so it was time to turn in before causing any more serious damage.
We then had to get back to business, and the first thing on the list was dumping. Yes, I know this is gross and not necessary to put in the blog, but it is a part of our lives and life on the road, so there you go. If you would really like to avoid this subject then please move on to the next paragraph. Anyways, our RV stank! That is the best and only way to describe it. We have not dumped in days! Possibly a week, and we recently had up to 12 people in the RV at the same time, and a number of us (yes, me included) had sudden upset stomachs. The warm temperatures may have also had something to do with the extreme stench, but it was so bad that Riley almost decided to stay outside in the heat rather than in the air-conditioned MCC. Needless to say, this had to be attended to immediately.
We drove a half hour to arrive at a campground just north of Barrie. The office was closed until 7pm due to "dinner", so we had to wait a half hour. Riley and I used this time to update our blogs (I'm writing this blog). I spoke to the owner when she arrived, and she let us use their dumping station for free; a big thanks to Hammock Harbour RV Park.
We are now dumped and full of fresh water, ready to go for the next stretch of running.
It is now 8:00pm, and not only have we not had dinner, we aren't even sure where we will be staying the night. I guess that's next.
Tonight could be another late night, and I bet that tomorrow will be another early morning. Ahh, life on the road…
-Michael Downie
Riley, Derek, Lauren and Jeannie filled the rental car while I took the MCC to the Hitch House in Barrie, where the rest of our problems would be fixed (hopefully)!
All went well for me there, except it was hot! Very, very hot! The Weather Channel said it was going to be mid 30's, but feel like 40 with the humidity. When I texted Lauren at 10:30am to see how Riley was doing, she said he was sitting in the rental car with the A/C blaring and he had already completely wrung out both shirts and shorts from sweat twice. Yikes!
The RV was almost completely repaired (the windshield wipers still don't work because they would need to order parts) by noon. Jeannie, Lauren and Derek all had to leave at 1pm to catch their flights, so I rushed to catch up with them.
I joined them in Morning Star Park, just off the highway. We all said our goodbyes and our See Ya Laters, and suddenly it was just Riley and I again. We sat for a while chatting on the grass, then decided to move into the newly repaired and Air Conditioned MCC. As soon as we got in, we both sort of stood at the top of the steps and almost at the same time said "Well, it looks like it's back to just you and I."
After a short chuckle it was back to running for Riley, and back to the drivers seat for me.
The early afternoon was rather uneventful as he ran through a few small communities, but then Google Maps told us to take Highway 11. Riley did not like this, as he had been on it this morning and had called it "HELL". I opted to re-route us onto the next non-highway road, which is a long and empty farming road, which was quite nice for Riley.
All day there had been dark clouds hanging above us, along with the heat and high humidity, it was only a matter of time before the downpour came. That time was 4:00pm. Riley stepped into the RV to cool down, rest for a bit and snack as it rained. 20 mins later he was back on the road with only 8km left to complete his 50km day. He ran 1 more, then walked 2km to finish at only 45km instead of the scheduled 50km.
This was a necessary decision as he was having tight muscles, which were causing him to run differently, which in turn stresses other muscles and joints, so it was time to turn in before causing any more serious damage.
We then had to get back to business, and the first thing on the list was dumping. Yes, I know this is gross and not necessary to put in the blog, but it is a part of our lives and life on the road, so there you go. If you would really like to avoid this subject then please move on to the next paragraph. Anyways, our RV stank! That is the best and only way to describe it. We have not dumped in days! Possibly a week, and we recently had up to 12 people in the RV at the same time, and a number of us (yes, me included) had sudden upset stomachs. The warm temperatures may have also had something to do with the extreme stench, but it was so bad that Riley almost decided to stay outside in the heat rather than in the air-conditioned MCC. Needless to say, this had to be attended to immediately.
We drove a half hour to arrive at a campground just north of Barrie. The office was closed until 7pm due to "dinner", so we had to wait a half hour. Riley and I used this time to update our blogs (I'm writing this blog). I spoke to the owner when she arrived, and she let us use their dumping station for free; a big thanks to Hammock Harbour RV Park.
We are now dumped and full of fresh water, ready to go for the next stretch of running.
It is now 8:00pm, and not only have we not had dinner, we aren't even sure where we will be staying the night. I guess that's next.
Tonight could be another late night, and I bet that tomorrow will be another early morning. Ahh, life on the road…
-Michael Downie
