We woke up today in Mattawa, Ontario a quaint little town sitting on the Ottawa River. Directly across the water staring us right in the face was my next big accomplishment, Quebec! Ryan teased me all night long that he was going to find a Canoe, paddle his way across the river, portage the Canoe over the mountain until he crossed the border into Quebec. The sad thing is I was a little scared by this, as I actually believed that the OX could actually succeed in doing that. I slept with one eye open.
Ryan has been talking a lot of smack to me lately and it is time to humble his green, youthful boldness. I am letting everyone know right now, I am going to beat Ryan fair and square in a sprint off to the Quebec Sign. No fooling or Tricking, I am taking my fourth province and the out right championship by beating Ryan physically as a man should. We will see whose chest is puffed out prancing around like a peacock when all is said and done, I can guarantee it will not be my puberbescent little brother.
Our Uncle Dave was so right. He mentioned to us that his favorite time to ride was at dusk. Somewhere between 6PM and sunset. This is by far my favorite time. The temperature is perfect, the extraordinaire sunsets are magical, the roads quiet, the animals out; it is honestly the essence of tranquility. (I have never used that word in my entire life-However the definition of tranquil now for me is cycling Canada at sunset.)
Russ is convinced he is going to meet his one true soul mate in the next week. He says she is waiting for him in Quebec, with one spoon and a massive plate of Poutine. What describes romance better to Russ than Cheese Curds and gravy! Russ has begun to drive me loopier than ever. Russ is the king of getting under peoples skin, he knows when he has you and when he has you it is over. For the last four days in preparation for Quebec Russ has been singing Shania Twain songs, if that isn’t annoying enough Russ keeps telling me that she is French Canadian. Now I know Russ knows Shania is not French Canadian however he knows if he continues to pretend that he thinks Shania is Celine Dion eventually I am going to explode. He almost had me today as he belted out “ Man, I feel like a woman” in a French Canadian accent and then said, “ I love that girl, and she had the best movie song ever in Titanic.”
Russ used to always listen to me. He was my guy. If I ever needed back up, something done or if I had a fun filled fact, Russ would be all ears. It all changed about five years ago. Five years ago, I started to teach abroad. Through out those five years I probably saw Russ a combined five times. I have noticed a change in his attitude, receptiveness and our relationship and know that there is a little bit of a disconnect between us. Missing a lot of Russ’s formative learning years, he has some serious angst and brother issues regarding me, something I have tried to work on throughout this trip. We are currently considering sneaking counseling and some guidance. However it has been difficult. During these five years abroad, Russ started a real BRO-MANCE (Truest sense of the word-Brother Romance) with a guy named Gaylen Franklin. Gaylen is the greatest guy in the world and I am a huge fan of his however Russ LOVES him. Says he is the older brother he never had. Russ will do whatever he wants, when he wants, how he wants. I guess when you spend so much time together working those long, hard shifts for the Town of Comox you are bound to bond. Russ quotes him all the time and believes that Gaylen literally could walk on water. Anytime I have tried to have a serious conversation with Russ this trip he will always reference talking to Gaylen first and seeing what he says. Russ’s analogies always have to do with food; I will give you one that he gave to me. “Scotty, you are the Presidents Choice of Peanut Butter, you do the job, nothing really special, are good enough but not quite the real thing. Gaylen is the Skippy of the Peanut Butter world, a pillar of quality and taste. In the end Presidents Choice just does not compare to Skippy.”
SO GAYLEN I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE TELL RUSS SHANIA TWAIN IS NOT CELINE DION AND TO STOP PRETENDING THAT SHE IS.
We arrived in Cobden, Ontario at 9:30PM after finishing 185KM with a helpful push from a lovely tail wind. Cobden, population 1,000 had zero food outlets still open so we scrambled to make it to the gas station on time and had a really healthy dinner of chips and Gatorade. As darkness approached, Ryan and I took off to set up our tents where we decided to stay the night on the Pentacostal churches lawn. Russ and Sean who had stayed behind to charge their precious i-Phones would follow. After 30 minutes Ryan and I were worried about the other two. I walked from behind the perched church to look and see where they were, when I passed the corner I saw a cop car, Russ and Sean, and them pulling their ID’s out. The story will be told in more depth in tomorrows blog!
We just need to make it to Ottawa!
Ryan has been talking a lot of smack to me lately and it is time to humble his green, youthful boldness. I am letting everyone know right now, I am going to beat Ryan fair and square in a sprint off to the Quebec Sign. No fooling or Tricking, I am taking my fourth province and the out right championship by beating Ryan physically as a man should. We will see whose chest is puffed out prancing around like a peacock when all is said and done, I can guarantee it will not be my puberbescent little brother.
Our Uncle Dave was so right. He mentioned to us that his favorite time to ride was at dusk. Somewhere between 6PM and sunset. This is by far my favorite time. The temperature is perfect, the extraordinaire sunsets are magical, the roads quiet, the animals out; it is honestly the essence of tranquility. (I have never used that word in my entire life-However the definition of tranquil now for me is cycling Canada at sunset.)
Russ is convinced he is going to meet his one true soul mate in the next week. He says she is waiting for him in Quebec, with one spoon and a massive plate of Poutine. What describes romance better to Russ than Cheese Curds and gravy! Russ has begun to drive me loopier than ever. Russ is the king of getting under peoples skin, he knows when he has you and when he has you it is over. For the last four days in preparation for Quebec Russ has been singing Shania Twain songs, if that isn’t annoying enough Russ keeps telling me that she is French Canadian. Now I know Russ knows Shania is not French Canadian however he knows if he continues to pretend that he thinks Shania is Celine Dion eventually I am going to explode. He almost had me today as he belted out “ Man, I feel like a woman” in a French Canadian accent and then said, “ I love that girl, and she had the best movie song ever in Titanic.”
Russ used to always listen to me. He was my guy. If I ever needed back up, something done or if I had a fun filled fact, Russ would be all ears. It all changed about five years ago. Five years ago, I started to teach abroad. Through out those five years I probably saw Russ a combined five times. I have noticed a change in his attitude, receptiveness and our relationship and know that there is a little bit of a disconnect between us. Missing a lot of Russ’s formative learning years, he has some serious angst and brother issues regarding me, something I have tried to work on throughout this trip. We are currently considering sneaking counseling and some guidance. However it has been difficult. During these five years abroad, Russ started a real BRO-MANCE (Truest sense of the word-Brother Romance) with a guy named Gaylen Franklin. Gaylen is the greatest guy in the world and I am a huge fan of his however Russ LOVES him. Says he is the older brother he never had. Russ will do whatever he wants, when he wants, how he wants. I guess when you spend so much time together working those long, hard shifts for the Town of Comox you are bound to bond. Russ quotes him all the time and believes that Gaylen literally could walk on water. Anytime I have tried to have a serious conversation with Russ this trip he will always reference talking to Gaylen first and seeing what he says. Russ’s analogies always have to do with food; I will give you one that he gave to me. “Scotty, you are the Presidents Choice of Peanut Butter, you do the job, nothing really special, are good enough but not quite the real thing. Gaylen is the Skippy of the Peanut Butter world, a pillar of quality and taste. In the end Presidents Choice just does not compare to Skippy.”
SO GAYLEN I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE TELL RUSS SHANIA TWAIN IS NOT CELINE DION AND TO STOP PRETENDING THAT SHE IS.
We arrived in Cobden, Ontario at 9:30PM after finishing 185KM with a helpful push from a lovely tail wind. Cobden, population 1,000 had zero food outlets still open so we scrambled to make it to the gas station on time and had a really healthy dinner of chips and Gatorade. As darkness approached, Ryan and I took off to set up our tents where we decided to stay the night on the Pentacostal churches lawn. Russ and Sean who had stayed behind to charge their precious i-Phones would follow. After 30 minutes Ryan and I were worried about the other two. I walked from behind the perched church to look and see where they were, when I passed the corner I saw a cop car, Russ and Sean, and them pulling their ID’s out. The story will be told in more depth in tomorrows blog!
We just need to make it to Ottawa!
RSS Feed