CCCT 2012 - August 4-8/12 - Days 77-81

Cross Canada Cycling Tour - August 4-8, 2012, Days 77-81
Ottawa Rest Days- Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday
Saturday -Day 77
We cycled to Kunstadt Bicycle Shop in the Glebe and left our bikes there for maintenance. We both had new chains and rear cassettes installed as we had now completed over 5000 kms of our CCCT. My daughter, Lise, was there waiting to give us a ride home in my Jetta which she had been taking care of while we were away. On the way home Lise asked us to stop at Future Shop on Merivale. She had bought a new camera for her trip to Kenya where she planned to visit her friend Stella and summit Mount Kilimanjaro. She had brought her new camera into work and had asked one of her colleagues to take some pictures with it. Unfortunately, he dropped it and broke it. Future Shop would not repair it under warranty as the damage was clearly caused by neglect. Lise went next door to Best Buy to see if she could get a new camera for less than the ones that were available at Future Shop. She ended up buying a new camera at Best Buy. After collecting her mail I dropped Lise off at Baseline Station so she could get the bus back home.
I returned home and picked up Bev and we went over to COSTCO for lunch and groceries. I also had to pickup a prescription at Shopper's at Merivale Mall and get more groceries at Farm Boy. It was kind of nice to have my car back to get around to all the various shops. It would have taken us all day on our bikes. Meanwhile our visitors had gone to Upper Canada Village for the day to see the re-enactment of the War of 1812. I lay down for a nap at 3:00 and got up at 4:00. I BBQ some marinated chicken breast (5) for dinner and we had them with a Greek salad from COSTCO and a beer. My neighbour, Cheryl, came over with her bike rack, which I had asked to borrow so we could go and pick up our bikes on Sunday. Later in the evening I worked on my blog before going off to bed at 11:30.
Sunday - Day 78
Slept in until 8:00 AM. I slept poorly due to my sore left shoulder. After breakfast I put Cheryl's bike rack on the Jetta. Bev made raisin bread French Toast for breakfast. We drove to Kunstadt and picked up our bikes. I also got a patch kit for free. I spoke to Mike Plumer, bike technician, who had to come up from the basement as they were cleaning up due to some flooding. I told him Jan from Velorution in Sault Ste. Marie said hello. Jan and Mike used to work together. We managed to get our bikes loaded on the bike rack just before the heavens opened up. We drove home in torrential rain. By the time we got home it had stopped raining. We unloaded our bikes and put them away in the garage. I had some left over pizza for lunch before laying down for a nap while Bev read her book. Later on we drove out to Eric and Marilyn's place in Orleans for a BBQ and played some cards. Bill, Stella and Nancy were also there. Diane came over to say hello. They had just gotten back from Pennsylvania after a 10 hour drive. Sebastian had decorated the house with balloons and "Happy Birthday" signs for Bev and I. There was a cake with "Happy Birthday Rolly" on it and ice cream for dessert. We played 7 card Euchre. I lost. Soon it was time to say goodbye and drive home. We arrived back home at 10:00 and were off to bed by 11:00.
Monday - Day 79
Got up at 8:00 AM and after breakfast went out and started breaking up the pile of dead branches in the front yard and stuffing them in leaf bags. Bev, Frank, Lori and Andrew all helped. We bundled up the larger branches and several other leaf bags left by my gardener at the front of the house for pick-up on Saturday. My hands were very sore. I saw Rob, my neighbour, leaving for work. He said he was waiting for the branches to "dry out" before getting rid of them! In the meantime the grass was pretty well dead where the branches had been. I returned Cheryl's bike rack. Bob, her ex, and his new wife came by to pick-up the boys. Cheryl took her dogs to Bruce Pit for a walk. Lori and Frank took Bev and I out to a Vietnamese Restaurant for lunch and treated me for my birthday. They had never been to a "genuine" Vietnamese restaurant before. Andrew was allowed to stay home and play on his Xbox. He said "we needed some adult time alone". When we got back home Lori, Frank and Andrew went off to Mont Cascade Water Slide Park. I lay down for a nap while Bev read her book. I got up at 4:30 and worked on my bike. I fixed the front fender mud flap with rivets, pumped up the tires and cleaned the rims. Keith came over and trimmed the front yard bushes. He was very pleased to see all the branches were cleaned up. Bev and I had left over BBQ chicken sandwiches and corn on the cob for dinner. I worked on my blog while Bev watched a movie. Our visitors were back from the Water Park and Lori, who was very tired, was off to bed at 10:00. We were soon off to bed also at 11:00.
Tuesday - Day 80
I got up at 7:30. I slept poorly again because of my sore left shoulder. Did some work on my blog then drove over to Dalehurst, parked and walked to Dr. Nadolny's office. It was CLOSED. I waited until 9:35 AM but there was still no sign of the office opening. I drove to RBC at Centrepointe and deposited Nana's birthday cheque. I then drove to the barber shop/license bureau. The license bureau had moved to Slack Road. I got my hair cut and my beard trimmed for $20. I stopped at Shopper's to renew my Tylenol Rx but discovered there were no more refills. They faxed the doctor's office to get the Doctor to authorize a new Rx. I returned home and Bev and I drove out to Orleans to TranDee to get pedicures. I went for groceries while Bev was getting her nails done. I got myself a slice of pizza and a diet coke at Metro for lunch before going back to pick-up Bev. She treated me to a pedicure for my birthday since I had paid for the groceries. We stopped off a Villa Orleans, where Bev works, so she could discuss her return to work date. We drove to Dr. Nadolny's office on Woodroffe. I saw Danette at the reception. She told me Dr. Nadolny was unable to see me as she was quite busy as she was just back from holidays. She also confirmed that Dr. N. does not do Cortisone shots. She gave me the phone number of a doctor who does C shots. Once we were back home Bev took the dogs out for a walk. Our visitors had gone to Montreal for the day. I called the doctor who does C shots and left a voice mail.
Wednesday - Day 81
Unable to sleep because of sore left shoulder. Got up at 7:00 AM, had some breakfast and worked on my blog while Bev had a lie in. We drove to Carlingwood mall where I had hoped to renew my license plate sticker but the vending machine was shut down. Apparently someone had hacked into their computers and so they had to shut down all the terminals. We found a Post Office in the mall and Bev mailed a memory stick to Aprille, her friend in Vancouver, with Ottawa visit and Whistler visit photos. We shopped for socks in Sears for Bev before checking her lottery tickets. No winners!!! We drove to the Vanier Legion for lunch with the Old F.A.R.T.S.  About 16 people showed up for cabbage rolls with mashed potatoes. After lunch we drove to Service Canada's new office on Merivale Road at Slack Road. Their "debit machines" were down so everyone had to pay cash for their transactions i.e. license sticker in my case. Stopped at the LCBO for some wine on the way home at 2:30 PM. I remembered that we had laundry in the dryer and went downstairs to fold it before taking it upstairs. I also noticed that one of the dogs had had an accident on the basement floor tiles. It had to be Mickey as Bella could not negotiate the basement stairs. It was raining very heavily which caused some flooding in the basement. I put down some rags to soak up the water. I lay down for a nap at 4:30. Dr. Nadolny's receptionist called re my Rx for Tylenol pain killers. She promised she would fax the pharmacy before the end of the day so that I could get a refill as soon as Dr N. signed the authorization. Lise called and asked to be picked up at Lincoln Fields. I got up at 5:30 and did some packing. Keith called from Loblaws at College Square wanting to know if he needed to get anything for the spaghetti dinner he was going to prepare for Bev and I. I got the hamburger out of the freezer in the basement. Keith arrived at 6:30. Lise sent him a text message re picking her up. Apparently the phone was off the hook upstairs in the MB and she couldn't get through to me. I drove out to Lincoln Fields and picked her up where she was waiting outside Moores. We drove to the Merivale Mall where, after a wait of 15 minutes, I was finally able to pick up my Tylenol Rx. I also bought 3 Gatorade @ $5.00 for tomorrow's ride. I needed some cash since I had paid cash for my license plate sticker so stopped at the Esso RBC ATM and got $100 on the way home. Dinner was almost ready. Keith had been busy preparing a spaghetti sauce, etc. I opened a bottle of red wine - a Bollo Valpolicela 2011. Very nice. Frank grated some of his "stinky" goat cheese which tasted very nice with the spaghetti sauce. There was chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. Bev and I did the dishes and cleaned up. Lori wiped up the dog pee in the basement. I wrung out the wet rags and hung them up to dry. Lise took the Jetta and drove Keith home. Did some more packing while Bev made ham and cheese sandwiches for tomorrow's ride. Off to bed at 11:00
Bev and Roly