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I got up a lot more easilly than I thought I would. I quickly cleaned up and got downstairs, and had to wait around while everyone else was trying to get up. girl, NY and Windelynn had arrived and were getting ready to pack the cars.
The drive out of the city was quite easy since there wasn't any traffic. It wasn't until we got off the expressway before I started to get tired. We had stopped off at a gas station near the intersection and I took the lead. After a few minutes, we were flashed by the other car and stopped. They insisted that we were driving south, while I was adamant that I was driving north. We argued about it for a several minutes until I pointed at the brightening horizon and stated:
"The sun rises in the east, so we are going north."
And that, as they say, was that.
While I was driving, DL was taking pictures of the sunrise. We came across a very scenic spot on the highway which overlooked a lake. It faced east so one could see the rising sun across the calm waters. It was a picture perfect location, but I was driving by way too quickly for her to take a shot and with my limited window of conciousness, I decided that it was better to continue driving than to stop for a few postcard pictures.
The drive up was fairly uneventful. We had fruitless searches for food, and eventually stopped for several minutes at an intersection so that I could take a quick nap. I might've been taking those corners a little quickly, but most of my passengers were asleep so I didn't think it would bother them too much.
We arrived at the recreation centre pretty much on time. We had plenty of time to wake up, eat some food, and stretch. We got registered, I got some postcards and something to hold onto my sunglasses so they don't disappear into the river (I can't remember what they're called) and we sat in on the orientation speech. (Which was longish, and we were in the back so it was pretty tough for us to hear anything.) Actually, I probably shouldn't have bought those glass things for nine bucks. The elastics that came with our shoes were good enough for the job! (DL, NY,, and Windelynn all used them. *shakes fist*) Afterward, we picked up the equipment and headed back to the car to wait. That's when I decided to go shirtless and apply a bit more sunscreen. NY went a little crazy with the stuff, putting on several coats (at least it seemed that way too me).
We then got on the bus and headed out to the launch site. We met our guide and got in the raft. We were given the usual welcome speech and rules. After a quick overview of the commands he'd use (like "hard forward", "back left", and "hold on!") we were off!
The first rapid was one of the bigger rapids on the trip, and we got through it without any problems. One of the rafts flipped while trying to surf it, so our guide went out to help him flip it back, but we lost our chance to surf that rapid because there were so many other rafts there and the river was clogged with kayakers. We were actually going in for a run but some kayakers sneaked in so either we ran them over or we got out of the way. Oh well, there would be more chances right?
After was a break while we waited for the rest of the rafts so mos of us got out and had a quick dip in the river. I was one of the two who stayed on the raft. On hindsight, I probably should've gone in, but I wasn't really in the mood to get wet quite yet.
We had a couple more smaller rapids before we took a lunch break and had an opportunity to jump off a rock into the river. It was actually quite fun, except for the fact that you're jumping directly into the current and there was a good possiblity that you'd be swept downstream by the flow. I was one of them and had to be rescued by the safety guys downriver. *hangs head in shame* No, I'm not a good swimmer.
We then had another chance for more surfing at another rapid and this time we made good on our attempt. I was in the front and since I had never surfed before, I was surprised to see how sudden it was. First there was a wall of water in front of me, and then we were in the water. Glug, glug, glug. It was great! We tried for a second time with other guys in front but we didn't have the power.
<- was paddling. *hangs head again*
Our guide was telling us the names of the rapids as we came across them. One of them was called "Coliseum" and then the one after that was called "Dog's Leg" then he went through the story of how the the rapid was named "Dog's Leg" and.. okay, to make a long story short, the punchline was that the people pointed down the river at the rapid and said:
"There's the collie. See em?"
He had to repeat it again before I got it. *groans*
We then had a few more rapids before going out for another dip in the river, which I took advantage of. The water was very warm. It was amazingly warm, and combined with the hot, sunny, and clear day made it feel more like a heated swimming pool rather than a river. (Had it been in June I would've been freezing my butt off!) It was cool letting the current roll me around in my life jacket. If it wasn't for it I'd be flailing my arms around madly while trying to stay afloat. Maybe I should take up swimming again. *thinks* Nah.
One more rapid was all the was left before we got onto the pontoon for some lunch. The food was okay, and I needed the rest since I found out that I had burned both of my upper thighs and my left shoulder. Most of us had some sort of burn here or there except for NY who, thanks to those multiple layers of sunscreen, was whiter after the event than before!
We got back to the centre and watched a video that they put together. It wasn't that great, but showed some of the highlights of the trip. Since there were eight rafts altogether, our group didn't get all too much airtime. I might try to edit the copy that I have to show a bit more of us..
Finally, it was time to go. We got back into the cars and got ready for the trip to Montreal.
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The drive to Montreal was fairly uneventful. Well, as uneventfull as driving in Montreal can get. With no on/off ramps, and the crazy way Montrealers drive, things can get pretty hairy pretty quickly. You get used to it though. Besides, it kept me awake long enough for us to make it in. The only hiccup came when we came to an intersection and the other car went forward. NY (who was awake amazingly enough) muttered
"Hey.. aren't they're supposed to turn left here?"
Really? *continues following other car* Well, I figure that they knew what they were doing since.. well, they knew what they were doing. *scratches head* Anyway, we did make it in without any problems.
Oh heh, I forgot about the two RVs and getting lost. Heh. Anyhoo, as we were leaving the site, I kept asking DL for directions. My memory (as we all know) is not the greatest, and I was already zoned from driving all night and rafting all day. The heat also got to me, but I was wide awake and ready to drive. Anyhoo, my brain wasn't functioning properly so I kept asking at most major intersections if I was to continue forward or turn. After ten minutes or so, the road didn't look very familiar. In fact, we all realized that we were lost. girl wanted us to stop and/or turn back, while I (being a guy) was pretty much all for pushing forward. Fortunately, DY did have a written map (of some sort) that indicated that the road we were taking would make it to civilization at some point in time. (The provincial road map didn't show any of these small roads.) So I trusted her map and went forward. (No, I never learn from past mistakes of listening to driving directions from women.) Anyhoo, after fifteen minutes or so, we found our way to a large highway. I wanted to turn left (since it looked like highway 17), and that would be going towards Montreal while the rest of the car (well, girl and DL) insisted on going right since they thought it was county road 7. We went right. Guess what? I was right! *does the "I was right" dance*
Hey, I've got to celebrate when I get the chance. It doesn't happen often.
Anyhoo, after we made a U-turn (and stole a CD from JW) we ended up behind these two RVs that were going right at the speed limit. With a busy two-laned windy highway, it's very difficult to pass a car, much less two RVs! Within twenty minutes, we had a huge convoy of cars and trucks that stretched out behind us like a long accordian. Fotuntaely, there were passing lanes that appeared eventually, and we passed the RVs. Unfortunately, a pickup truck passed us before the passing lane ended and he slowed down to about ten over. Again, we had a huge line of cars and trucks that continued on behind us. My lord, everyone in the province is a speeder except for the one driver in front of us (and the two RV guys - although I personally wouldn't want to speed in an RV either). We had to wait for the next passing lane thing before we could get around the pickup and then.. ah well. I try to avoid two-lane highways if I don't have to use then.
The house quickly filled with people from the rest of the family. We ate dinner and took turns taking showers. Actually, everyone took turns taking showers in the upstairs bathroom while I was the only one who braved the bottom bathroom. Why was that? And why didn't they mention something until after I had taken my shower? *scratches head* Hmm, fingers are clean. *shrugs*
The rest of the night was spent vegging. There wasn't much on the TV, although they show Mutant X was the one where JJ had a cameo on. I think that episode must've been shown already though.
The highlight of the night I would say was when they took the rabbit of the cage to play with it. Let's just say that they didn't seem to like this rabbit all that much, and eventually it took refuge on my lap. It spent the next half-hour exploring my stomach and tried fruitlessly to dig and bite through my shirt. From what I've been told, he doesn't to it with anyone else. Strange, it was like the rabbit was trying to dig a new home or something. Well, I guess he could make himself at home, but I didn't know what that would mean. Then KW noticed something:
"Hey, the rabbit's pooing on you."
What?!? *pulls rabbit off lap* There, on my shirt, were a number of little brown pellets. Oh crap. Oh yeah, it might seem punny to you! Someone took the rabbit and I proceeded to clean the stuff off. Fortunately it was dry and easy to remove and unless something was wrong with my nose, it didn't smell which is good since I liked that shirt.
So that was my adventure with the rabbit. I decided to take that as a sign and went upstairs to get ready for bed. I wandered into JC's room and caught the end of 'Meet the Parents' which I hadn't seen. I don't think I was missing much, but then I looked at JC's DVD collection and noticed 'Shrek'. I mentioned to NY that I hadn't seen 'Shrek' and she gave me that "you must be kidding" type of look and asked if I wanted to watch it. *blink* *looks at watch* Well, it's late and I do have a five our drive the next day.. sure why not? *gets comfortable*
So there we were, sitting around in JC's room watching 'Shrek'. Since a few people were sleeping in that room, I felt bad for keeping them up until we had finished watching the flick. Oh well, at least it was a good movie. I went straight to bed afterward.
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