I had a blast at Grand Bend with Olivia!

He said

After we blasted though my run of work days, before we knew it we were at Wednesday, post work in the driveway loading up both vehicles for our extended time away at the trailer. Thursday was our first day off together, but the plan was as soon as the work day was done, we would make a beeline for the trailer. Since the Sherwood’s were headed up earlier in the day, they grabbed Emelia and took her up to the trailer with them. With her there, in less than an hour of me getting home from work, Danielle & I were on our way up to the trailer, minus the few side trips we had (grocery store, LCBO, etc.). By 9pm we were relaxing by the Sherwood’s fire pit and I was admiring the first bit of ‘work’ I had to do this week, which was change over the solar LED lights on the deck that had long since stopped accepting solar charge. After attempting to change the batteries unsuccessfully, we moved on to AC powered LEDs.

Thursday morning knowing that our big run at the End To End on the G2G Rail Trail was coming up on Saturday I set out to get in a prep solo ride to warm up my legs. I managed 30km going just out to the other side of Blyth heading toward Walton and back. It was a great ride and everything felt wonderfully in place for the big fondo on Saturday. But the big deal on Thursday was we were sneaking back into London to have a surprise party for Mom & Dad were celebrating their 60th Wedding Anniversary. So after we cleaned up and headed back to London we all met up with the rest of the family at Oakcrossing. To say Mom & Dad were surprised would be an understatement of the year! It was so great to be all back together in one room after the last couple of years. (Thank you Matthew for organizing this/wrangling us together!) We spent a few hours together over dinner together, and then shortly thereafter we were headed back to the trailer.

Saturday was the biggest day with the planned run from Guelph to Goderich on the G2G Rail Trail! We struck out from Auburn around just after 7:30am or so with the hopes of being able to start the run from Guelph just after 9:00am. And we weren’t far off that. The last stab Justin, Steph and I took at this felt very similar. The big difference this go-around was Steph had an eBike which would make all the difference in getting us all the way through. Like my solo run last September we got out of the gates good so-to-speak and before we knew it, we were at The Kissing Bridge and then motoring on from there. Same as the last two times, the real challenging spots were Milverton (all uphill) and then the longest trek between 2 towns, from Monkton to Walton (20km) which is a long stretch of open farm fields which is gruelling. This is was the section that did us in last time when we finally decided to call it over coming into Blyth.

This time around, we had the gusto to push past there. We took  a reasonable refuelling and rest break in Walton and then pushed on. We made it into and beyond Blyth and into what I would call my “home rink” – the stretch between Blyth and Auburn. However the closer we got to the campground and where we had intended to bypass the Maitland River crossing, my legs started to cramp and cramp bad. As we ascended the last hill heading into Auburn I could feel cramps in three different areas: my quads, calves and my feet. And they were excruciating. To the point where I couldn’t even push the pedals any more. And there at 120km and 6 hours of time, I had to call it quits. Justin and Steph pushed on while I crawled back to the trailer to rest my weary body. As much as I would have loved regrouping and trying to make a final stab, that I had done the full ride once already made the decision that much easier.

After Justin & Stephanie completed the ride getting into Goderich, we all collected back to Auburn and cleaned up to go out for dinner at Cowbell to celebrate the day’s accomplishments. We had a great meal and then came back to the park where there was a band in the Rec Hall to whip the Saturday evening into gear. We hung out by the firepit outside enjoying the band while Emelia & Olivia hung out with their camp friends in the Hall dancing to the band. It was the perfect way to end a challenging but equally fun day! We came back and relaxed a little more by the campfire before we were all in bed and sawing some hardcore logs after a very busy day.

Today was a much more easy day, waking whenever the heck our bodies decided it was time to. I made breakfast after I got up and we took a slow, lazy start to the day. I did want to get in a ride to keep with my #EveryDamnDay progress, but the plan was to do a much easier, breezier ride with Danielle for a shorter distance by far than yesterday’s fondo! Danielle and I drove down the highway to the G2G path crossing and got in a nice, light ride to Blyth and back for 16km. It was fun to get that in with Danielle as we’ve been working hard at trying to find the right bike for her as we go through my pile of old bikes. Seems the Vanterra less a few more adjustments might be one—but we’ll know for sure this summer. The other route is to find her an eBike with pedal assist which I am thinking is going to be the solution. We’ll see.

So, here we are at Sunday with still a few more days to relax. Danielle doesn’t have to be back at work until Wednesday, and I am not back at work until Friday. Danielle and Emelia will be heading back to the house on Tuesday through the day, and I will probably after a bike ride Thursday morning. So gloriously there are a few more days left here to unwind which is a great itinerary to be facing down. I am going to tackle a few more mods on the outdoor kitchen hopefully, but more importantly find time to continue this process of unwinding as it is suitingf me just fine!

She said

As I type this week’s entry we are all sitting around the fire enjoying another beautiful summer night at the trailer. This first week up at the trailer has been a whole lot of perfection. The weather has been amazing and we have filled our first week’s vacation with so many fun memories and  moments of laughter together. It has been great so far!

Last week at work was a crazy busy at work, the university was closed on Thursday giving all the staff a bonus 4 day weekend. It made for a busy few days wrapping things up before my vacation. Once I was wrapped up and John and I got home from work we packed the truck and car and then ran a few errands before heading up to the trailer. Once we were all up here we were ready to get our week’s vacation going. We were happy to have a few days of few plans, no alarms and lots of time as a family. The trailer park had lots of activities planned so the kids were going to be entertained for sure.

Thursday morning we had a lazy start of the day, puttered around the park and generally just relaxed. John started on some of the projects he wanted to check of the to do list. The day was getting away from us so we had to shift gears and start getting ready for our first full family get together since the pandemic. We had lost out celebrating both Doug and Helen’s 80th birthdays so when we realized that their 60th anniversary was coming up we knew that we had to try and get together as a family. Matthew took to planning and did an incredible job, he worked with the staff and Helen and Doug’s retirement home and had a great dinner planned. As a family we decided we wanted to have the dinner as a surprise. David made the trip down and the rest of the family in London all gathered on Thursday to celebrate 60 years of marriage. It was incredible to finally have a celebration as a family. We have all lost so much over the last two years so this dinner was everything for our family.

Friday we woke at a lazy pace once again and took on some more to do items on our list. We had bought some solar lights over the last few years and all have proven to be crap, we changed to LED outdoor plug ins and made the switch over to light up our site. We are so happy how they have turned out. The rest of the day was all about prepping for John, Steph and Justin’s big ride. Last year they attempted to do the full ride but made it to Blyth before calling it, then in September just days before John’s 50th he did the full ride. This time the three of them were going to attempt to do the full ride on Saturday.

Saturday morning the 4 of us all got up with the sun and headed to Guelph to drop them off again at the Guelph VIA station to take on the 140KM run. I drove back to the trailer to take Emelia and Olivia to the beach in Grand Bend. I would say that it was the plans for all of Huron County. The beach and entire town was packed. It was great to see everyone finally enjoying the full fun of summer. The girls had a great time. We hit the beach, did some shopping, Emelia got an ear piercing (her helix) and the girls both got henna flowers. It was a great day! Just as we were wrapping things up when I got the message from John that they were just about in Blyth. We packed up and headed back. As I was driving back I got a message from John saying he was going to be stopping his ride in Auburn because he was dealing with extreme cramping in his legs and feet and was unable to move forward. I rushed back to the trailer to check on him, get some food and much needed water into him. He was so happy with how he did and because he had already done the ride so he didn’t want to risk injury just to finish.

Once he was settled I packed up Steph and Justin’s truck with their bike rack so I could meet them at the end of the ride and take a picture of them as they finished their ride. They were exhausted, sore, sunburnt but crossed the finish line both with smiles on their faces. So proud of them all, that was such an amazing feat!!!!

Today we all slept until our bodies wanted to wake up, puttered around the trailer for a bit before John and I hit the trail. I had not been out on the trail since last summer. I know that it was a relaxing ride for John but for me this was a big ride, I have severe nerve damage in one hip so biking isn’t easy for me. So to finish an outside ride of almost 20km without stopping is a big thing for me. This was my first test on John’s old bike which is was amazing.

I am going to wrap up now for the week and hang out at the fire!