Durham to the Big City

Joanna`s knee had began to irritate her so we stopped for lunch in Durham around 1:30 and before we were finished eating had decided to call it a day. We stopped by a cute little info center in a former water treatment center from the 1900`s. We were directed to the local campground and found our spot and got set up nice and early. With the sun shinning and day only half over we headed off on a nice little walking tour of town. We had a nice dinner and had an early night....

We planned to get up early for a big day but when Joanna woke me while it was still dark I`ll admit I was a little annoyed. She kept rolling and thrashing around, I asked her what was going on and she said, ``I have a bug in my ear.`` I wanted her to just forget about it and go back to bed after going to the washroom it was clear that was not going to be an option. After pulling out a bobby pin we were able to fish out a teenie tiny little beatle, everyone was happy and sleep was back to being number one priority, at least for one of us, the other was still a little traumatized by bugs in her ear.

From Durham we hoped to make it to Oakville in one day. We biked the first 120km and were then picked up by Pawel for the last 20km. The countryside in the area was hillier than we expected, and the road conditions weren`t great, but it was a beautiful ride. Lots of small communities with pretty little churches and historic main streets. And most importantly, giant bulls...

We arrived in Oakville Friday night, and spent Saturday cleaning and fixing up our bikes. They had both accumulated large amounts of grease and dirt, and both bikes looked shiny and great after a day of TLC.

We also felt great after being taken care of so well staying with Pawel and his family. We were treated to delicious home cooking, and really enjoyed the company of Pawel, Renata, Marta, Grandpa and Grandma. It worked out perfectly for us to have a `home` where we could leave our bikes and gear and go out exploring the area. The Toronto GO transit system worked out great for us, as we could catch the trains and buses from close to home.

Sunday we took a GO train into Toronto, to catch a Blue Jays Game. They played the San Francisco Giants, and unfortunately lost. Although they didn`t play as well as we had hoped, we still took the opportunity to drink beer, eat

hot dogs and ice cream, and the afternoon was a lot of fun.

After the game we walked around downtownToronto, and enjoyed the busy streets and the view of the CN tower. There was a free concert on at Dundas and Yonge, and just down the street thousands of young girls lined blocks and blocks of the city. It didn`t take long to discover that we had arrived on the same day as the Much Music

Video Awards, and the shows performers, Justin Bieber, Myley Cyrus, Kesha, and many more. It was paradise for 10-14 year old girls!

We had also arrived days before the G20 summit, and felt extraordinarily safe, as each street corner had its own set of RCMP officers. In fact, it seemed that the police outnumbered all of the other people on the streets, as they walked, rode their bikes, horses and motorcycles, and drove their cars, trucks, vans, etc. We had no worries about finding help if it was needed!