On a wet and warm welcome in Oakville

As consequence of the power failure the night before, my laundry wasn't done until mid-morning, so it was only around 11 that I finally hit the road. This wasn't a critical delay as Oakville was only about 60 kms away not the grueling 144 between Meaford and Guelph. Indeed, I had barely gone a dozen klicks or so before I stopped to visit a streetcar museum. I spent more than an hour there. At one point, I was ordering ice cream in a snack bar made out of an old trolley bus. Looking at the menu, I asked for butterscotch ripple.

"Sorry, we're out."

"Okay then, how about black cherry?"

"Er, no. I meant remove it from the menu."

Thankfully, she did have my third choice, or else it would have taken a dangerous step into the Pythonesque. While she was getting my cone, I offered to remove the two unavailable flavours from the board. She accepted my help and gave me the cone for free.

Afterwards, the highway I was on dipped down off the Niagara Escarpment near Rattlesnake Point, where I been taken to as a child. It then climbed again before dropping again. A little before Mount Nemo, the road dropped again and with another climb in sight, I managed to avoid by taking a road eastwards. After finding another southerly road, I descended into Burlington, hung a left onto Lakeshore Road and soon arrived in Oakville and found Rachel's home.

I was warmly greeted by Rachel and her daughters Abigail (7) and Charlotte (4). After initial hellos, clobber stowage and bike parking, I had a nice swim in their pool with the girls. Their father joined us in the water as various games were played.

After a while, my body was asking me for a break and I went to take a nice hot shower. Afterwards, I had a beer and shucked corn with Charlotte and Abigail's assistance. Supper was barbecue grilled boerwurst sausages (a favorite of Cecil, Rachel's stepfather), with hot, freshly made chutney, corn on the cob, potato salad and green salad. I remarked to Rachel that the meal she served was oddly similar to that Quintin had given me! I hope she wasn't offended as her meal hit the spot.