morleymooseisontheloose: Day 63 and 64 Gatineau, Quebec to Ottawa, Ontario

Day 63 ,mascot fever is hitting the relay hard, I have my moose, there are bears, lobsters, puffin's and now, one of the events people has added this cheery little guy.

Day 63 was an off day, which was a good thing for me. The night before I lost a cap flossing my teeth, and I had to scramble to find a dentist the next morning in Ottawa. Also, was another maintenace day for some of the convoy vehicles.

The youngsters (as I call them) on the team decided to take the escort bikes out for a spin

Even our endurance athlete Joey went as well, and one of our team mates tested out the other hand cycle, Myself, I tried to catch up on some personal things like bills, and blogs! (yes, I know I am falling behind, but I will catch up again, soon.

Day 64 started out back at the Gatineau Sports Center. I was back driving the pace motorhome today.

Michel, who is in charge of security, shows off one of his home made cookies.

Time to get on the gear and get ready.

Get ready for another sponsor stop , this time at the Gatineau McDonald'a. New day, new Ronald

One of Rick's stops today was at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in the Hull section of Gatineau, directly across the Ottawa River from Ottawa. This place is the national museum of human history. Very impressive, and we had a whole 20 minutes to spend there. I would denfinately come back!

How big could it be?

A little bigger than the cap I lost!

Rick addresses the medal bearers, the crowd, and the press at the museum, he is always on

Behind Rick, the Ottawa river separating Gatineau and Ottawa

Nice view from the museum, the parliment building in Ottawa

Foreshadowing

Part of the museum included a history of Canada Post

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Another pep talk before we cross into Ontario

Crossing the Alexandria Bridge

One of the first things you see crossing the bridge is this Maman spider sculpture , one of several in the world created by artist Louise Bourgeois

A stop at the Royal Canadian Mint, the creator of the Rick Hansen 25th anniversary medal

Royal Mint

National Research Council building

My pictures are now out of order, if I try and fix it, you will have my next blog sometime around December! Our next stop was for lunch at Rideau Hall, the Govenor General's residence (David Johnston). There was a reception for Rick while we were there, we had lunch in the cafeteria in the basement with the staff. Lots of pictures on the hallway walls, (this one included the famous Montreal Canadien Maurice Rocket Richard )

This one Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip

Out in front of Rideau Hall

This day signalled the end of the relay for our two endurance athletes Herve, and Joey, as well as our head of secruity in Quebec, Michel, good luck in their future endeavours, they have become part of our family and will be missed!

Some support for our team, and for Joey

One of the medal beares today was Andrew McTaggert, he is going to school at Algonquin College in Ottawa, and lives in Woodstock, Ontario. I am friends with his mom and dad, who used to live in Summerland, B.C. His dad and I coached him and Taylor in hockey. Andrew does a lot of volunteer work and is an active member of the student council at Algonquin. I got Mike, our security person who took over from Michel, to drive the motorhome, while I walked with Andrew.

Motorcycle support from the Ottawa police

City hall

Medal beares support with a Canada flavor

My view of the proceedings

A huge crowd for this medal bearer. People are starting to follow the medal bearer which leaves a great impression

A stop at the Ottawa Children's Treatment Center, another humbling experience

Makes me put my own life into prespective

Next stop the rehabilatation center at the Ottawa hospital.

Later on I had the pleasure of Genie, on the left and Amanda Hansen (Rick's wife) join me in the motorhome for the rest of the afternoon

Getting close to the end of day celebration at Parliment Hill

My view, this was the first time on the relay that Rick actually joined in and wheeled with the medal bearers

Why not add the press, random people on the street, and perhaps Jean Chretien, the 20th prime minister of Canada into the mix! The funniest thing happened, Jean Chretien, grabbed Rick in his chair and started running and pushing Rick, OMG, he is 77 years old!

Parliment Hill

getting close now

Apparently, the building for the cabinet minister (correct me please!)

I was told I was parked in the prime minister's spot, oh yeah!

There is Jean Chretien

Going back to Rideau Hall, locking the bikes to the wrought iron gate

Rideau Hall from the back side

A lot of dignitaries polished cars outside Rideau Hall

Wow, the Canada Cup hockey trophy is on display at Ridea Hall, I remember this from the 70's when Team Canada played Russia, which Canada won on 4 separate occasions.