Days 9 & 10 Ajax to Halifax to Orillia

My home away from home for three nights, the Hilton in Ajax, kind of stands out like a sore thumb.

I certainly will not miss the view

Day 9 for me was a chore day, laundry, gym , toiletries, etc. Meanwhile, some of the relay crew were in Halifax for a national city relay stop.

Later that evening, I took my shuttle bus down to Toronto to the Billy Bishop airport to pick-up the gang from their charter. (This is a bad shot of my little ferry ride over to the Toronto Islands)

On the "other side", the view once again spectacular

And there they are!

A blurry shot of Otto, our relay commander, with the Porter Airlines flight crew with the lanterns that hold the relay flame.

Back in the  hotel in Ajax, day 10, and although hard to tell, it is one miserable grey rainy start to the relay.

Going down the 401 highway , even more intimidating in this deluge.



Heading to our first torchbearer meeting point in Whitby, Ontario. (population around 122,000) 

The weather cannot dampen the spirit of these Whitby torchbearers

Out on route, two of our torch bearer escorts, Tabitha and Marilyn (who was on the 25th anniversary Rick Hansen relay) arrive in unison at the one of the insertion points. (and a sidebar, the rained stopped for our group, another relay miracle)

You know, within an hour we go from metropolis to rural bliss as we head north from Whitby.......

to  the beautiful and small town bliss of Uxbridge. (population about 17,500, according to one of the locals)

Things are great when we are downtown (Uxbridge)

The torch bearer meeting point was at city hall, tucked in behind the greenery.

Once again the rain stopped for the relay, another photo op provided.

Dropping off torchbearers means you are always ahead of the action. As I pulled away from Uxbridge city hall, I could see in my mirror there was quite a crowd gathering around for their Pan-Am torch relay celebration.

Only a real cool shot of cruising down the ole highway between Uxbridge and.......................

Sunderland, (population about 1,100) This town dates back to the 1820's, wow. I needed a Latte, and Katie's coffee house did not disappoint, and their maple butter tart was out of this world, I still have a maple syrup sugar high!

We are still so close to Toronto, but as I travelled towards our home tonight, Orillia, it was all farmland.

So I was informed that this beautiful body of water is not the only one in Orillia. (Population around 30 grand). This is Lake Couchiching. (I'm sure you all know the other is Lake Simcoe)

Where to be in the summertime.

my first time to be at an end of day celebration for the Pan-Am relay. This was the one to be at, there had to be at least 3 to 4 thousand people here in Orillia, and the local entertainment and the show from our sponsors, OLG, CIBC and Presidents Choice made this quite a party for the town.