Day 31 & 32, Ottawa, Ontario

Day 31 of 41 days on the relay, and very close to Canada Day, and this is the place to be, the nation's capital. Out meeting point today was Ottawa City Hall.

We had a lot of special torch bearers in the city today, including the governor-general, David Johnston. His segment today was also at his official residence, Rideau Hall.

A lot of tents and vendors set at and around city hall, as everyone is getting ready for the big Canada Day celebrations.

For once Haley and I got in on one of the group torch bearer pics.

following our pilot vehicle, our route today took us from Rideau Hall all the way down to the Parliament Buildings.

A lot of interesting and historic buildings along the route include this, the John Diefenbaker (13th prime minister of Canada) building, which use to be the old city hall.  

Moving closer to the downtown core, you can see parliament buildings  in the distance.

Saint Patrick's Basilica, completed in 1875

There was a lot of embassies along the way in the nation's capital. This was the embassy for Saudi Arabia.
 

Haley outside the shuttle in front of the Manan sculpture, outside of the National Gallery of Canada.

We ended our torchbearer day down by the Rideau Canal, which runs over 200 KM all the way to Kingston.

On the way back to the hotel, I just had to take a little detour across the Ottawa River to Gatineau, Quebec.

The culture change was instant, including on my gps on my phone.

crossing back over, I can see the parliament buildings, no room for stopping, a drive-by shot.

A familiar face. I drove over to see a very special torchbearer, Joey Desjardins. Joey was one of our endurance athletes on the 25th anniversary Rick Hansen relay. He hand-cycled many kilometres through parts of New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and B.C. He now competes in hand-cycle. Great to see him again!

and the flame is passed on to the next torchbearer, getting closer to the July 10th finish in Toronto.

Afterwards, the relay team was given complimentary tickets to a baseball in Ottawa. These two teams compete in something called the Can-Am baseball league, which a lot of us had never heard of.

Before the game, we met Joey and his wife, Vanessa (on the left) in the lobby of the hotel. In the middle is Marilyn, Wendy, my roomie Jeremy, and Kayla.

There's Rick putting on a bit of a show on the roof of the dug-out.

Shirka and "Champ" do the high-five.

Tabitha and Haley snuggling in with "Champ"

Before the game, we had a torchbearer run the bases.



It was a nice break to get out and unwind from the relay.

the National Anthem.

What a team!

It was a nice night out, not many fans, but great atmosphere, and the home team won.

Day 32 was a day off for me. So I took advantage, and hit the local Snap Fitness gym, which I am a member of in Burnaby.

The weather looked doubtful, so some of us watch the torches arrival at the parliament grounds on t.v.

Outside my home for 3 nights, the rain continues.