Batchelor Party Hike

Went on a hike for my bachelor party, much to the disagreement of one of the attendants who got fed up, threw a fit and went home (upset due to lack of peelers, i assume).

Friday began with us giving up on going camping in the dark and rain, to go see a movie, then hit the Glitzy Glamour of the Barrie club scene. There are really only 4 clubs in Barrie, and we hit 3 of them. We ran into a lot of opposing bridal showers who were showing up their girls one last time, as well as the odd upset girl peeing on the sidewalk.. Of the 2 single guys in our party, one guy (already juggling 3 girls) picked up 3 more, and the other guy who had just broken up a 6 year relationship met a nice girl at a country music romp and really hit it off. Now all he has to do is figure out if he wants to continue a relationship between Barrie and Mississauga, or just live the single life!

The bars closed, and we stumbled our drunken selves back to the cold floors at which we threw our sleeping bags earlier. We passed out at 3am, and then got up for 8 for the road trip out west. We drove for about 3 hours to the mighty Owen Sound, and then got out for some lunch and some treasure hunting. Someone up there has some mad camouflage skills, as the containers were just hollowed out every day objects like rail spikes, sign bolts, and sticks on the ground. We managed to find everything that we were looking for, and continued north up the Bruce peninsula. We got to the campground, set up our tents and headed for the beach; about 30 minutes walk from the campgrounds.

Beach was great; everyone had fun climbing the cliff down although no one dared swim in the 1 degree water. All were impressed with the caves, but I really can't describe it without using pictures (which even then do the area little justice!)

The rest of the night was spent poking fun at the X-men, pimps, pimp canes, my brothers housing arrangements, various condiments, and a multitude of other topics until one of us gathered the guts to go to bed and risk a shaming. The morning came, and none of us woke up with mustaches, or whipped cream hair, so we packed up and went to Tobermory. I made my pilgrimage to the stone cairn at the harbour in Tobermory that marked the beginning of the Bruce trail. A decidedly boring cairn to anyone who doesn't do the amount of hiking to me, but I actually found it rather exciting [not that I would ever consider walking the entire trail!]

Along the way back southbound we went to a geocache called Lucifer's Lookout (AKA Devil's Monument). Giant stone cliffs rose about 200m from the loose shoreline of Georgian bay. To stand near the edge was absolutely mortifying! Despite my fear of heights I managed to get the closest to deaths mouth by a few inches. At that height though, I think everyone is afraid of heights...

After that we hit the opposite side of the peninsula, and went to Sauble Beach. Great area, and almost completely devoid of tourists (probably because its May!). Went to see some waterfalls and pretty places, then my brother and my cousin took off for the road back to the city. George and I continued on to Another waterfall of two on the way home, then hit Wasaga Beach for one last beer and some Nachos. I felt completely out of place! The bar was filled to the brim with attractive people in their tight clothing, no doubt to bring attention to very very very nice features that we saw there. George and I, having been out in the bush for a few days were unshaven, covered in mud with messy hair, smelling of bug spray which only barely covered up the horrible stench of our wicked weekend.


Complete Photo Album can be found on my MSN space

Lately Happenings

Only about a week left until single dave is no more. We hardly knew yee!

The wedding plans are still on track, although I still need to learn how to dance. Tried convincing C to practice a few times without success. I am pretty sure she needs more help then I do. What will the wedding be like? sort of a scottish-western mix.. highlander meets clint eastwood sort of deal. There will be horses, there will be kilts. My dad has finished up work on his electrical system, which includes a 600kg solar-battery system. After the wedding, the power and the building will likely be used to house parents of C's riding school while their kids are riding around. A nice gazeebo!



Some projects that I am currently working on include: a video game, (loosely based on the kingdom of loathing) which at present is written, but the grammer and spelling is absolutely horrible (All my base are belong to me, dammit); Migration of an ecommerce trouble ticket shift migration application (for work duh, although I am still not technically employed as a programmer, so it takes a back seat); the wedding.. really should get on that; a 3 day batchelor party to the bruce penninsula, which I am trustingly leaving in my best friend Georges hands; Honeymoon planning; and of course, wine making.

It seems like a lot when i write it out.. doesn't it.. On top of all that, I seem to be working more and more lately. Last week I pulled of 84 hours, thankfully this week only involves 60 hours. You would think that I would be rolling naked in money, but the government sees me as too rich, so they take it all away and push me further into debt. For instance(After taxes): 40 hours worked = approx 1000$, 84 hours worked = approx 1300$... fair? noooooooo.

I recently pulled off a canoe trip with Wilfredo as well. It was fabulous.. even though it rained the entire time. The trip was 6 hours long, and encompassed over 20 kilometers of the Nottawasaga river. The rain kept the bugs from eating us alive so that was a plus. The best thing of the trip was the absolute solitary that it provided. There were no roads, no houses, no people. The only structures that we saw were of a hundred year old ghost town in the center.





We placed 4 geocaches while on the trip. To this date only 2 of them have been found, as people don't seem to be willing to venture as deep into the swamp as we did. Probably a good idea too. It really was fun hauling a canoe on a half a kilometer portage. We took a break each portage, got food and water, sat down for a nice break, rested our poor arms. If I were to do it again, I think I would remember to bring a bow saw so that I can get through the log jams a bit more elegantly.





Oh, did I mention that I stuck some geocaches in there? (yes, its redundant.. I KNOW that I did.. yes). Took me and the central Ontario Geocachers about 2 months to convince the Nottawasaga Conservation Authority that it was a good idea. Geocaching in the area has received quite a bad rap lately.. In September we were accused of grave robbing (About a million things wrong with their theory, but anyways..), and then just a month ago, a person came across a geocache and thought it was a bomb.. then, the 'LOGICALLY' stuck the bomb in their car, and drove it to the police station, and handed it to the officer at the front desk. The building was evacuated.. yadda yadda yadda.. Anyways, big mess, summary: people are idiots.