this year.

On the final day of driving we only had some 530km to go. We decided to make a lunch stop in Kingston, becuase one of the girls had friends she wanted to see. It was another spectacular day weather wise, and I was behind the wheel of the freshly cleaned mini-van. We rolled into Kingston around 2pm, had lunch, and were back on the road by 4pm. It was a long break, but I’d rather sit in kingston enjoying the sun and frsh air, then sit in Toronto rush hour traffic.

We rolled into the Mosaic parking lot just shy of 7:30pm on Tuesday April 19, 2005. The cube van almost didn’t make it, as it seems the coolant levels dropped and the thing blew nothing but hot air into the cabin. The AC didn’t work, so Dan and Ali had both windows wide open, tryint to get some fresh cool air. A diesel truck driving along at 100 km/h with both windows open is not the quietest ride.

So here I am, back home after 19 days on the road. On the whole it was a completely enjoyable experiences. The long days of driving were less boring then most could imagine, and the similiarities between all the cities and towns we visited was obvious. The only downers I can place my finger on are: the less then fair weather we were faced with on the drive out, and the nights we were unable to run the promotion. I have never seen a group of people get along so well, for such a long time. By the end I’m sure we were ready to do another 19 days as soon as we got our laundry washed. The Ontario leg of the tour starts Friday, with a stop in Mississauga. This leg is mostly one night affairs, though we do have a few hotel nights coming our way.

Over the next few days I will be adding photos to the prevous posts, as well as composing a post with highlights from the trip, that may or may not have been included in previous posts.

What a spectacular day. The Sky was blue, the sun was out, and the temperature was up. I was very upset I didn’t pack any shorts or sandals, because I would have put them to great use today. The Drive to Fredericton was nice, along the TCH, passing flooded rivers, and many a person riding a ATV (aka – kawasaki, aka – kawi) through the many paths that dot the country side.

We rolled into Fredericton and headed right to the bar where we had to set up for the nights event. Turns out the bar was in the Tannery. This is the same little square that I hit up last summer with my two buddies on our road trip, and it is in this square that we had the (un)fortunate luck to meet a most entertaining local. As this is supposed to be about this trip, and not previous trips, I will not go into detail, those of you who know of this lady we met consider yourselves (un)lucky. The bar wasn’t open yet, so i grabbed a Juice Booster and cruised down to the river, taking some photos along the way. Again, I have discovered that last time though I didn’t give Fredericton a fair shake. It’s a lovely city, with character and life — we just happened to be in the wrong locations. We set up for the event, and had enough time to go for dinner at this lovely (read 100% attractive waitstaff) pub called Jesters Court. My gosh. Had Kurt, Brent and I gone to this pub last summer we all would have left town much happier, but alas we attended a bar much like the bar we were to execute in. They offered fantastic pub fair, a huge plate of nachos, and a satisfactory selection of draft (not that I was able to sample, since I was ‘on the clock’). A definite must hit the next time anyone cruises through Fredericton. The food was dynamite.

The clientele of the bar we ran the promo in was mostly students from UNB, with the typical sprinkle of old, drunk, funny/creepy locals. To those that know of the kawi loving friend from last summers road trip — I had a sinking fear that I may run into her tonight. I don’t think I did, but I can say that I met her mother/sister. And that’s all I have to say. We ran a random draw to decide who would be sent to Toronto for the finals of the Labatt Blue Chip Poker Tour, and this student from UNB was the lucky selection. It was another case of not knowing who was more excited, the winner or his buddies. When we declared him the winner, his buddies broke into a local rendition of, ‘here’s to brother (insert name here)’. It brought a tear to my eye as he drank the rest of his beer rather quickly.

This was the last stop on our Atlantic tour. We returned to our hotel and enjoyed the few remaining beers we had, and toasted a job well done. The following day our drive back to Toronto, Ontario would begin. Of the 7 team members on the crew, 2 would be flying back for various engagements, so only 5 of us would be making the road trip home — and only 3 of us will have driven the entire round trip.

It’s very near the end, and it’s been one heck of a ride. Who knew work could be this fun?

Next stop, somewhere in Quebec.