I Didn’t Win a Barbecue

Last weekend was packed full of adventure.

My journey started directly from work. I had the pleasure of taking a 2009 BMW 750Li for the trip. This made the driving extremely enjoyable, comfortable, and easy.

The first leg was Ottawa to Kingston. I needed to stop into Kingston to pick up my tent and sleeping bag. When the 416 was nearing an end an unbelievable rain storm. Cars were slowing down to less than 80 km/h; some were pulling over. The rain sensing wipers were praised, and the 19″ V-spoke wheels kept me cruising without delay.

From Kingston I continued on to Toronto. It started to get quite sunny so I put the automatic rear sunshades up. With lane departure warning enabled, active cruise control with stop and go, and active blind spot detection the car basically drove itself. My overnight destination was One King West where I valet parked the car, naturally.

In Toronto that evening I met up with Mr. Keeves. He is confirmed to be alive and well. We met after he had finished working for the day, and we made our way to a microbrewery on Yonge St. This place had flammkuchen, a treat that I hadn’t had since leaving Germany. I had as close to traditional flammkuchen as possible–it was good, but not quite right.

The next morning I met Stephanie and Erin for a run. It was awesome to meet with them on such short notice. We ran through Mt. Pleasant cemetery, and along Yonge and St. Claire. At nice as the route was, the company was better. I had some 50% off fruit that I left with Stephanie. I wonder if she ate it.

I visited MEC, the CBC’s World Cup Street Party, and Starbucks before heading into traffic en route to the Niagara region. The traffic was surprisingly bad for a Saturday afternoon. This caused me to stop for some New York Fries–I’m not complaining about that. The best-in-class infotainment system in the BMW kept me on track, in contact, and entertained. It was a real joy even in traffic.

When I arrived to Eric’s parents’ place I met with Brunke and Rebecca then setup my tent. I have a super tent that virtually puts itself up, and does so in seconds. It didn’t take long, so we managed to get some joy riding in with the Bimmer. Scott had most of his fun with the active drive mode set to Sport+.

After a delicious meal at Casa B. we headed to the Thorold Legion for Eric and Tiffany’s “Stag and Doe”. I had committed that I would win a barbecue at this event but I did not. The barbecue in question was a Broil King Crown 10. I had quite bad luck at this event, actually: after spending around $200 I had no barbecue, no money, a “fun basket” prize, and I didn’t even save Tiffany from getting a pie in the face.

The drive back to the “campsite” was pretty nice. The girls in the back seat had the massage and heating features on. They were quiet and relaxed. The amount of stuff we comfortably fit in the trunk was also quite impressive.

Sunday morning was an amazingly complete breakfast followed by a trip to see Niagara Falls. I had never been. We spent $20 to park for 10 minutes to see water falling off a cliff. It was worth it to not have to make a special trip from Ottawa to see them again.

I left the Niagara region at about 13:30 and made it to Kingston at 17:00, in time for a steak dinner with family. It was amazing, but it disabled me for a short time due to being full. I left at around 21:00 and returned to Ottawa. I drove to Ottawa via highway 15 and had enabled the automatic high-beams as well as night vision with pedestrian detection to assist with a comfortable drive back. And after hours in the car, if I ever felt restless I simply enabled the driver’s seat massage.

Alas, I returned to Ottawa without barbecue. I spent this week procrastinating from doing my school work and researching barbecues. I am happy to report that I think I found a winner.