Rain, Rain, Go Away
As we lay down to sleep last night we could hear the pitter-patter of raindrops falling on the tent as the forecasted rain began. It didn't seem too bad at first, and I figured that since it had started raining at around 10pm, it would definitely be finished by the time we woke up in the morning. That was what I kept telling myself each time I woke up during the night and heard the continuous beating of rain upon the tent. I finally to doubt it at around 6am, as the alarm was set to go off in an hour.
As the rain continued to fall, Dave and I made a plan to stay in bed until 8am, then go for breakfast, and if the rain was still falling we would pack up all the gear inside the tent. If the rain was still falling after that, we would suck it up, pack up the soaking wet tent and just head for Thunder Bay. Well a quick consultation of the weather report squashed those plans. With the forecast calling for rain, thunderstorms and cold temperatures, we figured maybe Upsala was worth a second night.
So we headed back to our tent, not knowing how we were going to occupy our time. We started by reading the newspaper, and then doing the crossword puzzle. After that, we decided to brave the cold and walk to the General Store for something to do. We ended up buying a book of crossword puzzles, and thus we spent most of the day simply doing crosswords.
On the bright side, Dave called his mom and asked her to check the graduate list, and it turns out that I have won a Senate Medal. That really made my day as I have strived for that accomplishment ever since I learned about the award. My parents were quite excited and proud to hear about my achievement as well.
One interesting story that happened as I was talking to my younger brother, Andrew, he began to choke on a piece of plastic. All I could hear was him screaming to my mom for help as he couldn't get the plastic dislodged from his throat. He finally ended up puking on the floor, and the plastic came out along with the rest of the stuff in his stomach. It wasn't funny as it happened, especially since I could hear everything and felt helpless, but afterwards when he was alright and it was apparent he had slightly overreacted, the humour of the situation came out.
Aside from that, it really has been a dull day. At least the sun started to come out in the evening, thus lifting our spirits for tomorrow. Also, we have a place to stay in Thunder Bay which is great since we need to wash some clothes, and a good night sleep will go a long ways. Thankfully, we had a few days in our schedule to play with, so this unexpected rest day won't be a problem with getting to Sudbury on time, and in the end we will look back on this day and laugh, I'm sure.