Day 4 - Waterproof. . . until you fall into the river.

Usually, when you buy something that’s waterproof, you expect to remain as such for a long period of time. Although, sometimes, you gotta wonder if maybe they don’t entirely test it out.

I tested it out four-fold today.

Results: Partial fail.

The day began nicely enough. Slowly waking up, making miniscule movements so as not to wake up the other six people sleeping in the same room, specifically trying not to wake up the person on the bottom half of the bunk bed I’m on. Not really as easy as one would expect. I have this weird fear of going DOWN ladders. I have no problem going up. It’s going back down that freaks me out. Moreso that first step when you’re not quite sure where your foot is swinging and you hope to God that that bar you finally touch is actually the ladder and not just some random bar for the bed before you go tumbling to the ground below.

Got dressed, ate some breakfast, had some coffee, and I was out the door. Into the rain. Certainly it can’t last the entire day, I muse to myself.

I made my way a kilometer to the biggest mall in Ottawa, the Rideau Centre, where I met a friend of mine. Up, through the rain, we walked to Wellington Street and I got my first true glimpses of Parliament Hill.  Apparentely the look I had on my face the entire time we were there, and even during the tour of the Centre Block, was like that of a kid in a toy store.

 

 

Afterwards I had to bid Nick adieu as he had to run off to class, so I was on my own. The rain still hadn’t let up but no worries. I decided to take the Ottawa River Pathway down by the Rideau Canal and behind Parliament Hill towards Victoria Island where a geocache I wanted was hidden.

This is when the rain really started to fall. And unfortunately for me, there was no place along the 1.5km path that was covered. I was screwed. Not even a quarter of the way along, I could feel, and hear, the telltale sign of water in my shoes. My pants were already soaked in the back because of the angle of the rain.

Nonetheless I trudged on. Well, not that I had much choice. There are very few trails leading off of the one I was on. And I had a goal set. And I had a Travel Bug I needed to let go in Ottawa. So rain or no rain, this geocache was mine.

Once I got to the site, it was almost a relief that my shoes were already soaking wet. Retrieving the geocache turned into a task that required holding onto a wall for dear life while stepping on some very very wet stones. One little slip and I would be at least chest deep in water. I literally let out a whoop when i finally found it. If you look at the picture to the left, the empty space with no rocks? I had to cross that to get to where the geocache was hidden between the timbers.

Cold, wet, but nonetheless, a definite highlight so far. By this time, I was ready to dry off. To dry off I needed some hot air. Where else has more hot air being blown about than Question Period in the House of Commons? But sadly, even being an hour early, I was out of luck. The public galleries were completely full by the time I arrived, so dejected, I went back to the hostel, peeled off my wet clothes, and settled in for a relaxing rest of the day of tea and chatting with some of the other people in the hostel.

And I made a new goal for tomorrow. No more rain, no more scaling 100+ year old walls, and yes to going to Question Period. Come hell or high water!