THE VIEW FROM THE WINGS

Thursday: what time is it? After getting up at my usual bedtime and picking everyone up we were off for Ontario. This being my first time driving there, I must say that the landscape is beautiful and I wish we had a looser schedule that would allow for a bit more sight seeing.

We switched some drivers in Thunder Bay so I spent some time watching the last six episodes of 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' before having to drive again.

After driving the last leg of the day's journey with the windows down and the radio cranked while trying to keep up to the truck in the dark Ryan and I tried to find a local drinking establishment in Sault Ste Marie. What we found served alcohol, but I have little else to recommend about the place (it's probably a good thing that I can't remember the name of it).

Friday:
Are we there yet? Another exciting day of driving. Lost the truck and everyone else at one point, but we had a map so we just carried on until Pembroke, our next scheduled stop. While trying to catch up to everyone else, we apparently passed them and kept barreling on, oblivious.

Made it to Ottawa without further incident and got settled at the hotel. A bunch of us then decided to grab a bite to eat, settling on a crappy Mexican restaurant. After dinner we wandered a bit looking for a place that we could grab a drink before heading back to the hotel.

Saturday:
Ottawa! After getting more sleep than the last few days, we proceeded to the Flugtag loading area to unload and assemble our craft. We got kicked out after a short while due to thunderstorms so we went to try and return the truck, which resulted in a little game of car tag in downtown Ottawa.

After the rain was done, we headed back to finish assembly. We ran into some problems with the wings folding up, but we got it worked out (if not quite finished). I was invited to check out the local Ikea and having never been there, I thought 'why not?' But I soon found out that it wasn't that exciting, but there was a nearby Chapters that occupied my time (and wallet).

I caught part of the nightly Parliament light show with Valerie before walking back to the hotel. I arrived back at the hotel just in time to head to Helsinki with the other guys. Good sights, decent sounds, fun times were had.

Sunday:
Zero hour nine A.M... Well, the water I drank must have done something, as I didn't have much of a hangover. We finished our construction of the craft and then I took off to take pictures and stake out a spot for the event.

The event itself was amazing. I took pictures of everything, but after a while I couldn't move because it was so crowded.

Once our craft was on deck, the camera was glued to my face and the 'film' was being used at an astounding pace. The skit and launch went beautifully, however the flight went straight down. Brent and the operation dude (the craft) did a beautiful double-face plant and somehow Brent managed to bruise his eyeballs! He wasn't happy twisting an ankle or breaking an arm - he had to go for something exotic.

I didn't see much of the show after that since I ran out of 'film' and had heat-stroke so I headed back to the hotel for a nap. Upon awakening, I joined the others for a wonderful dinner at the Black Tomato.

I wasn't allowed into the Flugtag after party (I was only a roadie) so I turned in nice and early for the long trip the next day.