Our Boats Made it This Year!

This morning we set out at the very crack of dawn in on and off snowfall. Heading for hopefully warmer weather down in the south. Throughout Ohio and Tennessee the weather appeared to be improving and the temperature was slowly rising. Unfortunately, as we hit the mountains in Tennessee it got snowier and colder. The results of this are that the differences between here and London are that the lake is not frozen here, and the temperature is only a few degrees warmer than in London, oh well, every bit counts right?

The Waffle House express way never fails to disappoint, winds, traffic, random snow, waffle houses at every exit. This year, I suggested that  we listen to the ’50 shades of Grey’ audiobook. I was voted down on this account. Instead we were entertained by random music, Robin Williams, Louis CK and Michael Crichton (Airframe audio book). Admittedly, the airframe audiobook was primarily enjoyed by me because Beth, Jill and Kristen took advantage of much of the drive to catch a few winks. And by a few winks I mean a lot of winks. Oh well, it gave me the opportunity to break out some very manly singing, such as ‘Call Me Maybe’ and ‘Abba’s Greatest Hits’ things like that. While they were awake, we discussed topics which girls find quite fascinating, one of which was cars. No I am not making this up; we did indeed talk about cars on the way down here. I’m going to keep thinking that they enjoyed the conversation and weren’t just humouring me. 

Oh well, we had a good, and Chipotle-fueled trip down here. The boats made it safely this time! 
Also, for more up to the minute updates, follow @DAStedman on twitter (yes, I just plugged my twitter account)

Here's a few shots from the GoPro mounted on the dashboard:
1) Early Morning Travel on a Snowy Ontario Road


2) Sunrise Just North Of Detroit

3) A beautiful, curved pedestrian bridge in Detroit (I loved this bridge)

4) Ohio - flat, straight, and flat

5) Driving into the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee

6) Smokey Mountains In Tennessee

7) More Smokey Mountains

A little different post today

Taking a break from doing bios of each of the team members, today’s blog entry is instead going to discuss the annual Western Rowing ergathon (or ergaton). This is where we all head way down to South London (because there’s apparently no mall willing to host us which is located close to the university campus) to keep 6 ergs spinning all day long to raise money for the heart and stroke foundation. Members of our team often take the opportunity to perform some sort of feat of strength such as a marathon (or longer). After all, there’s nothing more fun than working hard, getting all hot and sweaty while breathing heavily while at the same time being sure to be able to last long enough on the erg to keep the ergs spinning all day. This event often attracts future recruits who want to take a turn on the erg – as shown in the picture below. After making an attempt at my personal 30km record, which I unfortunately did not manage to achieve, I find myself sitting here at home feeling rather tired, sore, stiff and dehydrated. Overall a really good event and lots of money was raised.  Here’s a link to a quick 2 minute time lapse of just under 3 hours of ergathon – shown in a space of about 2 minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CftgkytseVU&feature=youtu.be

Notice: This photo was posted with the permission of the parent/guardian of the children.