It's hard to believe the weekend has come and gone so quickly. And it's even harder to believe that half of this journey to Wikwemikong and beyond is almost over. I'm not going to focus on what's already happened, though; I'm going to continue to enjoy the present and look forward to more good times over the next several days.
Dolly and I, along with other family members like Sarah, Gail, and the kids, spent the weekend in Toronto. We engaged in a lot of activities while we were in Canada's largest city, but our main mission was to attend the annual Canadian Aboriginal Festival in the Rogers Centre. The Rogers Centre used to be called the Sky Dome and stands in the shadow of the CN Tower, which is now illuminated red and green in observances of the Christmas season.
If I had paid more attention to the weather reports than I had, the trip to Toronto may not have happened. But I'm glad I decided we should make the 340-mile trip to Toronto in spite of the gloom and doom the weathercasters spewed. The weather people, when talking about snow, ice, and snow squalls, made it sound like the world was coming to an end. But the drive to Toronto was relatively easy and the roads were clean most of the time. That wasn't the case on the way back to Wiky today, but for the most part our travels weren't difficult.
The only difficulties we faced on the way down to Toronto was the freezing of my windshield washer fluid. I hadn't given much thought to changing my washer fluid over to one more suited to cold weather before heading for Canada, so the fluid froze in the reservoir. Fortunately, a mechanic shop in Parry Sound was open on Saturday afternoon and the shop staff were able to unthaw the reservoir and pump and everything has been fine since. I thought I had totally winterized my car, but it turns out I was wrong. Everything is fine now, though, and I've learned something in the process.
Traffic on the 400 South near Toronto was thick and moved quickly, but it really wasn't that difficult to get to our downtown hotel. We had hoped we'd be able to park in the hotel's lot, but it was full. We were able to valet park in a nearby hotel's lot, though, just as Dolly and I had when we saw The Police back in July. Parking was a source of anxiety for me for some time, but it, too, worked out fine. And I'll be better prepared for a similar situation the next time we travel to Toronto.
Dolly and I checked into the hotel not long after we took care of the parking situation. Dolly and I headed up to our room while Sarah and Ashley headed up to Glenna's penthouse apartment. In the meantime, all of us took some time to rest and freshen up for a bit before heading the Rogers Centre. We caught a cab to the Rogers Centre and spent a few hours at the powwow before heading back to the hotel to get dressed to party.
It had been a few months since I'd last been in the Rogers Centre and I had forgotten how big it is in the interim. At the same time, its size wasn't overwhelming and I had little trouble getting around inside in spite of all the people milling about. roughly a third of the astroturf was set up as a dance arena while the remaining two-thirds were used as space for booths and performance areas. Dolly and I didn't spend that much time this weekend watching the powwow. In fact, we didn't even do any intertribal dancing as we had thought. We spent most of our time checking out all the booths and catching up with people we knew. I was surprised by the number of people Dolly knew. And I was even surprised to find that friends of mine like Bert Crowfoot were at the powwow, too. I wasn't able to catch up with Bert over the weekend, but it's good to know he made it.
Our Saturday night really wasn't that structured; we knew we were planning to attend the Redskin launch party and check out Derek Miller's performance at Healey's. But we didn't really have much of a plan beyond that. We went with the flow. After we left the powwow, Gail said she wanted to go out partying with us, so we returned to our respective hotels to get ready before we met up with Gail again at her room at the Delta Chelsea. The three of us caught another cab to Healey's and entered to check out the party.
We found there were already quite a few people present by the time we arrived around 10. We had no real idea when the party was supposed to start, but we figured we made it in time. Derek Miller's band was just finishing set up around the time we arrived and Rudy Youngblood took the stage to introduce the band not long after. We had heard that Adam Beach was going to be the master of ceremonies for the party, but he must have had another commitment. Dolly and I figured that that must be why Rudy Youngblood (star of the Mel Gibson movie Apocalypto) was brought in to M.C. the gig. Youngblood actually didn't do that much M.C.ing; he simply stepped up on stage, asked everyone if he or she was ready to party and get drunk, and then introduced Derek Miller and his band as they came on. Derek Miller then launched into some opening chords and the gig was underway. I was surprised how loud the band was even though I was standing not far from one of the band's speakers. It was then that I really felt grateful that I brought earplugs. Having my ears plugged made hanging out in the bar much more comfortable.
Dolly and I split from Gail for a bit. I guess Gail roamed around inside and outside the bar quite a bit, but Dolly and I stayed in one place for most of the time. In the meantime, I spoke to a couple of security guards about what parts of the bar our VIP passes could get us into. It turns out that having the passed didn't present us with any advantages over other ticket holders. Still, the pass will be a nice souvenir to take home with me this coming weekend.
The three of us hung out in the bar until about 12:15. We left and walked the streets for a bit until we found a Tim Horton's and had some coffee before returning to our hotels for the night. We didn't meet again until Sunday morning when all of us gathered at the Golden Griddle for breakfast.
After that breakfast we again went our separate ways and later met again at the Rogers Centre. It took us a while to find everyone else again once we arrived at the Rogers Centre; in the meantime, Dolly and I checked out the powwow a bit and visited a number of booths. It was awesome to see so many people there at the Rogers Centre and that there were so many different booths. At the same time it was a bit overwhelming. As Dolly and Sarah said later, there was almost too much to see. Still, we did the best we could and had all the fun we could. And we picked up a lot of freebies and made some purchases in the meantime. I was also able to shoot quite a few photos, most of which were taken during the Turtle Concepts fashion show.
One plan for the evening following the powwow was for all of us to get together at the Delta Chelsea and go swimming. That didn't happen, however, and it wasn't for lack of desire. We all wanted to get together and have fun in the pool, but mild illness sidetracked most of us. And the illness seems to have been tied to some of the greasy food in which we indulged at the powwow. So rather than party together on Sunday night, we spent our times hunkered down in our nightly lodgings. It's too bad that we didn't get together and hang out as a family as we had hoped. But I'm not going to complain about spending an evening just relaxing.
We left Toronto between 11 and 12 today and convoyed with Gail and the kids back to Wiky. Slick roads, particularly between Innisfil and Parry Sound, slowed our progress. With periodic stops factored in, it took us about nine hours to drive from Toronto to Wiky. The same trip would take about six hours under normal circumstances. The important thing is that we traveled safely, though, and we're all home safe. And we're going to have more good times over the next several days. Dolly and I are going to do a lot of cooking for the family over the next several days, and it sounds like we'll have lots of fun with that, too. In the meantime, I'm sure we'll all cherish the memories we made together over the weekend. I know I will.
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