Vacay 2015

My wife, Rose and I like to travel together. 

I am usually pointing out the window constantly, trying to get here to see things before we pass them by!

So, with much excitement we set off on “Holiday 2015”!

I can be spontaneous when it comes to making plans for time off.  Ya, sure it’s all well and good to have some kind of outline when you plan a vacation, but I think you should allow some room for discovery.  This was my plot for our week off in July.

July is awesome.  I always like June, because summer is just ahead of you, but for me it all seems to come together in July. 

Our “plan” started on a Saturday morning with an ultimate destination of a Golf Club in Oungah, Ontario, near Wallaceburg, to be part of a family friends annual golf tournament wrap up dinner at Country View Golf Club by 6pm.

More on that later…

I pointed our Ford Focus in a westerly direction, hoping to arrive at Lake Huron at some point.  We had seen Lake Ontario the previous Thursday after a quick trip to the Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto, (A cool place, you should go!)  so we, or rather, I, thought it would be poetic to see another Great Lake on our way!  We traveled along 27 South to Cookstown, and then shifted west along 89 through Alliston, Rosemont, Violet Hill, Shelburne and on to Mount Forest.  All the way we were impressed by the rolling hills and valleys.  There were many opportunities to just gaze at the outstanding landscape.  It seemed like we were always up high and looking down!  Along with the terrain, we noticed that residents kept their yards looking so beautiful.  Lawns were neatly trimmed, flower gardens were abundant and the odd house even had a fun water feature.  I wished we could stop and tell each person that we travelers really enjoyed their labors!

We shifted highways in Minto.  Now we were on 87 and moved through Harriston, Gorrie and on to Wingham where we hopped onto highway 4 because at this point I decided we would shoot for Goderich!

Maybe some slasher films were shot here?

A brief stop in Belgrave brought us to a place that had unusual bird houses in the yard.  They were huge and very detailed!  We snapped a couple pics and then stopped at an antique radio shop.  The owner, Gary gave us a tour and some interesting history about the radios in the store.  I gathered that he was a Christian man because of the scripture material available on the brochure tables.  We did not bring that subject up because he was already very talkative and helpful and we were on a mission.  If we were to talk about the Lord, we would have been there a LOT longer!  Gary suggested that if we wanted to take a scenic journey to Goderich, we should instead head down 20 and then turn on 1.  This would take us through Amish country!

Old Tyme Radio

Gary explains the history of an Edison invention!

A wall of radios!

A memory of days gone by!

The Bat Radio!

Check one, two...

On our trip through Amish country, we saw the work ethic of the local farmers.  They labored in the hot sun, taking hay off the field in a horse drawn wagon and cart, with nothing more than a huge pitchfork!  It was exhausting just watching them.

It was a short trip to end up in, Goderich, which calls itself the prettiest town in Canada.  It was pretty, no doubt there!  We had never visited the place and were impressed by the layout of the downtown.  It’s circle roundabout, with the courthouse in the center.  We stopped at the tourist centre, then off to the harbour/beach.  Lake Huron was a very deep shade of green.  There is a lot to see so we toured as much as time would allow.  After an ice cream, we had to jump back in the car and surrender to the GPS for the balance of the journey.  I figured that I had had my fun and now it was time for some “serious” travelling!

Fountain in Goderich.

It was a beautiful day!

Gonna come back and eat here someday!

Prop fin from a huge boat!

Visit to the waterfront harbor.

According to the Garmin, we would get there just in time for the post-golf dinner and surprise my mom!  She was aware we were coming down to the area for a visit, but we had to be very secretive about exactly what day, because it was supposed to be a surprise!

We were so glad that Mr. GPS pointed us down 21 and along the lake.  We meandered through beautiful Bayfield, St Joseph and Grand Bend.  Eventualy we picked up the 402 and then the 40 through Sarnia and finally to my brothers place just East of Wallaceburg.  We all greeted each other and then headed out to the Golf Club to surprise Mom!

Mom and her bestie, Aggy at the golf course.

70th birthday cupcake!

Me and my brother, Martin, chillin!

Country View Golf Course is fairly new.  I remember when it opened in the 80’s and enjoyed a round every so often with my cousin after a shift at the factory.  The tournament was put on by my mother’s high school best friend, she does it for her family and it is in its 25^th year!  After a lot of prompting, my mom finally went to the dinner, and found out we were coming!  Surprise!  Dinner was great and we had fun watching people attempt Karaoke and dancing to the DJ’s tunes. 

It was off to Wallaceburg after that for some much needed “road-rest”.

Plans for the next few days only involved fishing and sitting on my brothers dock!  He has a beautiful place at the fork of  Running Creek and a link to The Snye.  If the water levels cooperate, you can take a boat right into town, or head out to the “big” river, the St. Clair, and the off to wherever you want!

Martin’s property is a long and narrow strip of land dotted with various varieties of trees that make it feel like a slice of paradise.  It’s quiet to!  He and his wife Tracy recently started keeping some laying hens in the backyard, so you also got a farm-like vibe!  It’s a really laid back place to visit and I am so thankful we were able to hang out and pull in some fish and eat some steak!

Relaxing on the dock in Wallaceburg.

Jasmine caught a perch!

The Martin and Tracy Estate, view 1, towards the house.

Looking toward the river.

Martin is a pro!

Mostly, we caught very small perch, but the odd time you could hook a pike, bass or sheephead!

It was a lot of fun and truly relaxing.  It’s great to be able to catch up with family in the sunny months of summer, but of course, these times don’t last and we had to say goodbye and head out on the road again!

Sad goodbye!

My wandering instincts this time set our course East along 15 to Kent Bridge Road and then south west to Rondeau and Lake Erie!  Wow, our third Great Lake!  The provincial park charged for full day parking and we only wanted about 10 minutes, so we wound down the road to Rose Beach to check out the water and snap a few pics.

Lake Erie at Rondeau.

Beautiful!

From there we followed highway 3 along the lake through Morpeth, Palmyra, New Glasgow and Wallacetown.  We love taking in the Victorian style homes along the way and tried to snap a few pictures out the car window…unsuccessfully!

Our destination was Port Stanley, because we were told it was the place for fish and chips!

Port Stanley is a port town, obviously.  Boats were abundant and there was even a railway you could take a tour on!  (It was closed!)  We walked the picturesque streets, admiring the touristy look of the buildings and the hospitality.  We toured the beach, which was almost deserted!  (It WAS a weekday)  We chase a restaurant with a view of the harbour and ordered up some Lake Erie perch.  It was fun to eat fish right from the lake in front of you, all while watching fishing boats come into port with their catch!

Our view from the restaurant, the harbor!

Victorian home!

The train takes you out for a tour.

Some history.

Empty beach!

With full bellies we hit the road again on our way to, Sparta! (Not the one from the movie!)  It’s a little crossroads place with a cluster of antique shops which we sadly had to bypass!  We were on our way to a place called Winter Wheat.  It’s an artsy spot that was recommended by Martin and Tracey.  As expected, it was a funky blend of country art and original items all set into a country farm location.  We did not buy anything but signed the guest book with a plug for LIFE 100.3!

THIS is Sparta...not that other place.

Winter Wheat entrance.

Main building at Winter Wheat.

Love the colors.

Very bright and cheerful.

This is what you see when you walk in...

Those are tea cups...

All made of metal...

Some inside stuff.

Camera lamp?

A backyard escape.

Sign the book...

OK...

After, Sparta the skies began to cloud up a bit and we drove through some rain on our trek north to St. Thomas.  We stopped for a quick coffee fix and then on to the JUMBO memorial!  Jumbo was a famous circus elephant with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Baily shows.  He was tragically killed after being hit by a train in St. Thomas!  It was a cool bit of history.  Speaking of death, I noticed that St. Thomas had a lot of cemeteries!  Not sure why that is, but it seemed that around every corner, there was another one!  Nice place though.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room...

Jumbo was...like...jumbo size!

History

After St. Thomas it was time to hand the navigation back to Mr. Garmin, who put on the boring but quick route on the 401 East towards Toronto and then the 400 North back to Barrie.

Did I “unplug” for the holiday?  No, not really.  I checked in on Facebook once in a while and scanned the odd e-mail.  I would rather be up to speed when I get back rather than try to catch up on things all at once.

I did get to finish reading a book I had started on to.  

I rested well, ate well and am ready to get back at it!

Thank you to everyone who extended their hospitality to us!

We can’t jet off to tropic locations at this point in our lives, but there is so much to see and do right here in Ontario!