Today we have been married 50 years - and believe me, they did say "it will never last". Proved them all wrong this time! So no work for us today in any form.
It started off as a very hot, humid, rainy day. We started our day off by opening our cards, which were really lovely. Some had some very nice surprises in them too! Also a super gift from Vince and Barb. Two very special shirts. I will post a picture of them when I get around to that.
Later through the morning we went into Hanover. Did do a little work there, had to pick up a few supplies. However, Hanover was on our way to Kincardine, where we were heading for a nice lunch, at The Erie Belle.
After a delicious lunch it had stopped raining, so we made our way to the pier and marina area.
Then we wandered along the beach.
It was still very warm, and a little humid.
Some very nice people along the beach kindly took a picture of us to celebrate the day.
Yes, this is us 50 years later!
When we returned home Norma called in for a glass of wine to help us celebrate. She is a lovely neighbour to have.
Still full at supper time so we had a snack and watched the Blue Jays beat Boston.
Through the evening Natalie and Elijah stopped by with gifts and cards. We both now have a medal to prove we survived 50 years! Then another great gift.
Tickets for the four of us to go to The Blue Jays Game on Sunday 20th - can't wait. Naturally a few more glasses of wine were consumed - you know us!!!
All in all it was truly a wonderful day.
It was well worth "surviving this 50 years".
You do all realise that is two life sentences, don't you?
Looking forward to the rest of the celebrations over the weekend and next week or more.
Sunday September 20th. Toronto here we come!
Today we were up and out by 8 a.m. with Natalie and Elijah, heading to Toronto to The Blue Jays Game. It was a cool morning, but sunny.
First stop was Burlington Station, where we all caught the Go Train into Union Station.
It was a fun ride into Toronto.
There were many other Blue Jays fans on the train.
From Union Station we walked to The Rogers Centre.
Wandered around The Jays Shop - that was fun!
Then headed to our seats.
It was a sell out - again, so the whole place was really buzzing.
Here's Josh Donaldson warming up.
Mark Buehrle was pitching.
Ben Revere was great.
Jose Bastista was as good as ever, as was all the other players.
The Ball Pen had a busy day.
The boys in the dug out cheered everyone on.
B. Jay Birdie kept us all hopping.
It was an exciting game, but the last "pop up" was not so good.
We lost 4-3.
Oh well better luck tomorrow.
Following the end of the game, we took our time leaving.
Along with another 40,000 people we wandered past the CN Tower and made our way to Union Station, where we all boarded "The Blue Jays Express", back to Burlington.
Then the drive back to Durham.
Made it home about 8.30 p.m. ready for Dinner and more Celebrations.
It had been a fabulous, exciting day.
And many thanks to Natalie and Elijah for taking us to the game.
Very memorable few days, and more celebrations to come next week!
Tuesday 22nd November 2015
Today we are continuing with our celebrations and heading to Huntsville ON.
We had partially planned to get a log cabin for a couple of days here, but due to Mother Nature and the fabulous weather she was handing to us we ended up at Arrowhead Provincial Park all ready to camp for a few days. It was more like summer than the Fall.
There were a lot of good sites available.
We took #289, and were all set up. having lunch by 3.00 p.m.
By 4.30 we were heading to the Stubbs Falls Trail.
It is a good trail that runs along the rivers edge.
Or, maybe I should say the edge of the cliff. It is a sheer drop down the cliff to the river. But really very pretty.
Then on to the Falls, which was quite impressive.
What happened next was not so impressive.
The memory card in the camera was FULL!
I had accidentally put in a small card when we went to the Ball Game, not one of my regular cards. Consequently you will not see any more pictures until tomorrow.
Anyway the trail was really nice, and I will do my best to take pictures before we leave here. It's a 2.3 km trail, very well laid out and easy to walk.
We got back to #289 about 5.45 p.m. Now ready for Happy Hour. It was a little cooler now, but still bright and sunny.
By 7.30 p.m. we were relaxing around the camp fire with our supper, listening to the Ball Game on the radio.
It was a very nice evening. So many stars and a complete half moon.
The stars on the radio were not so good. The Yankees beat us. Oh well, better luck tomorrow.
It's been a good day, now time to head in side for the night.
Wednesday 23rd September 2015.
Bright sunny start to the day. Let's hope it remains that way.
After breakfast I located the correct memory card for the camera, and we had our hiking plans all mapped out. We decided to walk all around Arrowhead Lake. It is a 5 km walk, which will be approximately 10 km for us by the time we leave #289 and return back.
We started out about 10.30 a.m. To get to Arrowhead Lake Trail we had walk The Stubbs Fall Trail again, which is 2.5 km to add to the 5 km around the lake.
The lighting at the Falls was quite different to what it was late afternoon yesterday.
This trail was quite easy to walk, but it also had some more difficult areas.
This part of the trail had many very large boulders to maneuver around.
Some of it ran along a high cliff with massive rocks.
We did find a weird looking tree. which had grown around an old tree stump.
One part of the tree almost looked like an elephant trunk.
It was very picturesque around the 3/4 mark of Stubbs Trail, where we could hook onto the Arrowhead Trail.
Finally we found The Arrowhead Trail.
The beginning of the trail ran along the beach area with the opposite side of the lake in view.
The trail did run along the lake edge in many different spots. All extremely pretty scenes.
About half way around we could see way across the lake where we had started off.
There were three ducks having a race across the lake.
The bridge before we reached the end of the trail.
At the end of the trail we had to get on the remainder of the Stubbs Trail, which would allow us to return to our campsite.
After being out walking close to 3 hours we came to the side road which would lead us back to El Campista.
And a very welcome sight it was!
This is a map of the lake we have just walked around.
We sat for a while with a nice "cuppa" tea, followed by lunch and more tea.
The afternoon was spent relaxing, enjoying the sunny weather and regaining our energy.
It had been a great walk and already we are looking forward to doing it all again - but not today!
After our relaxing afternoon we had our game of washer toss, winner to buy the drinks.
I lost by one point - Mike 20, me 19. So I think I won anyway, as I was served my drink.
It was a good evening around the fire. The Blue Jays beat the Yankees. The fire was really good and the weather perfect.
Once again there was an abundance of stars.
And so the end to another wonderful day.
Thursday 24th September 2015.
OK - same old story - brilliant sunshine. We have really lucked out with the weather so far.
Today we are heading to Balsam Lake. We really enjoyed it there for Mike's birthday, so thought it would be a great place to wrap up our 50th Anniversary trip. No - that doesn't mean the celebrating is over. I am sure we can continue celebrating for a while yet. In fact, after all, we should celebrate for 12 months, as this is 50 years.
No we do not usually take pictures of garbage cans, but this one has quite the statement.
Now you can see what I meant! No we didn't see any bears, and didn't even have any warnings telling us that they were in the area this time.
Left Arrowhead about 11.30 a.m. on our way to Balsam Lake.
It's often been said "It's not the destination, it's the getting there that is exciting". And today was one of those trips. We know the destination will be good, and we were amazed at the fabulous drive it was to get there.
We stopped at Dwight Trading Post. I even managed to do a bit of Christmas shopping there. It was a super place, and very interesting. I took several pictures outside, but, although equally as interesting inside, picture taking inside was prohibited.
Outside there was "camping". Although not being in use today.
A Totem pole.
More "camping".
It was all set up like a tiny village.
Unfortunately I couldn't take a lot of scenery pictures leading to Dwight as we had a "Pepsi" truck in front of us. Sorry you missed that. It was well worth the drive.
After Dwight the road (35 S) changed a little and there were many rock cuts to travel through. Rock cut roads are a favorite of mine, so I really enjoyed that section of the trip.
The road was really quiet, making for a very easy drive.
We stopped in Dorset for a wander around the town, which was great.
The General store was fabulous.
The bridge over the river in the centre of town was a one way at a time bridge. With very cool scenery.
That was followed by more rock cuts.
Then we drove alongside Kushog Lake, which was enormous and extremely pretty.
That was followed by Boshkung Lake. Another good sized lake, and picturesque.
It appeared every twist or turn we took gave us a different lake to look at.
We are so lucky to be living in a country with all this magnificent scenery to enjoy.
Then, finally, after a wonderful drive, we arrived at Balsam Lake. It took a few rides a round to find a site we liked. Our favorite had been taken. We settled for #188. All set up and enjoying a late (3.15 p.m.) lunch and sat out enjoying the sunshine.
About 5 p.m. we decided it was time for a nice walk.
It was easy to get to any of the trails from our site as there was a small trail directly opposite our site that led us to which ever trail we wished to take.
We decided to head towards Balsam Lake.
There were lots of really pretty areas to stop and enjoy the edge of the lake, and so very peaceful here.
For late September there were a lot of campers here enjoying the "summer" weather.
Time to get the fire started - well time to TRY to get the fire started. Believe me there will be no fire pictures tonight. We have one of those bags of NON Flammable wood for tonight.
I think we finally found a couple of dryer logs about 9.15 p.m. so it wasn't a complete loss. However, it didn't last too long, so we headed in.
It had been another really good day and interesting drive.
Friday 25th September 2015. (Only 3 months to go!)
Cloudy start to the day, and a little cool. However, it still did not feel like the Fall. The sun showed it's face by the time breakfast was over.
Not sure what the hiking plan is today, but the beach area is on the list for some part of the day.
First stop on our walk today was the docking area near the beach.
Then we took the trail through the trees that leads to the beach.
The beach was very quiet.
However, we did have to share the beach with the Sea Gulls, but they didn't mind any.
The lake looked really good in the sunshine, even if the breeze was a little cool.
We sat at one of the picnic tables for some time, just enjoying the tranquility before heading back to our site.
Just a short walk for us today, just over an hour.
We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the sunshine.
About 4 p.m. we could hear what sounded like someone pounding a tree right behind us. I was brave and quietly wandered to the side to peak into the bush. I whispered to Mike to come to look at what was making this loud noise. It was a very large Red Headed Woodpecker enjoying re-arranging the tree trunk. Of course I did not have the camera with me, which was too bad as it would have been a magnificent picture.
By supper time our quiet camp ground had turned into "Union Station" after a Blue Jays Game. I think every available site was no longer available. The place was packed.
Speaking of the Blue Jays, they beat the Yankees again!
Spent the rest of the evening around the fire.
This time we were lucky enough to have wood which we could burn. and that was a very good thing.
September 26th 2015
Another cool morning with lots of sunshine.
Time to return to the Homestead today. It's been a great week and a good way to celebrate. Wonder how or where we can celebrate next week.
We took a different route home. We headed towards Collingwood and the Blue Mountains area of Thornberry and Meaford, then on to Owen Sound, and finally Durham.
It was a really pretty drive and the weather was still wonderful.
A super way to end a fabulous week.
Sunday 27th 2015. Durham ON.
This evening there was an eclipse visible to us. It was fun to watch.
A very interesting way to spend a Sunday evening.
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