Summer Travel Map

Thursday, July 28, 2011

"Go North!"

July 28, 2011
Loring, Ontario, Canada

And so we did, leaving the Niagara Falls area on Monday morning. Back over the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge into Canada, we looped around the western end of Lake Ontario to Toronto via PH-405, the QEW, PH-403 and PH-401, then headed North on PH-400. After a quick stop in Barrie for Costco and Sobey's shopping (OK; not so quick as we had lunch plus had some traffic/construction issues so it took over 2 hours), we continued on and arrived at Dave and Sandy's "cottage" just after 4:00. As we were almost ready for their turnoff, we saw an ATV heading our way and soon realized that it was Dave scouting for us. We were soon parked in a neighbour's driveway clearing (no 2+-hour job backing the coach in this time!) and ready to relax.

We had generally great weather, only one cloudy day, and had a great time visiting with their family (the total group was anywhere from 7 to 11 plus 4 dogs, depending on who was there at any given time. Sandy was super-busy as usual making sure that the household ran smoothly and everyone had enough to eat. We had several great dinners, including deep-fried turkey (a first for us), salmon pie, and some great grilled steaks. One evening we boated over to the Whip-or-Will Lodge for dinner (stuffed pork chops). Throw in solid breakfasts and good lunches (we made a batch of Geri's chicken-parm subs one day) and we ate exceptionally well. Dave's wine cellar got a workout as well, and we pulled a few bottles out of the coach to supplement.

Other than the trip to the Lodge for dinner, we had two other outings. Dave gave us a boat tour around the Lake one afternoon, and we drove down to Parry Sound (a little over an hour) to take a 3-hour cruise (no, Gilligan wasn't involved) around that section of Georgian Bay, which is part of Lake Huron. Otherwise, we relaxed and played with the pups, visited with Jason and Lorraine next door, and generally "hung out". What a great time!

Ready to sail!

To qualify as an "island", a rock has to be an acre in size.  Not all are...

"Nice house".  "Wear pants".

Along the cruise, we went right past an active osprey nest.

The "Swing Bridge" allows large craft and autos to co-exist...
Note: As always, click on any picture to enlarge...

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