Road-trip September 8 - October 8, 2017 (Day 27 - 30)

Georgian Bay, Ontario

From Sudbury we took highway 69 south, following the waters of Georgian Bay to Parry Sound. This town is known as the home of Bobby Orr but it is interesting  that it also has the world's deepest natural freshwater port. From here we picked up the 400 to Barrie. Then it was a scenic drive cross country through a dotting of small villages until we reached Erin. It was here that Debbie, Richard's first wife was buried and since her passing in 1988 we had never visited her gravesite. We stopped and made inquiries at Butcher Funeral Home who gave us the name of the graveyard, only two minutes away. They couldn't pinpoint the grave location but we found it after a short search, brushed away some leaves and old flower petals from Mother's Day and said a prayer. We left a little sadder but glad we had had this opportunity after so many years. Guelph was just a half hour away and we met up with Richard in the shopping centre parking lot across from his brand new condominium, still in the later stages of completion. His condo was large and bright with a lot of windows and he had made it distinctly his - airline posters, model cars and lots of magazines and DVDs. Rich took us out for supper at Romero's Restaurant, a casual place serving a variety of tasty Mediterranean cuisine, then we retired and spent the rest of the evening enjoying some of his Kraken dark spiced rum and a hockey game.

dinner with Richard, Guelph, Ontario

After breakfast we said goodbye to Rich, planning to see him again this fall, and got on the 401 for the madhouse of Toronto. We were hoping to get to Christina's place in Embrun for supper. We stopped for a few treats at the Big Apple in Colborne, halfway between Toronto and Kingston, a favorite stopover for everyone driving the 401 east or west. Anything apple can be found here from the famous pies to apple cider but get there early to avoid the bus crowd. We finally got to Embrun a little later than planned but Christina had kept supper warm for us. We spent the next day with her and Damien who, since we had last seen him a month ago, was close to walking. We went to the nearby park where I had him in stitches on the swing, amazed how much of a little daredevil he was on the slides. Reluctantly we had to say goodbye and by noon were back on the road, this time the 417 to Montreal, our next planned stop before getting home.

Damien, Embrun, Ontario

We stayed two nights with Fernanda and the kids because on Saturday Phil dropped me and Amy off at the Atrium le 1000 downtown for one of her friend's birthday parties. We were there for over two hours and I think Amy was on the ice for almost the whole time, except for coming off for pizza and cake. She grows more confident on her skates each time she laces them up and hopefully William will take to it as much as she does. I took her home on the metro which she loves, riding in one of the cities new trains. The next morning we went out to a breakfast place Phil had discovered before packing up one last time for home. The peak of the fall colours were past when we pulled into our driveway but it was still pretty and we were welcomed with sunny skies which had been the norm since we had left 30 days ago. We had done 11,857 kilometers (7367 miles) without any incidents, close calls or problems with the truck and except for the $2400 diesel fuel bill the trip would have been a bargain. We were very pleased to see none of he house plants had succumbed while we were away and, except for the grass which needed cutting, nothing looked out of place. It was nice to be back and to be able to sleep in our big bed again, look out over the hills and put my feet up but winter was around the corner and we still had lots to do before the cold and snow descended for the next five months. Welcome home indeed!   gws 

Amy and friends, Atrium le 1000, Montreal

breakfast Sunday morning

See you in another month Grandpapa!

leaving Montreal

La Patrie, almost home

home !