Tuesday, July 12th - PEI, we have arrived!

 Our expectation was to have a rainy drive today. We were pleasantly surprised to wake up to a nice day with just a few drops as we loaded up the car. We were up and on the road by 6:00. 

Other than the odd sprinkle of rain here and there, we had clear driving the whole way. We stopped roughly every 2 hours or so to take a break, pick up whatever we needed and then were on our way. 

We landed on the island around 5:00 and I have to admit to being a little teary as we crossed the bridge. I truly felt like I was coming home. The time I spent on PEI is the longest I've ever lived in one place in my life.

Before continuing on to Cornwall, we stopped and took some time to take a couple of photos before leaving the bridge.

The PEI side of the bridge.

 Then it was off to Cornwall to check into our room. It's on the 2nd floor and is quite lovely. It will be much more than adequate for our 10 night visit. They even had a young man who carried our bags up to the second floor for us, as there is no elevator.

After a quick shower, we were off to a local pub called Lone Oak, over on the causeway. Brenda had already arrived and secured a table outside on the deck. 

We spent a lovely time chatting and catching up over drinks and nachos. I took a piece of paper and a pen with me so that I could jot down some ideas for what we can do while Carle is here. 

It's looking to be a very busy week!

Monday, July 11th - Day 2 in Quebec City

We woke up this morning to another nice bright day. I was up pretty early so I moved out to the sitting room area of our space, so as not to disturb my traveling companion. After she was up and we were both showered and sufficiently caffienated it was time to head out to explore.

Our hostess, Suzanne, had offered to tour us around so we took her up on it. She drove and we saw much more than we would have if I'd been left to get us around.

We were om the road by 9:00 and our first stop was Montmorency falls. I knew nothing about it and it was quite a lovely spot.

Our hostess, Suzanne

They have a cable car that takes you up to the top, and the view from there is amazing.

There is a stairway to the top but at 365 stairs, we decided to take the easy way up.

When you reach the top, there's a lovely Manor house which houses a restaurant, and I believe a hotel as well. 

A short walk behind the manor leads you to a suspension bridge that goes across the top of the falls. Not a place for someone who is afraid of heights, but fortunately that wasn't any of us.

You can also zip line across the top, but we chose to save that for another day, although I would have loved to do it.

Our next part of the tour took us over to the Isle de'Orleans. We didn't tour the whole island but did a fair piece of the north end of it. Lots of wineries, apple orchards and strawberry patches. We had a bit of trouble finding a place to have lunch as it was Monday and most eating establishments were closed. But we did find a little roadside stand that made burgers, fries, hot dogs and poutines. Washed down with an adult beverage of our choice, at a picnic table outside.

Then it was time to head into the city. Suzanne has a little spot she's found to always park her car and it was available. We spent the next couple of hours touring the port area and then up the Funicular to the top of the old city. Streets were busy but we had a nice time just wandering around and seeing the sights.

One of the fun things we saw down by the port was a bar with chairs in the water. What a great way to cool off on a hot day.

Suzanne had never been on the funicular so it was nice to show here something in her own city she'd never done before.

We spent a few minutes watching a street performer in front of a statue of Samuel Champlain.

Then it was off to explore a few of the side streets.

I have to admit, I didn't take as many pictures as I should have. I'd been here before several years ago with Brenda and spent an entire day inside this beautiful walled city.

Once our legs were getting tired, it was time to call it a day. We headed back home and were back by 5:00 so it had been a pretty full day. We were very grateful to Suzanne for sharing her day with us. 

Once we'd had something to eat, it was a bit of TV, then off to bed as we have a longish drive ahead of us in the morning and it looks like it might be a rainy trip.

Next stop, PEI!

Sunday, July 10th Bound - day one!

My trip plans to PEI have been like the proverbial roller coaster.

Long, stupid story short, my reservation that was made last November seems to no longer exist. After much back and forth and searching, a plan has finally come together. 

But first I enjoyed a lovely breakfast with Kay on Wednesday, who then treated me to a pedicure for my birthday. I have some pretty lovely toes (well, as lovely as you can make something that looks like mine) to show off on the island. We had breakfast at a diner I'd not been to before. It was the perfect spot for me to enjoy a meal!

After my pedicure, it was home to change and head out to lunch in Guelph. I was meeting Nancy, Marla, Judy and Jean. We gathered to share stories about our friend Linda, who had suddenly passed away a few days earlier. It was good for all of us to share some of the good times.

Friday was a crazy day as internet was down pretty much across the country. No debit or credit available at stores, no interet based tv, no cell phones. It was really scary to realize just how much we've come to depend on the technology. But by Saturday morning, most things were back to normal.

I dropped the cats off at Patti's on Saturday, where I was treated to a delicious steak dinner prepared by James. I did the potatoes and Patti did a delicous variation of a triffle, and James cooked the steaks, basting them liberally with truffle butter. They were mouth wateringly tender and yummy.

After supper, he and I drove home in the Miata, and he took it back to Kitchener with him. I think he'll enjoy tootling around in it while I'm away!

Bright and early this morning I picked Carle up and we headed out. The weather was perfect, traffic was good as it was an early Sunday morning and we arrived in Quebec City by 5:30.

The host, Suzanne, is a really lovely lady and made us feel quite at home. 

We have a lovely room with more than we will need for two days, including microwave, kettle, toaster, dishes and an IGA just down the road. After unpacking we drove over and picked up some food we could warm up. After making some healthy choices we came back and had a nice dinner, after a long day on the road.

Our hostess has graciously offered to give us a guided tour of Old Quebec City tomorrow, before we head to the island on Tuesday.

Saturday, July 2nd - belated Happy Canada Day to everyone

 It's been a bit of a whirlwind weekend, and it's only Saturday night! 

Since Friday was officially the holiday, I headed out bright and early to travel to Embro, not far from Woodstock, for their highland games. Patti and Tristen were coming a little bit later. He didn't have to be there as early as I did and we were going different directions when it was over this time, so, seperate cars.

It was a wee bit chilly first thing in the morning and there were threats of rain later on, but it all turned out okay in the end.  When I arrived I took a little walk around to see what was there. Each highland games and Scottish Festival seems to put their own spin on things. This one had a road race, which is fairly common, but no sheep herding events. There was, however, a highland cow. I was reminded of a highland cow I'd met once before, named Heather. (In the end, Heather was delicious)

I had 9 classes to watch over, but it was much easier than it sounds as several of the classes only had one competitor so the time went by pretty quickly. While I watched over the drummers, Tristen was competing on the other side of the park. He came in third, bringing home another bronze medal to add to his growing collection of hardware. (For 16, okay, almost 17, he really is a big boy!) Either that or I'm shrinking signifcantly!

As per usual, once the solo competitions were finished (or almost finished in some cases) there was the mass band. This was a somewhat small group but enjoyable to hear just the same.

With our required activities finished, I headed north and Patti and Tristen went back to Guelph. The three of them were returning later in the evening and going to Port Elgin, to Greg's parents, while I went on to Kincardine and stayed with my friend Kay and her husband Steve. They have a lovely spot outside of town. 50 acres to be exact that they have a trailer on as well as a large storage building and a tent trailer as well. Their son and his family were up for the weekend and I brought along a small tent, air mattress and sleeping bag. My little home away from home for the night. (Little being the operative word!)

Happy Canada Day - yes, there was wine!

After a delicious supper, we cleaned up the dishes and set about lighting a bonfire.  3 of Kay's grandchildren were there and she had bought some sparklers and some simple fireworks. The kids were delighted with all of them, before they headed off to bed. After sitting around the fire for a bit I had to call it a night as well. Lots of driving and fresh air for one day.

It turned out to be a fairly chilly night but I was cozy in my little shelter. I had planned to pack everything up  and take it all with me first thing as I had to be at the venue by 8:00 but since they only live about 10 minutes outside of town, it made sense to leave everything set up and get dried out before puting it all into the car.

So instead Kay and I went into town  and grabbed some coffees before time to go to work.

My job this time was to look after something called a Piobaireachd, which is a long, slow drawn out piece of music. There were 12 in my group. We started at 8:30 and didn't finish until around noon. Not the most uplifting of mornings but the sun was shining and it was warming up so it was all fine. 

Tristen was hoping to improve on his performance from the day before and he certainly did that, taking first place and winning another gold medal. 

Unfortunately because my event took so long, I missed the mass band, which in this case, was actually a parage through the middle of town. I caught them as they returned but they had stopped playing by then. 

I love the fact that Tristen's kilt is blue and stands out in the sea of red McRae Tartans that are those of the Guelph group.

All done here, and we were off for a bit of lunch before heading home. Boston Pizza was the spot for Greg's family including his mom and dad. brother Steven and his family as well as his inlaw's. Then it was back up to Kay's to pack up my stuff and head home. It's just under a two hour drive home and I was here just a little before 4:00. 

The cats were happy to see me, however the squirrel that had somehow managed to get into my upstairs apartment, wasn't quite so thrilled. The cats tried very had to catch it with no luck. It's been very quiet for the past couple of hours. I don't know if it has a new hiding place that the cats have yet to discover, or it's somehow found it's way back outside. Only time will tell. It could be an interesting night!

So this is my last highland games until Fergus in August. So no more shots of my beautiful knees sticking out from under a kilt for at least a month. 

Next on the agenda are my travels with Carle to PEI. She's really looking forward to it. Stay tuned for updates!

Saturday, June 25th - enough said about that...

It's been another busy week. 

Our TOPS group had our summer BBQ on Tuesday. Despite the weather being in the low 30's, a good time was had by all. We were in one members back yard and it had lots of shade so it was quite comfortable. Lots of great food, conversation and comraderie.  A great evening all round.

Friday afternoon Patti, Tristen and I headed out to London. We were treated to a delicious supper at Meghan's new place for the first time and she did an amazing job. Everything was really good.

Once we were done there, we headed out to Leamington to stay over night. Saturday morning was a highland games in Kingsville. I'd been there several times but forgot just how far a drive it is, especially when the navigator (me) gives the driver (Patti) wrong information and we end up a fair piece out of the way. We finally reached our destination around 11:30, so it was off to bed pretty much as soon as we got there. 

Attendance was down dratically for these games so they didn't need me to be a Steward. That meant we didn't have to be there bright and early. Tristen wasn't competing till sometime after 10:30 so we could take our time in the morning.

When we arrived I saw a sight I'd totally forgotten about - fish flies, or as they are called in North Bay, Shad flies. They were everywhere. It brought back some memories of trips to Pelee Island and the ferry across from Leamington. Somewhere there's a photo of me with some of the little beggers clinging to my hat. 

Fast forward a couple of decades, and it's the same thing again!

Tristen did well, winning first place in his category. He's really gung ho to be the highest finisher at the end of the season for his age and grade group. 

Because there were't a lot of bands competing, we left shortly after Tristen was finished his solo. He had a BBQ to go to in the afternoon so we headed back. A long way for a short stay but it was a beautiful day for a drive.

After I got home, I did a couple of things around the house and then took the Miata out for a little spin. I headed over to Guelph to pick something up from Patti's that she had located for me. Then it was over to dairy queen for a mini blizzard. I'd pretty much destroyed my day so far, one more thing wasn't going to make that much difference.

Tomorrow is another day.

Sunday, June 19th - Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there

June has proven to be a fairly busy month so far.  

Last weekend was the first of several highland games I'll be attending over the summer.

Last week, was Georgetown, and Tristen's first ever solo competition. He was thrilled to receive a gold medal for his efforts. Well done, T. It was also a first for me, as I am working as a steward at the games. My job is to check in the competitors before their event and keep things running smoothly and relatively on time. So far, so good.

Then this past weekend, we headed out to Cobourg. It was a chilly and early start to the day, leaving Guelph at 6:00 am as I have to be there by 8:00.  I have to wear a kilt and Patti found me a pair of the heavy knee socks that go with it. I was very grateful to have those this week!

Tristen competed again and this time came in third, receiving another medal. Points are collected each time they place and are tabulated at the end of the season, so he has set himself the goal of being top in his group. But it is only his first year competing so I'm hoping he is happy with where ever he finishes. 

It did warm up somewhat as the day wore on, but not nearly as warm as earlier in the week. 

                                           -----------------------------------------

I had driven up to Fergus to visit my friend Helen on Tuesday as it was over 30'. Perfect Miata weather. I had to go up to Stayner on Wednesday, and had planned to take the Miata as well, but the hot weather that was promised didn't materialize so I took the Prius. Good thing I did. Ran into rain in a couple of spots and temperatures never did get very warm. I was glad I'd taken the opportunity to go for a little run on Tuesday with the top down.

On my way to Stayner, I saw cloud formations in the sky I've not seen before. It was quite eery and when I arrived at my destination, they had experienced a major downpour just prior to my arrivel. Timing is everything!

This week will be busy as well. I've joined the local YMCA to try to deal with some hip issues. Some structured exercise classes and aqua fit should help. I've been to a couple of physio sessions and targeted exercises seem to be helping so I'm going to try to build on that. I have classes 5 mornings this week. We also have our TOPS summer BBQ on Tuesday and I'm making dessert. Good thing we all weigh in BEFORE we eat! We deserve to indulge every now and again!

Then Friday afternoon, we are heading to London to have dinner with Meghan before checking into a hotel in Leamington. There are highland games this Saturday in Kingsville. Too far a drive for early Saturday morning so we'll make a night of it. Then come back on Saturday afternoon.

Wish me luck in the morning with my first Aqua fit class 💦

P.S. Did  I also mention that Saturday was Sir Paul's 80th birthday? I apparently have quite a reputation (well earned, of course) of being somewhat of a fan as several people texted me and said 'Happy Birthday Paul". They know me too well!