I’m not sure how I lost track of this post, but I am embarrassed to say that it’s been sitting on my computer since the summer and I kind of forgot to post it! So now I need to try and remember everything that went on and add some content to the photos.

I went back to Ontario to spend a week with Dad and Mom and the family. It was a beautiful week weatherwise, which was nice. It was also the annual “camping” week, where Mom, Lisa and the kids pick a park to set the trailer up at. Which was great as it gave Dad and I some time to spend together. And since the park was only ~40 minutes away, I got to swing by and see everyone a few times.

Mom, Lisa and the kids were already set-up at the campsite when I arrived. I love that they call setting up their massive trailer as “camping”, and I will forever make fun of them for it, but it does work pretty well for what they’re doing. And I will say it was perfect when we went to the Yukon. :-)

This year they were set-up at Rockwood Conservation Area, about 40 minutes from Mom and Dad’s place. It gave me a chance to go over and visit a few times over the course of the week. Dad and I drove over a couple of times to hang out, and I rode over to do a training ride. It was a perfect distance for that!

Rockwood is a really nice spot. It’s on the Grand River, but they dammed the river to create a nice swimming spot. The water was beautiful and we went swimming a few times. It was fun to hang out with the kids and get some quality time together.

The landscape is really beautiful, almost rugged.

The dam on the river that creates the swimming area.

It makes for a really nice little beach.

Another day with nicer weather - and a nice view of the river.

You can see the cliffs across the water.

More views of the river.

And of course, since it was camping it was mandatory to have a fire and make some s’mores!

One of the fun events we did was a fundraiser hockey game for the local hospital. Shawn and Leanne were kind enough to get me ticket go with them and Lane. The event was marred by me getting rear-ended by some woman not paying attention on the highway, but other than that, we had a fun night watching a combo of NHLers and locals play some pretty entertaining hockey.

The game was pretty good - lots of action.

There were a handful of NHLers from the local area, with a focus on the Richie brothers.

It was pretty much end-to-end action.

Lane and his friend had a great night - lots of autographs!

Back at the campground, we spent some time hiking and exploring. The trails are easy but really nice, working along the river with lots of views from up high on the cliffs. And there are some old ruins of some pretty cool buildings left from the industrial past of the area.

We found this tiny milk snake on our hike.

Mackenzie and Ethan deep in conversation while Lisa and I lagged behind.

The map of our hike.

While I wa sin Ontario, I was trying to keep up my training for Fondo in September. I had managed to find a place to rent a road bike from, and that let me get a few rides in over the course of the week. During one of the rides, I went past the motel that was used as the external set for Schitt’s Creek! It was pretty funny to see the place, sitting empty as I rode past.

The ride out to Rockwood to see the family at their campsite. This was a pretty good ride - mainly flat but a good distance for an evening ride.

This was my longest ride - close to 75 km if I remember correctly. A lot more climbing on this one.

The Schitt’s Creek motel…

And in all its panoramic glory!

The visit gave me a chance to spend some time with lots of different people. One morning I got to hang out with Shawn, and he showed me one of the properties that he manages the grounds for. It’s just outside of Alton, a place that I’ve been past a million times but never realized how cool the place is. It’s a huge property, with lots of historic buildings/artefacts on the property. We drove around for a couple of hours, and it was good to get caught up.

A view over the property and the small lake.

The ruins of one of the old buildings on the property.

A little Panabode cottage sitting up on a cliff on the property.

You can see the cabin sitting up high.

One of the coolest things are a series of old limestone kilns that Shawn and his team are trying to restore/save.

Looking down into one of the kilns.

And from the inside.

I wanted to do a fun family event, and after some discussion we decided to go to a Blue Jays game! I managed to find pretty good seats along the first base line, for our little crew. It was a really nice day and we ended up with a really cool sunset as the game started. It was really fun to be out as a group, and despite the Jays not winning we had a great day.

Our little group for a day out at the ballpark!

It was really great to spend the day with Mom, Dad and the family.

We ended up being quite early for the game, thanks to Shawn’s parking strategy. Not sure how he pulled that one off.

It had been quite a while since I had last been to a Jays game.

It was a pretty good game, even if the good guys didn’t win.

We got a pretty great sunset as well.

On the last day, Mom and Dad took us all out for dinner at a pretty nice Chinese restaurant in Newmarket. The food was great, there was a lot of it and we had a really nice night.