I think this will be the last post from the Ontario trip. We have two more stops - one with our friends Carolynne and Graham at their home on Stoney Lake, then a quick stop in Alton with Mom and the rest of the family. It’s been a great trip - very relaxing and we got to catch up with a lot of different people. There’s never enough time, but it was time well spent.
This will be a fairly short post as there’s not a huge number of photos to share from this part of the trip.
After an amazing few days, we departed Jeff and Risa’s on Thursday morning to make the roughly two hour drive to our other friends, Carolynne and Graham, near Lakefield on Stoney Lake. Carolynne and I also worked together, back when I was still living in Ontario. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, and while the visits have sadly become less frequent, I was very happy that we could make time on this trip to stop by their place for a couple of days to catch up. It was long overdue.
Their home, which used to be their cottage, is one of my favorite places in the work. It sits on a slight hill, up above the lake, on a protected bay on Stoney Lake in the Kawarthas. I’ve been visiting them here since they bought it in 1999 (more years ago than I would like to admit), and it is exactly what you’d want in an Ontario cottage. I do love the place, and I wa slooking forward to spending some time with them to catch up and make up for lost time.
It’s been way too long since we’ve been for a visit.
The drive up was pretty easy. We made a stop for lunch and to pick some things up in one of the small towns along the way. The drive was quite pleasant, the scenery was good and we were not in any rush. We arrived early afternoon and it was so great to see Graham and Carolynne! It had been way too long. We got settled in and got the tour - they had done a lot of work and made a lot of changes since our last visit. There was a new second story on one end of the building and they had needed to redo a lot fo the boathouse. It was looking fabulous. To stretch our legs, we went out for a short walk along the road to have a look around. We snooped on a new build of a cottage further down the lake. It was going to be a very nice place, with great views.
There isn’t really a lot ot write about. We had a great visit and spent hours catching up on our respective lives. There was a lot to catch up on. Graham and Carolynne made us a lovely dinner, and we spent some time sitting in the living room, chatting and enjoying the fire. It was still cool enough in the evening to need it.
The lovely stone fireplace provided much needed warmth in the evening.
Saturday was also spent mostly relaxing. The weather wasn’t the nicest, and it rained for most of the morning. Thankfully, after lunch the rain did stop and started to clear up a bit. We decided to brave getting the boat out and going for a ride out on the lake. We figured it would be a short one, but why not?
There was a lot pt prepare - we needed to help get out life jackets, oars and fuel for the boat. We also need to get the boat off the lifts and in the water, a battery inot it and get it fueled up. As as outboards are tempermental, it was anyone’s guess if it would even start after sitting all winter!
Bu Graham worked his magic and it started on the second try! So we all got bundled up, we slipped out into the litttle bay and then cruised out onto Stoney Lake.
The cruise around the lake was fun, if a bit cold. We checked out all the crazy cottage monstrosities that have been built over the last 20 odd years and enjoyed the fresh air. It was good to give the boat a run, and Graham and Carolynne are all set for the summer. Not surprisingly, we didn’t really see many other boats out - everyone else probably thought we were crazy!
We had another lovely evening and were treated to a second, excellent meal. Friday night we played some pool (they have had this very nice pool table as long as I’ve known them), and had a fun evening. There were a few drinks, lots of laughs and more catching up. It was a fun night. Sadly, none of our pool skills are top notch. But we had fun.
And before too long, our time visiting was done! We had a great night sleep, but needed to be going in the morning. We were up reasonably early, as we had a 3-hour drive from their place to Alton to visit with my family. Carolynne and Graham were as always, amazing hosts and it was great to be able to make some time to hang out with them. Even if it was only a couple of days.
A Short Visit in Alton
We took the slightly longer, more scenic route in getting from Carolynne and Graham’s to Mon’s place. While not quite the backroads of our last drive, it was still fairly scenic and not very busy. We made a stop in Sharon Ontario, to check out the house Justine lived in for a year when they first moved back from Europe. I was impressed that she was able to find it after so long!
We got into Alton around lunch time. No one was home just yet, so it gave us a chance to get settled in and relax. Before too long, the family started to arrive, and we had a chance to catch up. As always, it was a lively affair. Before it got dark, we decided to go for a walk and make the most of the beautiful day. We headed out past the Alton Mill, and up into the trails surrounding the Millcroft Inn. We walked past the mill and the mill pond, then did a loop back to Mom’s, coming down the Pinnacle (it’s a big hill right behind Mom’s house). We got a good walk in and enjoyed the late afternoon.
It was really nice to have the whole family around, and we had a nice dinner and a chance to catch up. We’ve been back pretty regularly, but it had still been a few months. Eventually Shawn, Leanne, Mackenzie and Lane had to head home. Lisa and Ethan were staying the night, so we hung out for a while more.
The next day was the end of our trip! While it had flown by, it had also felt like a great break and we were feeling rested. We needed to be at the airport by about 5 pm, so we still had a good piece of the day. Ethan needed to work in the afternoon, so he and Lisa headed home in the late morning. That meant that Justine and I had Mom all to ourselves for a little bit. So we decided to go out for a walk and look for meadowlarks.
Our walk on Sunday
We went up to the new subdivision, where sadly they are building houses and ruining good meadowlark breeding habitat. But we had good luck seeing a number of this cool birds. They are quite pretty and have an amazing song.
The metal posts don’t make for the best of photos, but I got a few good ones. The weather was nice, if a bit windy, and we had a lovely walk. But soon enough it was time to head back, get packed up and head for the airport.
The flight home was delayed, but otherwise uneventful. Travelling is no fun these days, but we got home fine and had time to reflect on a great trip. It wasn’t exotic, but it was great to catch up with family and friends that we had not seen in a long time. We had the eclipse, lots of great birding and memories to last a lifetime!