Niagara, Toronto, Prince Edward County, Ottawa

I had originally hoped to visit one of my favourite online weaving providers, Camilla Valley Farms, while in south western Ontario. Sadly their summer vacation coincided with mine so in checking the map for alternatives to explore I looked at the map and said why don't we take a quick jaunt down to Niagara Falls before heading up north of Toronto to camp for the night. That would put us in the vicinity of another fibre vendor I had seen online and on Ravelry. Well the quick jaunt ended up being a  long drive on the 401 and the QEW through heavy Sunday traffic. Then getting parking in Niagara Falls for the truck and trailer meant we were at a distant parking lot and had to take a shuttle up to the falls.

However, the falls themselves were an impressive site, even though it seemed a pretty hokey tourist trap of a town.

We watched the Maid of the Mists boats going under the rainbow of spray between the two sets of falls. The Canadian ones are certainly more spectacular.

Back in the van and Pete had soon to start negotiating Toronto traffic as the spot that I had reserved was in the town of Caledon, north of Kleinburg which I had remembered visiting in the early 70's during my short stay at York U. What a change in 40 years. The malls and mosques are now stretching into what I remember as rural landscape. We stayed at Albion Hills Conservation Area and had one loop of the campsite to ourselves..

 Here we had both power and water at the site. Its a somewhat strange set up in that there are both seasonal, semi-permanent sites and others for more transient a day or a week at a time campers. There is a lake and pool and a series of hiking trails (which I assume are cross country trails in the winter as there is also a building designated a chalet). Oh and the fibre vendor I was going to visit near here - turns out they were on summer vacation, too.

The next morning we drove the 401 to just outside Brighton and Garmin Gertie took us on another circuitious route to Presqu'ile Provincial Park where we secured the last serviced site. We quickly set up the trailer and then Pete and I got back in the van for a tour of the quaint Prince Edward County which is now a trendy wine route through Loyalist country. We stopped at a winery and passed through a couple of other small towns filled with antique shops and B&Bs and made our way to Picton where we visited the shops on Main Street and I actually got to shop at an Ontario yarn/fibre shop Rose Haven Fibre Arts.

 I have been on their email list for years so it was great to finally get to the shop and be able to purchase some fibre (Icelandic pencil roving and some mugga silk). We got back to the campsite in time for Mazy and me to have a quick swim in Lake Ontario before it was time to make dinner.

On Tuesday morning we got a later start and headed further along the 401 through (suprise) another thunderstorm just outside of Brockville. We took a less direct route, the 31, into the Ottawa area so we could store the trailer for a few days at a campground that offered this service in the town of Greely just south of the city. From here it was a half an hour drive into Ottawa to the home of one of my oldest friends, Ann (we actually attended the same preschool at the Marpole Community Centre). That's the other benefit of this trip being able to reconnect with old friends and family who we haven't seen in too many years.
Ann prepared a wonderful dinner and it was great catching up with her and Michel. It was also a treat to be able to spread out in more than 100 sq ft.after more than two weeks in the trailer. On Wednesday morning after taking Mazy for her morning promenade we separated with Pete taking the bus to tour the War Museum (which had been reopened in a new building since his last time in Ottawa) and Ann and I walking to the National Gallery of Canada where she treated me to a visit to the Van Gogh. While the exhibit was crowded, tickets were issues for specific reserved admission times due to the demand, it was extremely well mounted and brought back memories of a visit 9 years ago to St.Remy and Arles.

 We meandered through some of the permanent exhibits, stopped for a coffee and a bite to eat before visiting the market to pick up some fresh local fruit. We took a longer, more interesting walk home that took us past Ann's last office at what used to be called Old City Hall and has recently been renamed the Diefenbaker building. A lazy afternoon reading and chatting on the deck in the shade before heading out for a quick dinner at a neighbourhood cafe for a indulgence in fish and chips followed by a stroll for dessert at the Dairy Queen - a great end to a hot, summer day