As many others have experienced, the time of Covid has kept us from visiting family and friends over the past few years. Now that things have loosened up, we thought a little tour of the Toronto area was in order.
We made reservations at both Darlington and Bronte provincial parks, as we have friends and family to visit on either side of the greater Toronto area.
Dale’s cousin David & Cathy, who live in Scarborough, was actually going to be up at their cottage in the Haliburton area at the time of us being at Darlington, so they suggested we visit them at their lake for a night, and then continue on our route. Sounded like a plan!
We had a great visit at their cottage on Kennesis Lake. The weather was fabulous, so we enjoyed a boat tour of the lake, a refreshing swim, and a nice dinner and reminiscing of old family times. The following morning we made our way onto Darlington.
Darlington PP is a big park on the shore of Lake Ontario, with a large day use beach and lots of well treed large campsites. It is also a short distance to the Oshawa GO train station, which allows easy access to downtown Toronto.
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| this trip was not about the park |
We hopped the train and met my buddy Cliff at Union Station. I’ve known Cliff a very long time, and we always have a great time and lots to chat about whenever we see each other.
The three of us wandered around downtown, checking out The St. Lawrence Market, then headed over to one of Dale’s favourite downtown streets, Queen Street West. Checked out the shops then grabbed lunch and a cold beer on the patio at a neat British style pub.
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| CN Tower...a landmark |
Lots of construction going on downtown, there seemed to be trucks, backhoes, cranes, and orange pylons everywhere. There was a chaotic vibe happening…noise, dust and throes of people all over. It reminded us that this is a massive city, with all that entails.
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| "I want to buy some cheese..." |
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| kitchen store nirvana |
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| classic... |
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| art installation...I guess |
Soon off to Bronte PP on the west side of the city. We have stayed here before, and it makes a great base for visiting friends and family. Our site was very open, and this raised concerns about being in full sun. Keeping the Alto cool for Barley is the key consideration when setting up. When we arrived in the afternoon, we saw where the shade was later in the day, and were able to tuck the Alto into the back corner of the site.
We went over to visit my late cousin’s husband Ray, although I’ve always referred to him as a cousin. Known Ray since I was a kid, a very sharp guy with a fabulous sense of humour, and a massive love for the Habs. Checked out his new condo, then went over to his local for dinner. We had a great visit, and a few cold ones.
Friday afternoon we went over to my cousin Laurie and her husband Kon’s new home for a visit and to see the amazing renovations Kon has done to the kitchen and main level. We then all walked over to another pub and met Ray and Elaine for another visit and dinner. Laurie and Elaine are Ray and Adele’s daughters, and it is always fabulous to get together with these guys…so much fun and have tons of shared memories from over the years.
Saturday night we had dinner with Mark and Angela, along with their son Brent, who was home from New York. It was great to see them and we had a lovely evening.
On Sunday we drove west of Oakville to the quaint beautiful town of Waterdown to visit Dale’s cousin Richard and his wife Tanya. We had a lovely visit, and their two young boys are so cute, lively and lots of fun. They live in the downtown historic district and are lovingly renovating a century old coach house, and it is looking great.
Back home on Monday, it felt great to catch up with so many friends and family…certainly long overdue visits.
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