Day Tripper, Sunday driver, yeah!

Spent the last couple days touring SW Ontario.  Here's the brief itinerary…

Thamesville
– this is where Shea's mom spent a summer when she was a teenager and
made a friend named…Shea who (obviously) became (my) Shea's
namesake.  Also saw the house that Shea's mom stayed in that
summer. 

Chatham
– we met “Uncle Barney” that Shea's mom stayed with during her summer. 
He was in a nursing home but pretty sharp.  I said we were going
to Montreal and would have to practice our “parlez-vous” and he goes
“well, bonjour to you too!”  He also got a short joke in about
Shea's mom which is pretty funny. (The picture was snapped right after he said “Oh yes, she was about this tall…”)


Leamington
– home of the biggest tomato in the world (why do Canadians love their
giant roadside attractions so much?)  and a Heinz factory. 
What more could you ask?  


Point Pelee National Park
– how cool is it that, not only is the southernmost point of mainland
Canada as far south as Northern California (as we all learned in
elementary school) but because it ends in a sandbar, you can literally
walk to this little wee spit of sand that is the actual furthest southern point?


Back through Chatham then head north along the…

St Clair River
– drop up to Sarnia along the St. Clair River which we heard was
beautiful.  Weird seeing Michigan across the river to the west
when I'm so used to thinking of the USA as south. 

Sarnia
– stopped at a hotel for night.  Up the next day and check out the
big bridge between the US & Canada (more exciting than it sounds –
honest!) 




Pinery Provincial Park
– a few classmates had talked about camping here this summer so I
thought I'd get a preview.  It was almost completely deserted at
this time of year and pretty incredible.  I saw a book in a travel
bookstore downtown the other day that talked about how kids have lost
their connection with nature.  I think a lot of adults have too.




Grand Bend
– very touristy seaside town that was fairly deserted (luckily) at this time of year

Bayfield
– stop for a picnic lunch of the shores of Lake Huron and tour their historic main street. 

Goderich
– picturesque little town designed so that all of the streets radiate
out from a central “square” like the spokes of a wheel.  Went into
the library on one of the side streets and was blown away by how
beautiful their library is. 




Stratford
– famous for the Stratford Festival, another very touristy town

And back home in time for supper.  Ended up going to the Oxford
Arms pub which had been recommended a couple days earlier by Mike
McArthur and who's sitting at a table by the front window watching us
walk up but Mike and David?  Funny stuff. 

I can't believe my blog has become a travelogue.  Jesus – somebody kill me.  Er, speaking of, Happy Easter! 
The Easter Bunny, she has risen once again…

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