Net Positive, By Far (Part 2)

We took a sabbatical from the blog. There are a few more posts to come.

_________________________________________

We are so grateful to Donna and Tom for making us feel so comfortable while we sorted ourselves out and came up with a new plan to get home. We will happily be paying it forward for some time.

Our dash through Ontario gets extended. We finally have a rental car and an extra week in our schedule before we catch VIA Rail from Toronto’s Union Station and head home.

Prior to leaving Terra Cotta we head to The McMichael in part to see the Tom Thomson exhibit. Thomson painted in Algonquin Park – many pieces are from winter, spring, and autumn. During the summer he was a guide in the park and too busy to paint. We’ll travel nearby Algonquin Park tomorrow.

For a westerner, travelling anywhere in Eastern Canada or New England in the month of October is breathtaking. Articles are written about the best places to view the fall colours. To be honest we are quite impressed with what Ontario offers up. Photographs are the best medium to converse in. And we have shared some already – be prepared there are more coming.

We drive back to up to Pakenham and Ottawa. Ritchie Argue provides us with a great ‘lesser travelled’ route.

First stop is Orillia. We are in Gordon Lightfoot’s birthplace. We stop to see ‘Golden Leaves’ at the Lightfoot Sculpture Park. The bronze statues are magnificent.

the maple arch is the background for scenes representing the iconic songs from the album Gold (such as the ‘Canadian Railway Trilogy’ at the top of the sculpture)

a smaller leaf paying tribute to ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’

Any reference to Gordon Lightfoot takes us back to the Gordon Lightfoot tribute at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival in July. That was a special musical treat. The final tune was the ‘Canadian Railway Trilogy’ performed by JP Cormier. I will not forget that performance anytime soon.

We carry on, driving through stunning fall colours. The late afternoon sun is lovely.

We stop at Bancroft to take a selfie. Back in Digby NS we met Tammy Q the proprietor at Josie’s: Tammy told us we should stop in Bancroft. We sent Tammy this selfie.

In October the days are a lot shorter. Sadly we lose daylight between Bancroft and Pakenham.

Ritchie keeps us busy exploring the local Pakenham area. Besides checking out the village of Pakenham, we tour the RCMP horse breeding centre, tour an automated dairy cow operation and check out Almonte. Not surprisingly, over two days we meet up with Grace, Danny, Lyle, Gillian and John.

Pakenham

RCMP Horse Breeding Centre

horses everywhere – some but not all these horses will graduate to the RCMP Musical Ride

Dairy farming

each cow has a profile: each cow has their own milking plan

The fall colours are something else.

we pick some apples before heading off to Ottawa

Deep Cove neighbours John and Mary spend time in Ottawa (John’s base). We stop in Ottawa and meet up for lunch. We last visited them at Melmerby Beach NS in late July.

By the end of the day we arrive in Prince Edward County taking roads less travelled from Ottawa to Kingston. Along the way we stop at Lyndhurst Bridge and a pretty section of the Rideau Canal.

Lyndhurst Bridge