Hitching up and heading out!

Tomorrow, Tuesday July 5th, we are taking Dad to the airport to catch the plane to Dulles International. He will be spending 3 weeks with my sister, Patricia, in Maryland.

We will be leaving as soon as we get back from the airport. Our intention is to hitch up and leave as soon as we can, hopefully by about 3 pm. If we can make it to Parry Sound and find a place to stop, that will be good. There are several campgrounds in the area and we hope to find a spot to park for the night. If we cannot get into a campground, we will just overnight in the Wal-Mart. This will cut a big chunk out of the trip to Halfway Lake on Wednesday.

So watch this space for photos and a trip report after July 17th.

Happy Birthday Canada!

We celebrated Canada Day by leaving Dad at home.......just kidding. Actually we did leave him at home but he wanted to watch the Wimbledon tennis. Michael and I went, to the parade in Port Hope, about 45 minutes to the east of us. We then went on to Cobourg where they have a big Canada Day festival each year. Victoria Park on the Cobourg waterfront is converted into a huge flea market/party area. There is live entertainment and many different vendors of everything from art to knitted tea cozies and leather belts.

The little girl in the photo above was part of a group from a dance troupe. She was so pretty in her lovely tutu that I could not help taking a photo of her as she was just so proud of herself.

The beach at Cobourg is wide with white sand and, on Friday there were even waves on the lake, which almost made us forget that it was a lake! They had a Midway (fun fair) set up on the pier. The weather was absolutely perfect.

Cobourg is one of our favourite towns and we are thinking that we may even settle there when we retire. Property prices are still quite reasonable and we could get a house with enough land to park the RV. Cobourg is a stop on the Via Rail line so it is easy to get into Toronto or go east to Belleville, Kingston, Montreal, Quebec City and further.

The Belleville Trip

I really enjoyed taking the train to Belleville. It was fast and relaxing. It took just over an hour one way and I sat reading and had a little doze as well. It was lovely to be going faster than the cars on the 401! I worked out that it was actually cheaper for me to go by train than to drive. Gas prices are so high that it would have cost me more than $25 each way.

The Graduation Ceremony was lovely and extremely well organized. There were 30 graduating students and a large percentage of them graduated as Ontario Scholars (80% or more). Marion was one of them.

It was lovely to see the Hogewonings again and the children are growing like weeds. Marion is a very beautiful , elegant young lady. She will be going to Trinity Western University in British Columbia in September to take Inter-cultural Religious studies and then followed by Medicine. She hopes to work in Africa with AIDS children.

Lydia is also growing up and is doing ballet. She looks very different from Marion, but is also a very beautiful young lady. Waldo, at 11, is getting taller. He was very happy to show me his autograph book and scrap book from a recent trip to Disney World and his last birthday party with a bunch of other little boys. He is presently over-shadowed by his sisters, but as he gets older and more mature will come into his own and will be a fine young man.

It was a most enjoyable break from my usual routine and has given me a yearning to go on a longer train ride!

Hermien, Waldo, Marion, Dirk and Lydia

Hermien, Waldo, Marion, Dirk and Lydia

Graduating class of 2005, Quinte Christian High School, Belleville