Skip to main content

Tulips, walking and hounds




Well I am back from my latest jaunt. Unfortunately I didn't have much internet access while away so couldn't update my blog. I left May 12th and came rolling in by bus yesterday morning May 28th.

It was a great two weeks. I spent a week in Ottawa with two walking friends. I took part in the Ottawa Tulip walking festival and enjoyed all the walks - despite the crappy weather. The tulips were amazing. The friends I stayed with had two dogs so I got my dog fix - always important! We visited Merickville which is a small town on the Rideau canal. I love the Ottawa area. Then we drove to North Bay for the walking convention which was great fun. The weather was fantastic the whole time I was there. The accommodation at Nipissing University (Governers House) was great with a view of Nipissing Lake from it's front windows. The convention was fun from beginning to end. I spent one night in a cabin in Samuel Champlain Provincial park which was a unique experience - the black flies were unreal so bought myself a mosquito net to cover my face when we did the walk. It will come in handy here in Saskatchewan! If I dare put it on! Spent my last day with two walking friends from New Brunswick that were members of our club here. A wonderful holiday filled with friendship, walking in beautiful surroundings , good food and doggie fixes - you can't beat that in my opinion.
The Greyhound trip was fine - I am still tired but I will recuperate. Guess we nearly hit a moose in northern Ontario - darn I was laying down (as close as you can get to laying down on the bus) and felt the braking but missed the moose. Also I guess a wolf ran in front of us as well according to the driver. It is absolutely beautiful country there. In my younger days I used to feel it wasn't really a holiday unless you flew somewhere. After my two flying trips in April it was nice to relax and enjoy the scenery. The "long haulers" on the Greyhound become almost their own community.....I will be doing more hound trips for sure. I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful country and thanks to belonging to the Volkssport federation I am seeing more of my own country than I had ever dreamed about. I have walked in all the provinces and territories except for the Yukon but I am working on that!

Now except for a couple of walking weekends I will be home until mid September when I head up to the Northwest Territories for a couple of weeks. Then after that who knows....I am not planning anything until I see my bank balance after a summer of working.


Stay tuned!




Comments

Anonymous said…
glad you had a good time, sounds wonderful .......

Popular posts from this blog

Peeing on fish or a fish out of water

Well this morning we headed off by boat to Siem Reap.  Due to the low water on the Tonie Sap Lake (more like a river until near the end of the trip when it widened considerably) the trip would be an 8 hour one... It was supposed to be boring but ended up as anything but...in no certain order...let's see.... We had a rest stop (turned out to be the only one) along the way and the loo was just a hole over the lake and there were fish circling around underneath.  Yes it was just a hole in the floor...you definitely had someone watch your stuff while you went in or one false move and your camera/purse or whatever would be in the lake.  The fish either like the warm pee coming in or they are pervs and like to see ladies parts.  We were just a few minutes out when all of a sudden there was something flying over me and jumping all over the floor - a little fish!  Guess he wanted to join the tour.  Roger reached down and scooped him up while I hooted and hollered.  Okay it wasn&#

A walk along the coffin trail (and a couple of lakes) in the Lake District

While in the Lake District I wanted to do some light walking but not heavy duty hiking where I could easily get lost and my body not found for days partially eaten by hungry...sheep?  Anyway, you get the drift...not too grueling and safe for a solo walker.  I get a bit nervous when I am too far from civilization. There are lots of books about walking in the Lake District but they seem to be all about walking the fells in remote places...neither Thelma nor I fancied that.  While browsing in the post office/shop in Ambleside one day (if you are ever in Ambleside you must go there - a treasure!) I found a stand of walk descriptions on post cards.  And there I found my walk.  After all who could resist a stroll on the "coffin trail" in William Wordsworth country... I took a look and thought hmm...cafe along the route...that works for me. (with at least the security of knowing there was an available "loo" along the way.)  Okay, I may not have totally followed the

The highlights of my Fall 2023 trip

I'm back home after a great six weeks away. This was a "short" trip for me.  So here we go with an overview of my trip.   London London for me is always a good idea.  I fell in love with it back in the mid 70's and it's been calling me back ever since. Some of the best things in my life have happened in London.  When I learned my two Oz friends Loraine and Linda were going to be in London in the fall I knew I had to be there.  And what fun we had!!  Of course, I did loads of other things as well.  I spent two weeks there from mid September until very early October and then back again for four nights at the end of October before flying home.   After over five years (delayed for two and a half years thanks to Covid) of walking, I finally finished the 126 km Capital Ring.  The picture above is taken at the end of my walk and where I started in May of 2018 at the main door of Streatham Common station just steps from my B and B.  What a walk!  I got to see so much more