Awenda, Oct 9-12 2015

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
 We had the best Thanksgiving weekend we have had for a while. The weather was amazing and with each passing day it just got better until it reaches into the mid 20's with the humidity on Monday. The fall colours were not at peak yet but there was beautiful views to enjoy.
 Friday was a quiet and restful time for us. We enjoyed a pizza dinner and I spent the evening with my feet up as they had gotten quite swollen from my trip to the Agawa Canyon. It was nice to just relax and have an early night to bed.
 Saturday we were meeting up with Mike and Wendy at the Penetanguishene docks to head to the Riverhouse Restaurant for lunch and do a tour of the area. We had turkey dinner with all the trimmings for lunch. We had a great afternoon together and enjoyed the scenery along the way. We returned back to camp after a tour of the park and spent the remainder of the evening by a crackling campfire.
 Sunday we hiked a few trails in the park and enjoyed some time by the waters edge since it was such a warm and sunny day. I was hoping to see a few deer and maybe see the fawn that I had spent time with in June but there were none to be found. The only wildlife we encountered where a number of chipmunks. There was one that had its home on our site so it was a frequent visitor to collect some food for the winter. We enjoyed a delicious bbq'd dinner and spent the rest of the day enjoying a restful evening by the fire.
 Monday was so warm that it was hard to believe that it was mid October. I found a chipmunk that was hiding in a tree and I wanted to entice it out so I got a few peanuts and put them by the hole. It didn't take long for it to come out and take one back into the tree. When I returned back to the motorhome the chipmunk from our site was on top of the open jar of peanuts that I had left on the picnic table helping herself to the jackpot she had found.......lol  I decided to see if she would climb into the jar of shelled peanuts as it only had a small amount left. Well it was the funniest thing to watch as she eventually fell in, panicked for a few seconds and then proceeded to fill her cheeks before climbing out. She returned a few more times before I decided to just leave out sunflower seeds for them to enjoy. After that entertainment we headed to Kettle Lake for one last hike and a trip through the park to view the surrounding beauty. Once back at camp we had brunch and a bit of relaxation before packing up for our drive home. We initially thought we would stay until Tuesday morning but since there was rain coming in over night and into Tuesday we decided to leave on Monday afternoon. It is always fun to visit Awenda as we always spend three days in the park and it feels so much more relaxing having that extra day.

Country scene on our drive up

Seagull doing some preening

Zebra Muscles at the Midland docks

Float planes taking off in the evening light

 

Sunset at Penetanguishene Harbour

Chippy coming out of her burrow

Blue waters of Georgian Bay

Who's resting on the end of the log?

 

Autumn's splendor at Kettle Lake

Face in the tree where something is hiding

Peeking out to see if I am there

A peanut helps to concur her fears

Scary face looking at us from the fire

A cage on a trail that protected snapping turtle eggs

Natures flower pot

Mushroom in the sunlight at our site

Chippy staring me down from up in the tree

Serenity 

Beauty was all along the roadways

Even the bees were out enjoying the warmth

Caught her in the peanut jar......lol

Trying to reach the peanuts

Help.... I fell in the jar

Since I am in here I may as well 

fill up before getting out

What vibrant colours on these maple leaves

Along the park road as we headed for home

Tranquility in the county

Agawa Canyon Trip, Oct. 6-8 2015

My "Mom's Lunch Group" (Marty, Maureen R. Nancy and myself) went on a three day adventure to take the Agawa Canyon Train Tour.  We headed out at 8 Tuesday morning om route to Sarnia as we  decided to drive through Michigan to avoid the Toronto and hwy 400 traffic. It was a trip filled with many laughs and many stops along the way.  Marty gave us all a travel pillow for the trip. There was a zebra, elephant, cow and a lady bug. We crossed the border and we were surprised that they let us all in together....lol  The drive on I-75 was amazing. There was very little traffic and the scenery was wonderful.We didn't arrive into Sault Ste Marie until after dark and headed to our hotel to get settled before going to the casino for a few hours. We headed to bed very late and had to be up for 6 am. We wanted to be at the train station by shortly after 7 to get our tickets and board the train at 7:30 for an 8am departure. The ride up was 4 hours with a 1 1/2 hour stop in the canyon and we returned back at 5:15. The scenery was breathtaking all along the route and the fall colours were at peak. We couldn't have wished for a better day to travel to the Agawa Canyon. With every turn and ever km of travel there was something that took our breath away with the beauty that nature had to offer as we traveled along the 115 km route. The day started with a little fog which added to the beauty of the scenery. As the train moved along and the sun burned off the fog the true colours of autumn began to show and we were in awe of its pallet of colours. When we arrived in the canyon we headed to the Lookout Trail which meant we had to climb over 300 stairs to see the view from the top. It was well worth the climb as the views were amazing. After enjoying that scenery we hiked to the Beaver Falls and then onto the Bridal Veil Falls before headed back to the train for the trip home. It was a lot of hiking in a short period of time but it was worth every step we took as the views were breathtaking. The trip back was very much worth watching as the suns angle gave it a much different look than we had in the morning. We enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal that evening and were off to bed by 11pm as we were all very tired. Thursday we were up at 7 and had a more leisurely couple of hours to enjoy breakfast and get ready for our trip back home. It was a dreary rainy day but our friendship and laughs made it quite pleasant. We had many stops along the road home as there were dry spots along the way that we could enjoy the scenery. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner which we all really enjoyed before making the final leg of our journey to the border and back home, We arrived back home just after midnight and we were all ready for a good nights rest. This was the first sleepover trip we have taken together and we had a blast. We now know we can survive each others company for a few days.......lol  We will be planning another trip in the future and I can hardly wait for our next adventure full of laughs and wonderful times together.

Crossing into the States at Sarnia

Not much traffic on the I-75

Lady in the clouds as we cross back into Canada

Heavy fog in the valleys

as we start our train ride

The lakes along the way were offering amazing views

Above the tree tops was breathtaking

The water was so blue against the fall foliage

This helicopter was filming and taking pictures

along most of the northern route we took

The further we traveled the more rock we saw

View of the canyon after climbing over 300 stairs

The Montreal River flows through the canyon

A closer look along the river

Some of the scenery looked like painting

The rails on the stairs helped with the climbing

Fall leaves in a creek in the canyon

I found a wee bird enjoying a berry

Beaver Falls was tucked away in the trees

The water crossed over each other and formed an X

It amazes me how a tree can grow on the rock cliffs

Wide angle view of Bridal Veil Falls

Close up of the lower edge of Bridal Veil Falls

The engine of our train with a lovely background

What a great place for a cottage

View of some of the cars on the train as we crossed the trestle

We could see for miles at some points on the train