On the way back to the Island

Once again, we hit the open road...

passing by the town of Sturgeon Falls, home of the Step Dance and Fiddle Festival, the sign which was last seen during on our way to Ottawa earlier that week...

President's Choice

I admit I went a little overboard at Walmart buying all those snacks and candies.

 Right when I thought we were going to leave, C had her husband stop the minivan and park so we could check out this Canadian supermarket, President's Choice...

Shopping at North Bay - Walmart

It's already 2014 and I am still not done with my Canada 2012 trip posts...

(Somewhere in western Ontario)

I resolve to tie up any loose end and finish those posts this year, haha.

We'd been on quite the journey, traveling out from Ottawa that very morning and then making a few pit stops along the way. This was another one of those much needed breaks before heading back to the Island...

Return to Mattawa (another drive by)

Ya down with OPP?

"Yeah, you know me!"  - In this case, the OPP stands for the Ontario Provincial Police!

C and I had a larf whenever we passed by those yellow signs...

Canadian Tire

We were glad that the good Samaritan dude from Tim Hortons stopped us as we were backing out. He noticed the brakelight wasn't working and of course, that was quite worrisome for FarmerJohn.

He learned from the same man that there was a Canadian Tire store just down the highway. C was telling us, this is totally Canadian and that we had to go there!

The road back to Manitoulin - Tim Hortons at Deep River

With our breakfast of Montreal style bagels from Kettleman's fortifying us, we set off on the long road back to the Island.  We headed out of Ottawa in C and FJ's trusty minivan and headed west to Ontario...

where we passed miles and miles of farm land, forests, and...

bales of rolled up hay. For us SoCal's, it was quite the contrast from the sandy beaches, palm trees and the Pacific Ocean...

The trip back was quite lengthy but of course we had to make a pit stop...

Island Foods

With our next vacation looming ahead, I felt compelled to finish up these last few posts in a burst of frenzied energy. It's only been nearly a year right? Heh heh.

Anyhow, since it was on the way to the airport, we stopped by Island Foods West Indian Cuisine.

Heading out...

Raining while walking to our car...

Funny how just a few minutes ago, it was sunny and really warm. I even took off my sweater because it was that hot. But it seems like mercurial weather is common here.

We headed out to have lunch across town. Below, a Chapters store - this is the Canadian version of Borders or Barnes and Noble.

We had lots of time to kill before heading to the airport but anal me, I wanted to make sure we had lunch and got to the airport early. The thought of missing our flight would have stressed me out....

And I was wrong, it's not Jamaican food, it was West Indian food. Oops. Coming up next.

Riverdale Farm...

So, right across Necropolis was Riverdale Farm, which is right in the middle of an urban neighborhood. It's an actual working farm and it's free to the public.

Necropolis

Built in 1850 to replace the "Stranger's Burying Ground" (Potter's Field), the Necropolis is an old cemetery in Cabbagetown. It's right across the street from Riverdale Farm (post to follow). It's one of Toronto's oldest and most historic cemeteries. (more info here from the Necropolis website)

St. James Park

Okay, HOLY SHITBALLZ, RPATTZ is in Toronto filming "Cosmopolis" and looking all kinds of awesome in his suit!!! Mmmm, finger lickin' good. Ha ha!

Toronto Sculpture Garden

Across the street from the imposing Cathedral Church of St. James was this beautiful sculpture garden just calling our names...

Cathedral Church of St. James

Right around the corner from the Gooderham building was this impressive church...

Gooderham Building

One last view of a mural near the St. Lawrence Market...

Although I'd seen this iconic building before on postcards in Torontian gift shops, we weren't prepared to see it up close and personal a mere few minutes away from the market. This was a pleasant surprise...

St. Lawrence Market, Part 2

Oh yeah dudes, European Delight was awesome!

If you're ever in the mood for Ukrainian foods, this is the place to go...

Last Day in Canada - St. Lawrence Market, Part 1

Finally, the posts from our last day in Canada. Man, this was nearly ONE YEAR ago! I seriously lag!

Our flight wasn't leaving until earlier this evening so we wanted to make the most of today. Here's the view from our hotel room - we stayed a few blocks away from St. Lawrence Market, which was to be our first destination for that day. As you can see, there was a bit of rain that morning...

Grey Roots...no not my hair!

Our traveling companion K mentioned seeing this place that had replicas of different houses. We figured we'd stop by to look at it. We weren't going to go in or anything. Turns out that the place, Grey Roots,was already closed when we got there.

The Wayside Chapel

Hey, I'm not a religious person, but we HAD to stop here and check it out...

I remember seeing this tiny church on our drive up to Tobermory and thinking, on our way back, we MUST go there!

On the way back to Toronto...

Well, my friends, it was time to head back to Toronto. After the nearly 2 hour trip from Manitoulin Island's South Baymouth to Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, we  piled into the car and hunkered down for a long ride back. Joining me, Bert and TC was C's German friend, "K" who was planning to head back to Toronto and then fly back to Berlin.

Day 7 - Last Day on Manitoulin and the Blue Jay Creek Fish Culture Station

This was our last day on the Island. 

This is the Farquha'rs milk in a bag, in a child friendly container too! The view from C's kitchen window:

The dreamcatcher that TC made with the help from TCS (The College Student) who was living at C's for the summer. I thought TC did a great job in making this.

TCS's summer job was working here at the Blue Jay Creek Fish Culture Station which was like a nature center. It was a few miles down from C's place. We wanted to see her one last time before we left...


There were lots of cool and informational exhibits there. Manitoulin Island is a big sportfishing destination especially during the summer months.


This screen was cool. You press a button of a certain fish species and the map lights up where those fish are concentrated. There was one type of fish (forgot which one) that was only found on a certain part of the island and nowhere else.

We were able to catch TCS during her break. She and her co-workers had a bucket of...

Frogs! They were planning to "re-locate" them elsewhere on the island.

Here's a tiny tadpole

And here is TCS with one of the bigger frogs

Same frog, different view.

Awww, and look at this little guy. I love how his front arms dangle. So cute!

TC and TCS hit it off quite well. I think TC liked the fact that she had a "grownup" friend.

After this, we headed over to C's parents to say goodbye...