Fall in Ontario!

Above if you look close ... really, really, close ... you will see the first signs of fall color on the maple tree in the cemetery in our little town of Dalston ... last week of August ... yep it's here.

And to celebrate, as we have done in the last several years we had a corn roast last weekend. OK, above is how corn should look if you get it fresh from Farmer Brown (across from the maple tree above) and are able to eat it a few hours after it it picked ... wow ... sweet, moist and huge kernels!

And the local Canadian Tire store and its ad for the fall sports wear ... get your skates now before school starts, eh.

And lastly on this fall rainy day ... I wouldn't think of piling any snow here ... yeah, I know, we think it's about time to work on our plans to move the Flying Scotsman to a warmer climate.

Windsor area still

Before we left the Amherstburg area we visited one of their important historic sites. This is Fort Malden national historic site which was vital in the defense of this region during the War of 1812.

This is a well maintained fort site and grounds with reenactors present to describe life in the late 1700's to early 1800's. Below are some bunks for the soldiers. In each "bunk bed" there are spaces for 4 guys, the ones on top sleep on slats that were pulled out for the evening ... been in barracks before but not quite this cozy.

Then one of the local militia actors fired off three rounds. She was quite proficient with the muzzle loader and snapped off three rounds of the paper cartridges in less than three minutes ... round out of pouch on hip, bite off top, pour most powder in barrel rest in flash pan, pop ball in barrel, ram it down and then fire ... then hide from fire till you can do it again, eh.

Then we broke camp on the way back to Barrie but the road was too long and weather iffy so we opted for the Green Acres park ... no kidding, in Waterloo, Ontario.

Really close with the neighbor, especially as they got the dozen folks together and then built the massive fire right next to the Flying Scotsman. Also this place was one of those that says, "oh yeah you have a pull through" on the phone, yet when you arrive, they point out that, "well you can't really stay attached and make it into the site." Suckered once but not twice.

Then on the way back to Barrie really enjoyed a pretty day along a neat road to the northeast through the town of Fergus and a pretty gorge route that we wouldn't mind coming back to.

A last note as I dumped the change out of my pocket after going to Walmart. Above is about $7. There are $1 and $2 coins and while the colors don't do justice above there will never be any more pennies in your pocket. Wonder how much this gov't saves by getting rid of dollar bills and pennies ... a bunch I think.

Southwest Ontario

As we had never been to this area of Ontario before, after the reunion we decided to cross at the Detroit Ambassador Bridge crossing and stop immediately across the border as it is another well known wine region. We haven't done the Detroit crossing in many years. The approach on I-96 through town and right up to the bridge is great with nice roads and not much traffic. But after you cross the river the customs booths are old and the road structure is totally under construction; in a year or two they will be really nice, but we'll still hit Port Huron or Watertown as better choices.

Once across the border and very near the casinos of Windsor we stopped at the Wildwood RV resort and golf course. This is a nice Florida style park with paved infrastructure and about 99% seasonal residents; we were the only daily visitor. Nice park around a pretty golf course and clubhouse.

Near the park on the Detroit River was the little historic town of Amherstburg. Famous for #1 holding off the aggressive Yanks during the War of 1812 and then later as the terminus of the Underground Railroad for slaves in the Civil War. This was the shortest crossing of water between the US and Canada and made this a haven for escapees and their descendants are still living here today.

It was a gray day but as is our habit we sought out the nearest pub for a bite before the physically intensive touring. This is the Lord Amherst Public House in Amherstburg. The flowers .... wow! We haven't see hanging baskets of this size and fullness since Germany, and there were hundreds of them throughout the town.

OK ... lunch. Take a look at the pic above and what would you expect? Probably wrong, eh.

Jo-Anne is sampling a "Stuffed Yorkie" ... not the dog mind you, but with Yorkshire pudding, sauteed beef tips, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and horseradish fraiche ... $11.

And mine is the traditional bangers and mash with garlic and unique mashed taters with the skins still on, Yorkshire pudding, and fresh veggies ... $16.

All served with a local Merlot from the Pelee Island winery nearby and a Guinness ... yup ... good ... and the T-shirt above the bar came home with me.

Add to that the current savings of the Canadian dollar being about 5% off the US making for an additional savings; every time I go to the ATM, I smile.

OMG who is that ugly dude above??

As I said we motored over to Okemos Michigan to attend the 50th high school reunion of my class. Okemos is still a really neat place to grow up and the school is still very highly rated academically in the nation.

In 1960 the school board with tremendous foresight built the "new high school" out of town to the south. It was created with several separate buildings in the modern (for then) campus style and a central cafeteria shown below. It was state of the art with language labs and all science rooms outfitted with the most advanced gear we could take advantage of.

As a result our class was one of the earliest to graduate from the place and I think we were pretty special and armed with an education no other public (and many private) schools could match.

Our class of 106 has had a tremendous togetherness and the organizers have managed the energy to put on reunions quite often for the last 50 years ... and hopefully many more to come.

The first meet and greet was held at the golf club in Haslett a town nearby Okemos and I was too busy saying hi to old classmates to get any pics, but it was a nice start to the weekend.

The next night was more formal and held at the nearby Walnut Hills Country Club; a very nice venue. We had 39 alumni present and with guests numbered almost 70 folks for the event. We had dinner and numerous "old age" themed readings organized primarily by Jan Coleman pictured standing below and she was the talented MC for the evening.

The funny part for me was how we ended up sitting and it became the focus for a lot of harassment and stories before the evening was over. I'm standing taking the picture, my ex-wife Linda (a classmate) is to my right, Jo-Anne is immediately to my left, and Linda Davis Vankoevering who I dated in high school, is to her left ... Oh the stories about who was dating Bruce became rampant and pretty funny as handled by Jan! And Norm and Gay Eberly across the table; Gay saying that she was probably the only one not to date me, hah ... all legend!

Anyhow we had a really great time, got to see a lot of the places where I grew up for about 20 years, the old high school (replaced by an even more advanced high school) and I think Jo-Anne really enjoyed the experience as well.

I figured I would end with an appropriate toy for the bunch of folks we just had dinner with at the Country Club. Here is a perfectly tricked out 57 Chevy golf cart complete with fuzzy dice .... gotta love it and life!