the national paper!
Here's the full story from the Hamilton Spectator.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Leon, Maureen & Lisa's feet!
It's a Good Friday when a picture like this gets into the paper...
the national paper!
Here's the full story from the Hamilton Spectator.
the national paper!
Here's the full story from the Hamilton Spectator.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Cycling trip - Day 14
August 29th
Homeward Bound
Waking up at Darlington Provincial Park everything was soaking wet from a night of torrential downpours. At times it kept us awake - dripping over S. Things in the tent stayed relatively dry, but towels, clothes, shoes and the bikes were soaked! By this point we were ready to go home.
The day started with a new experience - breakfast in the tent. By this time we'd decided to take the train across the area around Toronto because there aren't any campgrounds, and we wanted to be home by that night. We also enjoyed a slower start and spent some time reading to each other from the Princess Bride (We'd been doing this for most of the trip and the book was starting to get really good).
P led the ride through Oshawa. We started to ignore the signs for the Waterfront Trail a) because it was confusing, b) because it was poorly signed, c) we wanted to take a more direct route to the train station. It also rained on us while we rode, the traffic was aggressive, and we weren't impressed when the cars splashed us with muddy water. Enough complaining.
We found out that it's possible to take bikes on the GO Train for free. We bought our tickets, had our coffee, and started to re-integrate into the 'real' world. Parking our bikes on the train was relatively straight forward, we sat down and let the train do the work. We relaxed and became reflective about the trip as we watched the scenery whiz by. What a contrast between the beautiful nature we'd encountered and the urban, industrial landscapes?!
After a transfer in Toronto, the last leg of our journey was to ride from Aldershot station to Hamilton. The weather had improved greatly while we were on the train and the sun had come out and we were able to dry a few things on the back of the bike. Riding through Burlington we saw a parishoner from Church of the Resurrection who honked her car horn and waved. It felt good to be so close to home again.
The ride through Hamilton, up the mountain went relatively easily, although S lost a saddlebag two intersections before arriving home - argh! Sigmund says that we ended up riding 48km today, but went much further thanks to the train. We enjoyed coming home to 'Happy Anniversary' cards in the mail and a home-made dinner. We left the dirty washing for the next day.
Where will the next trip take us?
When will it be?
What will be our next adventure?
Homeward Bound
Waking up at Darlington Provincial Park everything was soaking wet from a night of torrential downpours. At times it kept us awake - dripping over S. Things in the tent stayed relatively dry, but towels, clothes, shoes and the bikes were soaked! By this point we were ready to go home.
The day started with a new experience - breakfast in the tent. By this time we'd decided to take the train across the area around Toronto because there aren't any campgrounds, and we wanted to be home by that night. We also enjoyed a slower start and spent some time reading to each other from the Princess Bride (We'd been doing this for most of the trip and the book was starting to get really good).
P led the ride through Oshawa. We started to ignore the signs for the Waterfront Trail a) because it was confusing, b) because it was poorly signed, c) we wanted to take a more direct route to the train station. It also rained on us while we rode, the traffic was aggressive, and we weren't impressed when the cars splashed us with muddy water. Enough complaining.
We found out that it's possible to take bikes on the GO Train for free. We bought our tickets, had our coffee, and started to re-integrate into the 'real' world. Parking our bikes on the train was relatively straight forward, we sat down and let the train do the work. We relaxed and became reflective about the trip as we watched the scenery whiz by. What a contrast between the beautiful nature we'd encountered and the urban, industrial landscapes?!After a transfer in Toronto, the last leg of our journey was to ride from Aldershot station to Hamilton. The weather had improved greatly while we were on the train and the sun had come out and we were able to dry a few things on the back of the bike. Riding through Burlington we saw a parishoner from Church of the Resurrection who honked her car horn and waved. It felt good to be so close to home again.
The ride through Hamilton, up the mountain went relatively easily, although S lost a saddlebag two intersections before arriving home - argh! Sigmund says that we ended up riding 48km today, but went much further thanks to the train. We enjoyed coming home to 'Happy Anniversary' cards in the mail and a home-made dinner. We left the dirty washing for the next day.
Where will the next trip take us?
When will it be?
What will be our next adventure?
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Cycling trip - Day 13
August 28th
Presqu'ille Park - Darlington
In the morning at the park P got a bungee cord (NLs = spin) in her face while trying to take down the washing line... fat lip. Not a great start, and we got going a little slower than normal, but weren't worried because it was supposed to be a 'short' day.
According to Sigmund we reached 1000km on a beautiful stretch of road, with the lake on our left, and fields and trees all around. Yup, there was definetly beautiful scenery while riding: orchards and the old, beautiful towns of Cobourg and Port Hope. In the first half of the day we rode through an area that reminded us of our honeymoon at Canvaschic and inspired us to dream about something similiar here.
We lost our patience on the wandering a
nd wet ways of the Waterfront Trail on the Property of the Darlington Nuclear Power station. There was especially bad signage that made us frustrated and confused. It also started to rain. We cycled in the rain for the first time on our whole trip - boo! The path narrowed to a few inches at times and also crossed back and forth under sizzling electrical powerlines countless times. We were at a point in our journey where we no longer felt the need for "scenic" and just wanted to get to where we were going. However, the 'geniuses' that planned the Waterfront Trail through Darlington/Oshawa designed a looping, wandering recreational trail that we didn't appreciate. We had also gotten used to a much better trail between Brockville and Presqu'ille. We did 111km while we were expecting a short day of maybe 85km.
A pretty wet night at a beautiful camp site. Ready to go home? Almost.
Presqu'ille Park - Darlington
In the morning at the park P got a bungee cord (NLs = spin) in her face while trying to take down the washing line... fat lip. Not a great start, and we got going a little slower than normal, but weren't worried because it was supposed to be a 'short' day.
According to Sigmund we reached 1000km on a beautiful stretch of road, with the lake on our left, and fields and trees all around. Yup, there was definetly beautiful scenery while riding: orchards and the old, beautiful towns of Cobourg and Port Hope. In the first half of the day we rode through an area that reminded us of our honeymoon at Canvaschic and inspired us to dream about something similiar here.We lost our patience on the wandering a
nd wet ways of the Waterfront Trail on the Property of the Darlington Nuclear Power station. There was especially bad signage that made us frustrated and confused. It also started to rain. We cycled in the rain for the first time on our whole trip - boo! The path narrowed to a few inches at times and also crossed back and forth under sizzling electrical powerlines countless times. We were at a point in our journey where we no longer felt the need for "scenic" and just wanted to get to where we were going. However, the 'geniuses' that planned the Waterfront Trail through Darlington/Oshawa designed a looping, wandering recreational trail that we didn't appreciate. We had also gotten used to a much better trail between Brockville and Presqu'ille. We did 111km while we were expecting a short day of maybe 85km.
A pretty wet night at a beautiful camp site. Ready to go home? Almost.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Cycling Trip - Day 12
Aug. 27th Kingston to Presqu'ille
Today was a big day. Sigmund says 135kms! It was a great ride for most of the day. We enjoyed starting out on Unity Rd (we should let the Ontario Cycling Atlas people know it's new) a
nd the Loyalist Parkway alongside lake Ontario and through Prince Edward County. A special part of the day was a ferry crossing at Glenora. We had perfect timing to catch the ferry and have lunch at the other side.
There were not many hills, good views of the lake and pretty old towns like Bloomfield. We picked up some groceries at the Sobey's in Picton (everyone seemed to be out on the road!) only to come across an A&P and a No Frills (both cheaper supermarkets) further down the road.
We met a cyclist chick who was riding from Sandbanks Provincial Park to Trenton on a road bike. We caught up to her - it was the first time we met a cyclist going in the same direction. We're now at Presqu'ille Provincial Park. The super long driveway pissed us off a little. We thought the camp store was the camp office... it wasn't. There was another 3km from the front gate to the actual campground. But by this point S's bum hurt so much that he just wanted to stop. (Did we mention that we took a wrong turn...?)
Usually the riding day ends with some kind of ice cream. Nothing today so we get 2 tomorrow. We're writing this on the beach now with a million mosquitoes buzzing around. P still finds it hard to get used to the idea that they don't carry malaria).
There are no camp grounds in the Toronto area so either we go beyond -then we'll be almost home- or we need to ask family members for a lift. We need to make a plan for the future. The sunset tonight is quite pink - can we see Toronto in the distance??
Today was a big day. Sigmund says 135kms! It was a great ride for most of the day. We enjoyed starting out on Unity Rd (we should let the Ontario Cycling Atlas people know it's new) a
nd the Loyalist Parkway alongside lake Ontario and through Prince Edward County. A special part of the day was a ferry crossing at Glenora. We had perfect timing to catch the ferry and have lunch at the other side.There were not many hills, good views of the lake and pretty old towns like Bloomfield. We picked up some groceries at the Sobey's in Picton (everyone seemed to be out on the road!) only to come across an A&P and a No Frills (both cheaper supermarkets) further down the road.
We met a cyclist chick who was riding from Sandbanks Provincial Park to Trenton on a road bike. We caught up to her - it was the first time we met a cyclist going in the same direction. We're now at Presqu'ille Provincial Park. The super long driveway pissed us off a little. We thought the camp store was the camp office... it wasn't. There was another 3km from the front gate to the actual campground. But by this point S's bum hurt so much that he just wanted to stop. (Did we mention that we took a wrong turn...?)
Usually the riding day ends with some kind of ice cream. Nothing today so we get 2 tomorrow. We're writing this on the beach now with a million mosquitoes buzzing around. P still finds it hard to get used to the idea that they don't carry malaria).
There are no camp grounds in the Toronto area so either we go beyond -then we'll be almost home- or we need to ask family members for a lift. We need to make a plan for the future. The sunset tonight is quite pink - can we see Toronto in the distance??
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Cycling Trip - Day 11
Aug. 26th
Brockville to Kingston KOA
This was supposed to be a short day. Sigmund says we did 99km. Brockville to the outskirts of Kingston was fantastic. The ride across Kingston to the KOA was a form of physical and psychological torture... oy! It was much further than we thought it was, and extra long because we were planning to go back into town. But let's start at the very beginning...
The 1000 Islands Parkway (Hwy #2) was beautiful, with a paved fietspad beside the road, beside the St. Lawrence River. We were able to enjoy conversations with each other without shouting over traffic or fearing for our safety. We enjoyed meeting a fellow cyclist who had a lot of cross-Canada cycling experience. As we said good-bye his parting words were, "Hope you don't have any flats (tires)." Ten minutes later P's bike was turned upside down and we were fixing another puncture ;)
Further along... ahead on the path we saw a shadowy figure duck into the bushes right where we wanted to stop for a break. A few minutes later the cyclist emerged from a bathroom break and turned out to have the most interesting job - she examines road-kill. Her job is to ride the same 25 km every day 6mos/yr looking at and cataloguing the animals that are run over on this particular stretch of highway. The conservation authority is researching the different habitats in the area and how human activity impacts them. We will never see a dead animal on the road in the same way again.
Lunch in Gananoque that required a few lessons for P on how to pronounce it's name (pronunciation: gan-ah-knock-way).
We will skip the details about the poor road conditions and ignorant drivers in Kingston. However, we would like to sing the praises of the KOA Kampground bathrooms - where they have different coloured sponges at every sink, music, flip-down seats in each shower and a bottle of our shampoo now. Also a total lack of mosquitoes made us wonder how this McDonald's of campgrounds managed to make camping life so unnatural.
The evening was a fantastic time spent with the Melles family. They are friends of the Jellema's from days in Uganda and had been looking forward to meeting S. It was a blast! A fantastic dinner (anything but pasta!) and lively conversation. Time spent playing in the tree house with the kids and a very comfortable lift back to our tent. We hope for more chances to cross paths with them in the future.
Brockville to Kingston KOA
This was supposed to be a short day. Sigmund says we did 99km. Brockville to the outskirts of Kingston was fantastic. The ride across Kingston to the KOA was a form of physical and psychological torture... oy! It was much further than we thought it was, and extra long because we were planning to go back into town. But let's start at the very beginning...
The 1000 Islands Parkway (Hwy #2) was beautiful, with a paved fietspad beside the road, beside the St. Lawrence River. We were able to enjoy conversations with each other without shouting over traffic or fearing for our safety. We enjoyed meeting a fellow cyclist who had a lot of cross-Canada cycling experience. As we said good-bye his parting words were, "Hope you don't have any flats (tires)." Ten minutes later P's bike was turned upside down and we were fixing another puncture ;)
Further along... ahead on the path we saw a shadowy figure duck into the bushes right where we wanted to stop for a break. A few minutes later the cyclist emerged from a bathroom break and turned out to have the most interesting job - she examines road-kill. Her job is to ride the same 25 km every day 6mos/yr looking at and cataloguing the animals that are run over on this particular stretch of highway. The conservation authority is researching the different habitats in the area and how human activity impacts them. We will never see a dead animal on the road in the same way again.
Lunch in Gananoque that required a few lessons for P on how to pronounce it's name (pronunciation: gan-ah-knock-way).
We will skip the details about the poor road conditions and ignorant drivers in Kingston. However, we would like to sing the praises of the KOA Kampground bathrooms - where they have different coloured sponges at every sink, music, flip-down seats in each shower and a bottle of our shampoo now. Also a total lack of mosquitoes made us wonder how this McDonald's of campgrounds managed to make camping life so unnatural.
The evening was a fantastic time spent with the Melles family. They are friends of the Jellema's from days in Uganda and had been looking forward to meeting S. It was a blast! A fantastic dinner (anything but pasta!) and lively conversation. Time spent playing in the tree house with the kids and a very comfortable lift back to our tent. We hope for more chances to cross paths with them in the future.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Cycling Trip - Day 10
August 25th
Ottawa to Brockville
We did it! All the way from Ottawa to Brockville. We forgot to check Sigmund, but total was close to 130km.
There were a number of factors in our favour: several days of rest, good roads, last weeks' experiences of riding, good sleep and good food. All this made it possible to ride all the way even with a late start.
We left Ottawa Municipal campsite at 10am, had a 1/2 hr stop for groceries at Loblaws. Riding across Ottawa seemed really long, not particularly urban, and quick at the same time. By lunchtime at 1pm we had cycled 60km and reached Kemptville, which started the day in a good way. The next break we had was in Merrickville
, a very pretty town and a bit like Dundas. However, we were concerned about a lack of campsites beyond there. A very helpful Parks Canada staff person helped us find an info book and we decided to head on for Brockville. Apparently, you can camp at any lock on the Rideau canal for very cheap!
It was the first day we rode in long-sleeve jerseys. The day was mostly overcast and it created some great afternoon light. We saw some beautiful houses along the way. It was good to get back to cycling. However, we got chased and rather scared (P) by a cheeky dog, and there were more either barking and/or on the loose.
It was a real treat to come through the centre of Brockville which had some great old homes and mansions. We have set up camp at St. Lawrence Park on the banks of grand St. Lawrence river.
Dinner was tortellini and veggie burgers, chocolate peanuts and juice. And it was very good. In the evening we were still pretty energetic and went to get an ice cream at a nearby gas station.
We did find ourselves wondering what happened today to the clothes we wore to the show last night. Hmmm?
Ottawa to Brockville
We did it! All the way from Ottawa to Brockville. We forgot to check Sigmund, but total was close to 130km.
There were a number of factors in our favour: several days of rest, good roads, last weeks' experiences of riding, good sleep and good food. All this made it possible to ride all the way even with a late start.We left Ottawa Municipal campsite at 10am, had a 1/2 hr stop for groceries at Loblaws. Riding across Ottawa seemed really long, not particularly urban, and quick at the same time. By lunchtime at 1pm we had cycled 60km and reached Kemptville, which started the day in a good way. The next break we had was in Merrickville
, a very pretty town and a bit like Dundas. However, we were concerned about a lack of campsites beyond there. A very helpful Parks Canada staff person helped us find an info book and we decided to head on for Brockville. Apparently, you can camp at any lock on the Rideau canal for very cheap!It was the first day we rode in long-sleeve jerseys. The day was mostly overcast and it created some great afternoon light. We saw some beautiful houses along the way. It was good to get back to cycling. However, we got chased and rather scared (P) by a cheeky dog, and there were more either barking and/or on the loose.
It was a real treat to come through the centre of Brockville which had some great old homes and mansions. We have set up camp at St. Lawrence Park on the banks of grand St. Lawrence river.
Dinner was tortellini and veggie burgers, chocolate peanuts and juice. And it was very good. In the evening we were still pretty energetic and went to get an ice cream at a nearby gas station.We did find ourselves wondering what happened today to the clothes we wore to the show last night. Hmmm?
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