St Catherine’s, ONT, Canada
I left Peter and Sonja's on Monday, August 24, and drove to St Catharine’s, Ontario to spend some time with cousin Hansi and her husband Rob Tripe. I did not get to their house until 8 pm, despite an early start. This because I took the loooooooong "back" way through Lake Placid and all the small towns of VT and NY—with 35 mph speed limits. Yes, lead foot got a ticket for speeding through one of them, which one I cannot now remember.
I was not stopped and searched at the border, thus successfully carried into Canada a giant red cabbage from Peter & Sonja's garden.
I was not stopped and searched at the border, thus successfully carried into Canada a giant red cabbage from Peter & Sonja's garden.
Hansi and Rob were having a new “greener” furnace installed so had to stick around until that was done. Thus we spent a week taking day trips. Rob went with us when we motored to Toronto and the Ontario Royal Museum where we spent a delightful day. The museum is filled with the usual natural history things but also has an extensive collection of items from Canada's indigenous peoples, including four totem poles which are erected on the first floor and extend on up through the stairwells to the upper floors. Thus, one can view them intimately from bottom to top . . . or vice versa.
Hansi and I took day trip to Niagara on the Lake and several other touristy but interesting towns around St Catharine’s and Niagara. All have "floral excess" as one photographer put it. Which reminds me: All but the cabbage pic in this day's report are from the Internet. I took many pix but stored them in a Picasa online album and Google has shut me out from getting to them. I had over 100 albums and am heartsick. Google+ is trying to capture the social network market and is causing me a lot of problems. I would get rid of my three gmail mailboxes if this blog were not tied to one.
Hansi treated me to a manicure and pedicure one day and we had fun nosing around antiques shops, eating lunch in neat little restaurants, and taking in the sights. Peaches were ripe at this time of year and one antiques shop was right next to a large peach orchard, the trees groaning under the weight of huge peaches. We asked the shop owners why no one had picked them and they told us that the orchard owner was going to plow the orchard under as it was planted with unprofitable cooking peaches (i.e., the peach clung to the stone) and no one was buying. We asked the shop owner for bags and permission and gathered a couple of big bags full.
We three left—in two separate cars—to caravan to John & Pat's on August 29. The red cabbage was once again in my car. And, once again, I successfully carried it through customs and back into the U.S., this time heading to Virginia. Hansi & Rob stayed at Pat & John's in Virginia until the 2nd and then returned home to a couple of singing engagements. They are both in barbershop groups.
