Stanley & Me on Canada Day in Toronto

Today, (Canada Day) I took the plunge and ventured into Toronto, Ontario. Why not celebrate our country's birthday while exploring its biggest city. However, there needed to be some alterations due to my lack of big-city driving attitude. …

Walking Waterfronts on Lake Ontario

So I am inching closer to Toronto. I am now within the official boundaries of the GTA!  I was planning on going into Toronto via the Go Transit system. My destination would be Union Station and the waterfront (smack dab downtown basically).…

In Flanders Fields

One thing I knew for sure this morning when I got up in Guelph, Ontario was that it was Sunday. It is probably the only day I remember accurately, as days go by so fast in my world. Tuesdays are sometimes Fridays. Mondays are sometimes Saturdays. …

Floral and Historic Time

I left the Vegas-like atmosphere in Niagara Falls for the village of Niagra on the Lake and St. Catherines. As I continue to follow the coastline they were the next two stops on my research road trip. I could research them both during my stay…

Niagara Falls

I arrived in Niagara Falls from Fort Erie, trailer in tow, via the Niagara Parkway which follows the same route as the the Niagara River. The route provided me all the qualities of a good road trip - no traffic, plenty of space to pull over…

Beaches attract all types

What do you think of when someone mentions Fort Erie, Ontario Canada? I cannot even start to guess what you think. But I bet you never thought of long sandy beaches. Fort Erie, like many waterfront communities, has an ok selection of parks…

Hamilton on the Niagra Escarpment

Hamilton has waterfalls? To my surprise the region is covered with them. Again I had to come to terms with my childhood impressions. They were wrong. They were shattered by bad information programmed into me by media, rumours and schooling.…

Alians and Ants

Working my way around the south west coast of Ontario, Canada visiting with the Canada/USA border communities. All of the cities have bridges connecting to US cities. And each Canadian border community is separated by a body of water. From waterfront…

Muskoka Madness

No G8 in Muskoka, Ontario for this guy! I would not want to be caught dead in the region during the meeting of world egos. So much heavy breathing in one area leaves so little clean air for the rest of us to breathe. Anywho.. I started pounding…

Barrie is more than the 401

There are communities which sometimes just surprise you. I mean this in a very good way. By surprising I would be referring to how a community does well with what they have to work with. Barrie is one such community. Barrie is located on…

Murals in Midland

Not all research is fun and games under the sun. In our profession research is ongoing in all types of weather - sun, rain and snow.  Sometimes it is even more fun exploring in a down pour of rain and the slush of snow than it is in the sun. …

Wawa.. what happen at Wasaga Beach

While on the road researching the south end of Georgian Bay all I keep hearing is Wasaga Beach. I listen to the radio.. "Come to Wasaga Beach". I buy a newspaper.. "Come to Wasaga Beach." I open the newspaper.. and I quickly read that Wasaga…

Waterfalls and Wetlands in Owen Sound

I have herd of the community of Owen Sound from hockey circles but knew little of the community in a geography kind of way. So, not knowing much I was looking forward to introducing myself to another community of Ontario. Like many communities…

Spirits of the “Corran” Playing Tricks on Me.

The last couple of days have been a whirl wind tour of the Bruce Peninsula. Both my car and my legs have put in allot of miles. I continued to research both coastlines of the peninsula from the hamlet of Lion's Head to the anchor of the Bruce…

Bruce Peninsula Cliffs and Caves

This morning I said my good byes to Steve before I deported Norms Campground in Kagawong on Manitoulin Island.  Great guy. Treated me well. And I thanked him for my campsite on the waterfront of Lake Kagawong. "I'll back," I said as I drove…

Bays, Beaches and a Lighthouse – Who’d A Thunk it.

I often wonder if tourism organizations really know what us travelers want? Yes, I know we all want different things. But that is my point exactly. The info centres just push one thing and that is paying attractions. Of course, some are fun…

Cup and Saucer – This Ain’t No Tea Party

The plan was to head west today on Manitoulin Island. I had gotten up extra early as my day looked like a long one consisting of driving and hiking. I was excited as this was going to be my first real taste of life on the island.  It was an…

Sunset on Manitoulin Island

Bye, bye Sudbury and helloooooo Manitoulin Island. Was not sure what to expect from my visit to Manitoulin Island.  The information online and any literature I could read really did not do much for the island. So, all I could do was plot my…

High Falls and A.Y. Jackson

Near the end of my viist to Sudbury, Ontario I took to the road to visit with some of the adventure attractions away from the city. In tourist lingo they are called "Day Trips". I wanted to visit some of them,  just because. I was more curious…

Green Reclaimation in Sudbury

My stay in Algonquin Park came to an abrupt end. I enjoyed my opportunity to canoe one of Canada’s premier paddle parks. It was a great way to kick off the summer research season. The adventure provided me some great scenery, as well as, my…

Dream Paddle in Algonquin Park

My visit to Algonquin Park located east of North Bay, Ontario (and south because it is such a huge park) was everything I thought it would be and more. From researching the park,  I quickly learned there are only really three entrances to the…