So anyway... Hooray! Our third Canada Day together! That makes 3/3.
So here was the plan: I would fly in early on Friday, taking Friday off as part of our "summer hours" at work. I would take the train, and the train, and the bus to meet up with Brendan, and then we'd pick up a rental car and drive out to the Bruce Peninsula and meet up with Brendan's parents at a cottage we rented for the weekend. We'd stay for a few days through Canada Day, then come back on the 2nd. The rest of the week Brendan would be working and we'd hang out after work, and then I'd take public transport and fly back home on Saturday.
To save money and time, I chose the earliest flight I knew I could still make using public transportation. In the past, my sister has given me rides to the airport in exchange for a slipped 20 or two and some food, but this time around I decided to do it myself. You should see the chart of my heart rate from that morning-- it's almost comical how you can tell exactly the moment I woke up, because there's a nearly vertical line at 4am that leaps from 60bpm to 140+. I was psyched (and terrified of missing my flight)!
Since Brendan was living in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) for the summer, public transportation was actually accessible for once and he got me set up with a Presto card about a month before the trip. I was really excited but really nervous to use it for the first time, since it isn't the most intuitive system. The UP Express that runs from the airport to Union Station is also connected to the Presto card network, so that was my first "tap"!
FRIDAY:
I had planned to get off a bus stop near Brendan's workplace and meet him at work. Unfortunately, due to a slight delay in deplaning, I missed my connecting GO train and had to wait an hour for the next one, so by the time I arrived, Brendan had already left work and picked up the rental car. I asked him to just come pick me up instead of having to take the bus so we could get on our way. A 20 minute wait and he pulled up in our rental car. We stopped by the apartment briefly to throw his things in the car, and then we were off!
Traffic was fairly bad at first, but it was a pleasant drive once we got out of the GTA. We passed through some really cute, quaint little towns on the way, probably more touristy areas than anything. About 2.5 hours later, we pulled up to the cottage-- a cozy little place that the owners had put lots of love into. The bedrooms were barely bigger than the beds they held, and there was a deer hoof (real hooves...) coat hanger in our room. Very much a year-roud Canadian cottage vibe. We met up with Brendan's parents shortly after arriving and then walked down to the other property that the owners owned after we got settled in, where we were gifted with a beautiful lakeside sunset.
SATURDAY:
Wanting to get things out of the way before the peak of the holiday weekend, we decided to squeeze in the biggest parts of our trip on Saturday. To start off, we set out to walk around the nearby town. Brendan's mom got me a big Canada themed towel as a sort of celebratory gift for me planning to come to Canada. We were treated to ice cream and got a little sunburnt as we strolled through. Afterwards, we drove north up the peninsula to Singing Sands, which is supposed to be a long, shallow beach with warm waters and gentle waves. When we got there, however, we found that the water levels were unusually high and nearly all of the beach was covered by water. Unable to sit on the beach, we took a walk on the adjacent boardwalk, which ventures through a natural fen, much to Brendan's delight. He spent the entire time telling us about the natural flora and fauna of the fen.
Once we'd been through the boardwalk and stuck our feet in the warm waters of Singing Sands, we scooted just down the road to Bruce Peninsula National Park. Being the holiday weekend, it was quite busy, but we had the advantage of knowing that we had to book a parking space in advance in order to ensure we'd get in. As a result, we were able to enter the park at our designated time without issue.
We took a long, leisurely walk through the forest and along the peninsula. Coming out of the forest to a view of the cliffs was totally breathtaking-- the water in the Georgian Bay is absolutely, brilliantly blue, and the white cliffs only enhance the experience. Walking down to the water, you can see how worn and smooth the cliffs are, and you can hear how chilled the water is. Unlike Singing Sands, the bay side is deep and cold-- about 48F, I was told. And guess who went in the water? LOL not me, that's nuts. Brendan's mom and I just had our feet in and we were shivering like mad, despite the warm temperatures out of the water. Brendan, however, hardly hesitated to rip off his clothes and jump in. His mom was thrilled: "That's my little polar bear!"
When we finally got him back out of the water, we hiked over to the grotto, a large flooded cave extending out of the cliffside. Since the water level was so high, though, it was difficult to get into the cave, so we mostly observed from afar. Honestly, though, even though we didn't get to go in, it was such a gorgeous day. It was a lot of walking, but so worth it, and I think seeing the cliffs and grotto was probably the highlight of my entire weekend.
SUNDAY:
Off to Tobermory! We drove up the peninsula to the tip where the town of Tobermory is seated. It was a gorgeous day, not too warm or too cold, and we had a glass-bottomed boat tour booked to take us to and from Flower Pot Island. The bay has a few ship wrecks in it that are just deep enough for the boats to glide over, and they're kind of neat to see as you're coasting through the water.
The trip out was direct-- and beautiful! There are several other islands in the area that we passed, filled with untouched rocky beaches and conifer forests. We stood on the bow of the boat, wind and water whipping at us as we bounced across the low waves. Flower Pot Island is called as such because of several large rock formations scattered around the island that looked like "flower pots" to earlier folks. The "flower pots" are basically stacks of layered white and grey rock that have survived erosion when the surrounding area has not, leaving V-shaped piles from place to place. Some of them are absolutely huge. Still, life finds a way-- several of the flower pots that we saw had trees, grass, or flowers growing between the cracks!
After a long hike (complete with rest stop for lunch on one of the rocky beaches), we caught the boat back to Tobermory. The way back is when they show you the sunken ships, which was pretty neat. There were TONS of very rude children (and adults), though, who insisted on pushing others out of the way, walking across the glass bottom (leaving dirty footprints), and just generally blocking the view, so I had a hard time seeing since I'm so short. I actually ended up standing on the chair I was seated in in order to be able to see. That was really the only bad part of the trip, though.
We did a little shopping in town and then stopped by a family friend's place for dinner, which was delicious. They were very nice people with great attitudes, and Brendan and I chilled on the couch, totally tired from the day. As evening came, the mosquitoes started rolling in like clouds and made going outside miserable, so we stayed inside as much as we could.
MONDAY:
Yaaaay, Canada Day!!!
Brendan's parents had to go back home so that they could be at work the next day, but the owner of the cabin was happy to let us stay the extra night. We spent the day relaxing and enjoying the cool weather, getting some things packed up so that we could leave early the following day. In the evening, we walked over to the other property where they had a fire pit and got a fire going just before sunset. We pulled out the marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate for some s'mores and enjoyed the view. In the distance, we could hear fireworks over some other lakes, but there were none on ours. No problem-- it was so, so peaceful, and it was great to be able to spend a little time alone together. <3
TUESDAY:
We woke up early in the morning and cleaned up the cottage, leaving a little gift from our family for the owners. We took a quick trip down to the other property to check on the fire and make sure it burned out okay (it did) and were greeted with an exceptionally foggy view, which I honestly thought was so cool.
We stopped at a local fish 'n chips place on the way back (mine was fish 'n poutine-- how could I resist?!), then went strolling along the shops and restaurants on the street as a rest stop. It was a really nice end to a really nice trip.
WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY:
So there you have it, that was the majority of the trip. The rest of the week was spent bumming around Brendan's apartment. I walked to the mall just down the street, bought one of my now favorite shirts, and just enjoyed some time off.
We did go out to dinner on the 4th of July decked out in full Americana.
Remember how I said I chose my flight to save money and time... well, I also chose a really late return flight, and that turned around and predictably bit me in the bottom. With Air Canada, your chances of having a delay increase exponentially the later in the day your flight is scheduled. My flight was scheduled for like 7pm but ended up not leaving until 11-- and of course, they do not notify you of the delay until you're already on the way to the airport! I ended up getting home at like 2am, making the second to last train home from the city. Brendan was so, so sweet and stayed in the airport with me for a couple hours before heading back himself.
This is our last visit ever!!!! The next post will be about our move to close the distance!
