The Travels of the Agnew Family

Last Sunday was a quiet day catching up on jobs around house. We did manage to escape in the Miata for a few hours and met Donna and Doug for dinner in Clifford. I manage to run into Donna at a craft show but I think it's been about two years since we got together and had a good visit.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were hot, hot and hot. Shouldn't complain as this is what summer is suppose to be like and the cold weather will be here before we know it. The only air conditioning the Miata has is the wind generated while it is being driven. That means on the really hot days you cook if you drive in the convertible. So we have stayed home and have been catching up on the jobs that are starting to pile up.

Today, Thursday is perfect weather to go out for a drive. We choose to drive east to Creemore.

Have you ever watched the show "You gotta Eat Here" on the Food Network (it's a Canadian Show)? Ed and I have watched a couple of episodes this year. Turns out the show started January 6, 2012, so we've missed a lot of episodes. Thank goodness for the Internet as we can find the episodes that show cased restaurants in our driving area. One of the episodes we watched included a restaurant in Creemore ---- thus our desire to drive to Creemore today to have lunch at "Creemore Kitchen".


It's a cute little restaurant and easy to find as it is across the road from Creemore Springs Brewery.


I had a falafel --- the best I've ever eaten. "Organic Chick Pea Falafel, Flour Tortilla, Pico de Gallo, Kimchee Sauerkraut, Tahini, Hot Sauce & Organic Greens". Nice little kick without being too spicy. Ed had a burger --- good but not the best ever burger. "House Made Beef and Pork Burger, Cheddar, Roast Garlic Mayo, Tomato Jam and Fries". I think it could have used a little of the zing that was on the falafel. We finished lunch with a bowl of restaurant made raspberry ice cream.


We didn't tour the brewery today, we'll save that for another day when we come back to enjoy some more good food, but we did sample some beer. Luckily, we purchased our favourite varieties as our local Brewers Retail only carries one of the half dozen varieties of beer brewed by Creemore.


We walked around the village and found a small park with this fountain.


and some beautiful tiger lilies.

I found Ed a few roads with lots of curves as we looked for geocaches.


One of the caches took us to the top of a hill that yield this beautiful view. By the way we made our quota of 10 caches.

Wonder if a second one will happen. About a hundred cars were on display at the show today. There was also one cat --- but not a happy cat. The cars were parked on tarmac not the grass he likes and it was hot --- really hot! While we were talking to his owner he hissed and swatted her. Luckily someone offered to drive him home to his nice air conditioned house. Bet he was a lot happier when he got home.


Souped up tractor --- some one replaced the engine with a much more powerful engine.


This 1956 Monarch Richeliue was my favourite car at the show.


I think this little one was Ed's favourite.

Last December we had lunch at Elsie's Diner in Owen Sound and said wouldn't it be great to drive the sports cars and have breakfast. So this morning we did.

Last night we put the roof up on the Miata as it was parked outside at the cottage. This morning I dried off the roof but as we needed to buy gas we decided to let the roof dry a bit more and put it down at the gas station which is just a couple of kilometers from the cottage. There was another Miata at the pump when we arrive and the woman told us to put the roof down on the Miata or she would report us to the "Miata Club" and they would take the car from us. We had a good chuckle and told her the roof was coming down. Guess she really believes that convertibles should be driven with the roof down --- Ed definitely agrees with that philosophy.


Elsie's Diner. Love the decor, love the food.


Last December I had commented that the Elvis' Breakfast Sandwich sounded good. This morning Rob asked why I was reading the menu as I was having the Elvis' Breakfast Sandwhich.

From the menu - "Elvis’ Breakfast Sandwich Grilled Peanut butter, honey, thinly sliced banana and bacon, served with home fried potatoes and onions. Elvis’ favorite sandwich: sweet and salty! 5.99". Very tasty.


On the way back to the cottage we saw a house with a lot of old signs out front, so we stopped. Rob found a old cooler that he decided he couldn't live without. Between the four of us we scraped together enough cash to buy it --- we are the credit card generation after all.


The next question was how to get it back to the cottage. Luckily, Ellen didn't mind holding it.


Rob has wanted to ride the bike trail from Southampton to Port Elgin for a long time --- at least that's what he claims. So today we did. We took the "beach" trail to ride from Southampton to Port Elgin and the rail trail back. As it was a beautiful day, the beach in Port Elgin was busy.


Ed's GPS said we road 22.5 kilometers --- not bad for these bike riders.

On Thursdays Ellen works at the Sauble Beach flea market manning a table for a friend that makes dog cookies. After a leisurely breakfast, Rob and Ed went geocaching so Zaph and I wandered down to the flea market to keep Ellen company. I enjoy people watching (people wear very interesting attire in a beach community) and talking to the people who stop at the table. We got to hear lots of interesting dog stories. Unfortunately, Zaph doesn't enjoy as markets as much as he use to. I think his eyesight and hearing are going so crowds and noise are getting to be too much for him. He lied behind the table with his back to the market.

When the market was over we walked to the beach.


Zaph was happy to have a quick dip with his stick.

After supper we went for a bike ride. We drove a few kilometers south on the road and road back on the beach. The beach was an interesting ride as there were a number of water ways to cross. Rob enjoyed driving through the wider deeper water, where Ellen and I looked for the narrow crossings. Ed followed Rob through the deep water --- after he got his running shoe wet he followed Ellen and I through the narrow crossings. It goes to show you that little boys regardless of their age love puddles.

We invited ourselves up to Rob and Ellen's cottage again. This time Ed drove the RAV with bicycles attached and I drove the Miata. It was mid afternoon by time we left home, so we opted for an early dinner of hamburgers and salad when we got to the cottage so we could drive the sports cars to Wiarton (about 15 minutes away) to see Wiarton's weekly car show.


Lots of cars tonight. Cars and trucks from the 1950s seemed to be most prevalent though there were lots of muscle cars, a couple of Ford Model T's and a few unique cars.


1954 Citroen Traction Avant 11B. This vehicle was built in Frances in 1954. In the mid 1990's the car was sold by the original owner to a British pilot who brought the car to the United Kingdom. In 2004 the car was sold to a second British owner. In 2014 the car was purchased by a woman from Wiarton who shipped it to Canada.


This is a 1995 British taxi that operated in London England. The gentleman in the photo is the proud owner. In 2011 the owner purchased the taxi and had it shipped to Canada. The biggest hitch in the transaction was getting insurance for a car with right hand steering.

It was past time to test the ATVs and make sure they are running properly after their visit to the shop. We decided to ride the rail trail south as we had only done part of the trail on a previous outing.


The end of the trail. Even though it looks like the trail continues it ends at the county line.

By the way, we had no problems. Both machines started fine and neither machine leaked gasoline.

We drove to Kitchener to visit friends and go to a Rib Fest. Due to heat, construction, not liking crowds, etc. we opted to pass on the Rib Fest but we did visit our friends Jack and Lori. Instead of ribs we had a pizza. In 1970 a restaurant called Mother's Pizza opened in Hamilton Ontario. Within a few years the chain had opened locations in many other Ontario cities. I remember sharing a "Grandmother's Pizza" with a girlfriend when I was in high school, Lori worked at a Mother's Pizza restaurant all through university, Ed and I shared a love of the "Grandmother's Pizza" when we started dating. Jack didn't share any stories but he must have eaten at Mother's Pizza because he started dating Lori when she worked there. The chain of restaurants was bought by another pizza chain and closed about 20 years ago. Within the last year or so, Mother's Pizza was purchased and is slowly being resurrected. One of the restaurants is in Kitchener, so for old time sakes we went there for lunch.


The restaurant seems popular with the older crowd on a Saturday.


We enjoyed our lunch and our reminiscing but I think this is one of those been there, eaten there, check off the list things.

We had a great visit --- Lori and I played board games and Jack and Ed worked on a computer problem Jack was having --- everyone was happy.

Another beautiful summer day and a perfect day to go exploring in the Miata (and of course geocaching).

A couple of times in our travels through the local countryside we've seen the sign for Lakelet. This time we drove into the hamlet of Lakelet. Not sure why we didn't take any photos but we didn't. It's a cute little cottage / trailer community surrounding a small lake.

We've driven through Gorrie a number of times but never ventured off the main road or in fact stop. Today we did. The town is not large but larger than I thought. The first attraction we stopped at was Watson's Home Hardware. Ed has seen trucks delivering lumber from Watson's a number of times and was curious about the store. It's a large, very nice Home Hardware with very helpful staff. I'm sure we'll stop in again when we're in the neighbourhood.

The Maitland River runs through town and is a dammed by the old mill. On one side of the river is a park.


Ed found a geocache in the remains of a tree. It might be just me but I didn't know what a milkweed flower looks like. Now I do. When I think of milkweed I think of the pod filled with silky seeds that you blow into the air.


The Gorrie dam.


The Maitland Mill in Gorrie was built in 1856 by brothers James and Nathanial Leech. In 1957 the post office was established and the town named Gome after Gorey in County Wexford, Ireland hometown of the the Leech brother's parents.

Wroxeter was a booming town in the late 19th century. There were five general stores, five hotels, two schools, a library, a woolen mill and a grist mill. In 1874 a rail line was completed and a train station built. Today it is a small village.


Wroxeter doesn't fit the ghost town definition exactly but it is a mere shadow of what it once was.


A Mennonite driving through Wroxeter. I think there are Mennonite communities near every town in South Western Ontario.


The town of Bluevale also has an old mill. Elias Disney, father of Walt Disney was born in Bluevale in 1859.

Wingham was our last stop of the day. The local Tim Horton's provided a much needed bathroom break and a much needed cold drink. If you've never tried the frozen raspberry lemonade, Ed and I recommend it.


Wingham is much larger than the other towns we visited today. We didn't have a lot of time to explore so we'll have to return another day but we did find a geocache in this cute downtown park.

Today the big guy turned 15. He's doing pretty good for his age. Zaph is on a low protein diet so no birthday burger for him.


We decided that Zaph needed a special treat so I baked him a cake and Ed decorated it.


Zaph was very interested in the cake but I told him he had to wait for the guests to arrive before he could have a piece.


Rob, Ellen, Anne and Victor came to help celebrate.


Over the years Zaph has learned that Anne is the easiest person to get treats from and today was no exception. He ate the whole piece.

Tony has an open house at his "Car Barn" farm today. He has a fabulous collection of antique cars which we have had the privilege of viewing a couple of years ago. Ed and Victor decided to go and see what was new.


There are several buildings full of cars.


Some of my favorites.


Tony also has a number of 1930's automobiles. One he recently found in an old barn and another is one of the first limousines.

Yesterday I drove to Burlington to visit my mother. I'm very impressed with myself as I managed to take a pillow apart and make a cover for the arm of one of my mother's chair. It only involved straightening the edges of the fabric, then turning the fabric over twice and sewing a hem all the way around. The only tricky part was sewing the cover onto the chair but a circular needle made that job pretty easy. It really wasn't that hard of a job but me sewing for my mother is big --- not something I thought would ever happen.

Yesterday, Ed stayed home finishing some things in the shop and checked out his ATV. He determined that somehow dirt had gotten into the carburetor so the ATV needed to go to the shop as he didn't have the tools to fix it.

Today Ed drove my ATV off the trailer and we drove his ATV to the ATV dealer about an hour away. The mechanic asked if we could leave the machine and pick it up in a couple of days, so we drove home. When we got home I tried to start my ATV but no go. Ed tried to start my ATV but no go. Totally frustrated Ed decided the problem had to do with bad gas so we winched my ATV onto the trailer and Ed drove it to the ATV dealer and dropped it off.

Ed was not a happy camper today.

The rail trail that runs thru Walkerton continues north to Port Elgin. It's about 35 kilometers from Walkerton to Port Elgin so we decided to trailer the ATVs to Port Elgin and ride the 18 kilometers of trail that goes south west of Port Elgin. And guess what --- there are geocaches along the trail.


One of the caches was beside a farm field. These guys were warily curious about us.


Our first "storey teller" geocache. Instead of signing a log you wrote a paragraph in a book following the story line started by other geocachers.


The end of the road. The rail line originally went from Port Elgin to Bruce Nuclear Generating Station when it was the Douglas Point Reactor, an earlier version of the CANDU design. Construction began in 1960; was operational in 1967; and was shut down in 1984.


There were lots of wild flowers along the trail.

After Ed loaded his ATV on the trailer he noticed a liquid dripping from his ATV. After some further investigation he determined that his ATV was leaking gas. Luckily, there is a fuel shut off valve so he was able to stop the leak.

The Miata hasn't had a bath since last summer so I took the time today to vacuum and clean the interior, wash and wax the outside and do windows. The Miata is looking pretty good.



When the Miata was done I decided to attack the RAV. After vacuuming and cleaning the interior, I drove to the car wash. Now that was quicker and easier.

There was the last part of a multi-part geocache just outside of Walkerton on the railtrail. As Ed finally had the required information to find the cache, we got out the ATVs and went for a short drive and found the cache.

Returning home we put the ATVs away and got out the Miata. We've driven through Mount Forest a number of times, with driving through being the operative words. Today we spent sometime in town looking for geocaches. The town is a lot larger than I thought.


There are a couple of small lakes in the area as well as river.


I sometimes wonder what people think when they see Ed by the side of the road looking for a geocache.


Hot diggety dog another cache.

Ellen mans a table at the Sauble Beach Market on Thursdays for her friend that bakes and sells dog cookies. It's actually fun hanging around the market talking to people, so I joined her. When we were finished with the Sauble Beach Market we drove down to Southampton to the Southampton Craft Show. This show is a juried, homemade crafts only show. This is a good place to see how imaginative people can be.

Meanwhile back at the cottage ... or should I say on the road. Ed, Rob and Zaph took advantage of our absence and went geocaching.


A unique cache.


Zaph wanted to check out this area.

It was dreary this morning, so Ed and Rob decided to finally finish the electrical work at the cottage. Ed (and Rob too) was very happy when the old panel was totally disconnected and removed from the wall. Last job was hooking up the under cupboard lights in the kitchen. Two big check marks today ---- Electrical Upgrade complete, Kitchen finished ---- hooray!!!!


It was too cold to go sit on the beach so we jumped on our bikes and went for a ride. Surprise, surprise there was a geocache Ed wanted to get. The cache was at a pretty spot. Rob and Ellen were enjoying the view.

Being Canada Day a couple of nearby towns were having fireworks. We decided to drive to Southampton to watch their show --- it was really worth the 10 minute drive ... in fact I would consider driving there from Walkerton.

The fireworks were fantastic and Ed got some great photos and video. I especially liked some of the time exposure shots.


Waiting for the fireworks to begin.