Fall in Southern Ontario

We're back in Canada!!  We left Chicago on Monday morning, Sept 22nd and spent a few days driving through Indiana and Michigan.  It is interesting that we have now gone through five states that have abundances of corn crops.  It is being grown to make ethanol to put in the gasoline, so there is a big demand.

We stayed one night in Augusta, MI at Fort Custer State Park, and the kitties enjoyed the woods there very much - we do have issues with Sam wanting to disappear into woods wherever we go... he is back on the long leash!!

The colours are really starting to get beautiful.  The Fall Colours Tour is in full swing, although we find the odd bush and flowers with lovely summer colours too.

A beautiful cardinal who was warily watching Tawny

We crossed back in Canada on Tuesday (Sept 23rd) and found a great campground in Ingersoll, Ontario that did NOT have woods.  It was grassy with a creek running through it, so we could keep track of Sam for a change!  We arrived the next day at our friends' house, Dave & Bonnie Sask, on Crow Lake in southern Ontario. It's near Tichborne, north east of Toronto.  They have a lovely cottage on the lake, with lots of water sport equipment (for the people) and surrounding woods (for the kitties!).  Sam is in his seventh heaven here...

The foliage is really beautiful here.  There are hard wood trees, like maple, whose leaves turn gorgeous dark reds and vivid oranges.  Awesome scenery... Thursday (Sept 25th) Dave & Bonnie took us for a lovely hike through the woods, and an equally lovely ride in their motor boat to experience the fall colours around Crow Lake (and also Bob's Lake which is connected to Crow Lake by a narrow passageway).

Dave and his small snake friend...

The stillness of Crow Lake makes for gorgeous pictures

Dave and John on Bob's Lake

Bonnie, as we neared the passageway back to Crow Lake

After our boat excursion, Bonnie showed us how to Paddleboard.  John was a natural!  Dave & John took a brief trip down the lake, and John kept up to Dave pretty good.  Paddleboarding is a really great core workout... so we found out...

Now doesn't John just exude confidence?!

Bonnie, showing us how it's done.

Dave & John returning from their paddle excursion

Friday (Sept 26th) John and I left the kitties in the trailer and took a drive into Kingston, which is about an hour south of Crow Lake.  We took a fun Trolley Tour around the downtown area, and had lunch at Chez Piggy's, which was started by the lead singer of Lovin' Spoonful way back in the 70's.  We had a fantastic meal, and lovely wine too.  

The town is full of beautiful brick and limestone buildings, a lot of which are historical sites. There are 3 universities in town (including Queen's) and so about 25% of the city's population are students.The Kingston penitentiary has been decommissioned as of last year but the military base is still here.  

The kitties are really enjoying the grounds around the cottage.  They are getting much braver around the dock too!  Sam particularly likes to hang out with John and watch the fish swim by, and the boats on the lake.  We haven't tried them on the paddleboard yet... maybe next visit...

There are chipmunks, squirrels and birds aplenty in the woods, along with frogs, toads and caterpillars too!  Tawny is an especially good “frogger”... though we keep her away from the toads whenever possible.  There are still a number of gorgeous wildflowers blooming amidst the fall colours.

We're heading out this afternoon, bound for Quebec.  Onward to further adventures and more fall colours.

We loved our visit on Crow Lake with Dave & Bonnie.  Thank you!!!