It's summer, the kids are out of school, and the hubby is off work (teacher) and it was time to consider our summer road trip. We sat there looking at a map of Ontario. We were going to Toronto for a wedding and also wanted to hit Ottawa on our trip to visit family, but we didn't want to just do Toronto to Ottawa. I looked at the map and my eyes settled on North Bay (never heard of it before) and said "There. Lets do a road trip along the Trans Canada highway and stop at North Bay". So, for 12 days, we took a nice family road trip:
Starting in Windsor - Toronto - French River/Killarney - North Bay - Petawawa/Pembroke - Smiths Falls - Ottawa - back Home.
Days 1-2: Toronto
We stayed right in the heart of downtown TO, though I usually prefer the outskirts. As we drove in on the Gardiner expressway, I told the kids "welcome to the concrete jungle".
After locating our hotel and parking, we walked over to the ROM and explored it for 3 hrs.
Last time we were in Toronto, we tried to go to the Cheesecake Factory at Yorkdale but it didn't workout. This time we showed up earlier (5:30 pm) and were seated immediately. We then walked around Yorkdale mall for a bit, but it was a little too... rich for us... designer everything. Dwayne is sooooo lucky I'm a nerdy girl and don't care about luxury items. For realz.
The next day we attended our friend's lovely wedding at the Drake (Congrats Ryan and Cayla!). The wedding was in the afternoon so we still had time to explore the city afterwards. After changing into more casual cloths we took a subway ride to Union Station and went to the CN Tower. People, this is NOT a cheap attraction, considering you have to wait at least an hour plus and spend 20-30 minutes at the top. Ok, no problems. I had promised the kids we would do the CN Tower and they were pretty thrilled with it. I hadn't been to the CN Tower since probably 2005.
Right outside the CN Tower is an old train round house which is now home to Steam Whistle brewery.
Day 3: French River Provincial Park
We drove from Toronto to French River and stayed in Alban, ON. We did a hike to see rapids at French River Provincial park, but unfortunately I wasn't wearing good shoes for the type of walking we did, so I learned at that point to wear running shoes if we went on hikes! We checked out some other nature trails and then headed to our Inn which was on a lake and had a restaurant. We ate dinner then watched the sunset at the lake.
Day 4: Killarney Provincial Park
We drove to Killarney Provincial Park and did a two hour hike over huge rock formations and got amazing vista points of Georgian Bay. I'm so proud of the kids. The did this hike with no complaints or fear. They actually love going for hikes like this. I was a little more weary, and was cursing under my breath at times because I was thinking "how am I supposed to traverse this?". But I made it, without tripping! LOLWe then went into the little town of Killarney and had amazing fish and chips (caught fresh in the Georgian Bay). We did a canoe ride. Then went back for more fish and chips!
Day 5-6: North Bay
So day 3 and 4 we were in the boonies... there was no Walmarts or McDonald's around for 60 km (closest place would be Sudbury, ON). So, as lovely as the area was, I was happy to be moving on to a North Bay. We got into North bay around 10 am and couldn't check in, but we did drive by their beautiful waterfront and stopped to visit the beach and playground.This next part of my post is a little lengthy, but it's a worthy storytime because I met one of my teen-dream crushes.
We got to the park and a woman with a headset came over and said we could play at the park but had to stay quiet because they were filming "Carter" on the beach. Never heard of it, but ok. I kept the kids quiet when the show was filming maybe 200 meters away. The cast then went on a break and walked by us but I wasn't paying much attention. Dwayne Googled the show and said "Jerry O'Connell is the main actor". I said "Whaaat? Jerry O'Connell? He was a teen heartthrob in the 90s when I was growing up, oh-em-gee oh-em-gee". I literally took my ponytail out and tried to fluff my curls back to life and put on a fresh coat of lipgloss and smoothed over my clothes. I told Dwayne I had to get a picture of him when he walked by and we succeeded. Luckily Dwayne was able to stop him and ask because I was just standing there with my jaw dropped. He was happy to oblige and then told us to enjoy the nice weather.
I really liked North Bay. We did a little cruise in Nippising Lake in the afternoon and then rested and headed to dinner. After dinner we went back to the waterfront where they have a small train ride and two carausels. It was really lovely to be looking out at the lake.
The next day we did a hike at Duchusney Falls. Again, the kids were great with it and easily traversed the trails. Dwayne and the boys were more adventurous to get closer to the falls. Sometimes I followed and sometimes I said "I'm just find standing here". In the afternoon we visited a local museum, drove around a bit to a trail, and then relaxed before going out for dinner. The hotel was across the street from Lake Nippising on what I would call a "secret" beach. We took a blanket down there and watched the sun set.
Day 7: Petawawa and Pembroke
When I was planning our stops for this trip, I wanted to make the drive between stops not more than 2.5-3 hours. So the next stop we made was Petawawa. We visited a heritage village, did a short trail, and visited a park with rapids. We stayed in Pembroke.
Day 8: Murphy's Point Provincial Park and Smiths Falls
In the spring time, before we planned this trip, my older son Matthew was looking at a map (he likes maps), and found Murphy's provincial point. He said we have to go because it's our namesake! We spent a few hours there and then went to our Airbnb in Smiths Falls. The Airbnb was the highlight of this day actually. We had the whole house to ourselves. It was tastefully decorated and she stacked it with snacks. We stopped by the Rideau Canal (in Smiths Falls not Ottawa). We ate dinner at a pub with large windows facing the Rideau River and watched a huge storm roll in.
Day 9-11: Onward to Ottawa
Out reason for this trip was to visit family in Ottawa and it was at the tail end of our drive on the Trans Canada Highway. We first stopped at Tanger outlets in Kanata. You would think I would of done a lot of shopping, but I wasn't in the mood for looking at things, trying them on, only to be disappointed. Instead I bought the kids a few new items for the new school year. YES. I said it. BACK TO SCHOOL. Ok, back to summer.We then went to the Royal Canadian Mint (you can't take pictures there but I got this picture with this moose instead), and then to family's house. They fed us very well all weekend the my boys loved playing with their cousins.
On Saturday we went to Lac Phillip in Gatineau Park (Quebec) for a picnic and canoe ride. However me and the kids wanted to try a paddle boat.... so Dwayne went along with it. Whoa, that thing was difficult to get moving. Next time we'll stick to a canoe. Sunday we went to church and then drove around a bit in Ottawa.
Day 12: Home Sweet Home
As fun as vacation is, I just love getting home, running all the laundry, and having a long uninterrupted shower. And I had to get ready for heading back to work the next day.Time for a corny joke, so please humor me and read it:
This building was next to the Royal Canadian Mint. I told Dwayne this is the place where decisions are made how to pluralize words. For example, here they decided that:goose >> geese
mouse >> mice
hair >> hair
etc. etc.
But here's what it's actually about:
The Global Centre for Pluralism (French: Centre mondial du pluralisme) is an international centre for research, education and exchange about the values, practices and policies that underpin pluralist societies
Very nice, Ivanna. I like it that you are so active with your boys - taking them through nature, the woods, rivers, lakes and having fun doing it. Like your little joke.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lanie!
Delete