Visiting Relations
The final part of my trip to Canada was self-arranged and allowed me to reunite with members of my family in Canada.
I was to stay with my Cousin, Raymond, and his wife on the shore of Lake Huron. I last Saw Raymond when he worked in London (England) in the 1980s.
It started with my arrival in Toronto on Monday 16th May and being met by Raymond at the airport for the drive back to Grand Bend some 120 miles.
Welcomed to their home by Raymond and his wife, Sabine, it was good to be there.
A quiet evening, chatting and catching up but also observing spectacular sunset over the lake (next stop west is Michigan!)
Plans had been made to meet a friend in London (Ontario!) the next day but that was cancelled which meant we had a relaxing day to settle in. A quick trip to show me the local centre of Grand Bend itself was all we did!
The following day, Raymomd took me to London to meet with Phyllis (senior).
We drank tea and spoke continually while I was there and it brought back some good memories of my trip in 1976 but also some sadness that most of that generation were no longer around.
That afternoon, I was picked up by Cameron and taken back to his house, the one I originally stayed in during my 1976 visit with Joy and Bill McGaughey when only Don was living at home. Cameron and Tom were in Kitchener at the time.
We went for beer and pizza at Palasad Social Bowl but we didn't stay late and when we got back to Cameron's house, he produced a box full of birth and marriage certificates which gave me a lot of information for the family tree.
The next day (Thursday), Raymond picked me up and we returned to Grand Bend.
Friday we went visiting: Bayfield and Goderich.
Saturday started very sunny and I had suggested I might walk into Grand Bend but the weather went downhill very quickly in early afternoon when the edge of a storm caught us and caused devastation in parts of London and on a line from Windsor to Uxbridge, north of Toronto.
Sunday, we picked Phyllis Snr up and drove to visit Phyllis and Claudio in Stauffville, north of Toronto.
Some detours were necessary due to damage from the storm but the afternoon was excellent with home made pizzas and lots to talk about.
It was great to see 'young' Phyllis again after so many years and two of their daughters, Sierra and Olivia and granddaughter, Isabella.
Monday was a holiday - Victoria Day - and we went to Stratford (upon Avon - of course!) so Raymond could play tennis while Sabine and I walked along the river with me learning more German from her to compliment my DuoLingo course as we walked!
On our return journey, we were approached by a lady who introduced herself as being connected to the Isle of Man and had a jumper on with the three legs emblem. She is sister-in-law to local photographer, Bill Snelling!
Sabine & I had lunch (& I had a beer!) at Bentley's Inn before walking back to meet Raymond for the drive home.
Tuesday was a VERY sunny day and I walked into Grand Bend - nearly 8 miles in 2 hours. Not a lot to see there but the walk did me good.
Luckily, Sabine had agreed to bring me back to the house so I didn't have an 8-mile return walk after I called her from Tim Horton's and met her at "St Johns by the lake" church.
Wednesday we left for Niagara and I left the house for the last time. After we booked into the hotel and had another brew in Hortons, a walk along the banks of the river and taking photographs of the falls, I went up the tower.
Back at the hotel, I went for a walk and found a bar called 'Local' for a drink. Back to the hotel again for tea then we walked down to see the falls all lit up. Walked to what we were told was the oldest bar in Niagara but it wasn't very interesting (although I did chat with a fellow bar-fly who was from Ipswich!). Sabine and Raymond headed back to the hotel while I waited for the fireworks and when they were over, I too returned to the hotel and started to prepare for my journey home...
Part of this preparation was to check-in online with the airline where I hoped to secure an upgrade but this couldn't be done until 24 hours before the departure time so I had to stay awake until 23:50! Sadly, after a temporary hiccup with my credit card, the upgrade was no longer available so I had to make do with my pre-booked 'Premium economy' seat. Oh well, I tried!
Thursday, we had breakfast in Niagara-on-the-lake before driving north along the river and onto Toronto airport for the start of my journey home..