Canada Day 2010

It's been a busy time around these parts lately. While we've been thinking about buying a house in the near future, it's finally become a near reality. On Sunday June 18th, we drove to Woodstock to look at model houses and immediately fell in love. Heather was eager to make an offer on the spot but I thought that we needed to sleep on it. The following Tuesday we met with the agent representing the seller and made our offer. The next day it was accepted and it was now time to sell our condo. That process included a visit from a stager who helped us organize our condo to show very well. From that point on we spent several evenings cleaning, organizing, painting and prettying up our home. The photos were taken on Wednesday and today the condo was listed for sale. More on that to follow.

But today was Canada Day and the start of our mini vacation in Point Clark, one we've been looking forward to for a while. We were going to spend a weekend at a cottage with Remi and Lisa. Because Canada Day fell on Thursday this year, Heather and I had to book Friday off work in order to get a four-day weekend away from home.

Remi and Lisa arrived at our place around 11am to pick up our stuff for the weekend. Since we were going to ride our motorcycles, they offered to shuttle our belongings to and from Point Clark. We left the condo just before noon and Remi and Lisa took off for the shore of Lake Huron while we went to get our motorcycles. At my parents' place Heather and I had a small lunch and finally left Waterloo around 1pm.

The road to Point Clark is one without many turns and it covers all of Highway 86. We only made one stop and it was in Wingham to get fuel. Fuel that was now 8% more expensive thanks to Ontario's brand new HST which came into effect on Canada Day. We actually also stopped down the road in Lucknow too, but it was only for a brief moment. We made it to the cottage at 3pm without seeing a single cloud in the sky and nearly 30-degree temperatures.

Point Clark lighthouse.

Once at the cottage, we put the motorcycles in the garage and went inside to relax for a few minutes and change into lighter clothes. After an hour or so, we walked a short distance to a small shop called Lighthouse Gifts for some ice cream. The lady running the shop was very friendly and even liked our sense of humour. From the ice cream shop we walked another minute or two towards the beach which also features the town's main attraction, a 152-year old lighthouse.

Lisa and Heather enjoying some ice cream in the sun.

On our way back to the cottage, we strolled along the beach but because or recent rainfall, the waves hitting the beach were unpleasently muddy. Back at the cottage, Remi fired up the barbecue for the first time this weekend. The evening's menu included burgers and smoked marshmallows.

Marshmallow time.

We stayed outdoors for most of the evening. At around 9pm, we packed into Remi's car and drove to nearby Kincardine to see their Canada Day fireworks display. The parking in Kincardine was very scarce but we found a spot on a side street, about a 10-minute walk from the beach. The beach was full of people waiting for the show but we managed to find a spot on a dock, very close to where the fireworks were going to be set off from.

Waiting for the fireworks display in Kincardine.

The fireworks display started around 10pm and was very well done and even featured a sequence of fireworks shot, it seemed, from the water.

The fireworks display.

We were back in the cottage at 11pm and spent the next two hours laughing and joking our way through a game of Pop5. A great day to start the weekend.

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WATER TOWERS