Ohhhh, Canadaaaaa

Status
Not open for further replies.
Mr Katie and I are both WPs, but it seems there are more worthy WPs and P1s and CLs ahead of us in the upgrade queue.
Sometimes revenue seats are completely booked.
I know of a CL who put in an request for an immediate family member using their points - I understand it is assessed at the CL priority - which didn't get approved on a Aus-US flight.

Good luck with it all, looking forward to the rest of the report!
 
@Katie watching with interest, we have flights into YYZ in Sep next year and flights out of YVR some 4 weeks later. That is the extent of the current plan, PEI is most likely on the list for MrsM.
 
Day 1 - Tuesday 3 December

Alarm goes off at 3am! We all get ready, and are ready to leave before 4; I arrange a Maxi Taxi on the Yellow cabs app (due to volume of luggage, and bad luck finding Ubers early in the morning before). Rather appalled at the $11 maxi tax booking fee; it’s $20 before we’ve even left our suburb. Oh well, this is not the time to sweat on my Aussie cents, I guess.

We arrive at BNE by 4:20 for QF503 at 5:20. A few people at Premium Entry in front of us and the agent seems to be happily rearranging seats for the return journey for the men in front of us. We get there, check in (I had OLCIed), each bags gets two tags for our four flights, but there’s some kind of problem printing our BPs. The agent gets some help, and eventually by 4:40 we’re on our way through security. The older couple behind us in the queue seemed they would climb over us due toe the delay; they kept moving forward at any sign of us possibly being able to finish our check in process.

We spent about 5 minutes in the lounge, Mr Katie grabbed a coffee, that was it. Then off to gate 22 to board. It was a full flight, so when Ms 6B arrive, I sat in 6B and gave her 6C. Any hope for WP shadows went out the window; no great concern for the short hop down to Sydney. Miss 13 and I didn’t bother with brekky, not sure what Mr Katie did.

Usual transfer bus to International. Being in Y+, we didn’t receive express cards, but I had two in my travel wallet, and managed to get the three of us through with those. Very busy Tuesday morning at security in SYD.

Straight into the FLounge; Nestor wasn’t at the door as the SIN FLounge opened the night before and he was up there.

We were able to get a table at the last dining area before the Spa.

F238FB5D-15CF-441B-8EBE-BC0665EC4175.jpeg

A glass of Pommery; it didn’t quite hit the spot that morning. :(

D57E4B03-4DEE-4169-B05D-9C27BA4B4B21.jpeg
Miss 13 had the pancakes, minus all fancy toppings, with some maple syrup and ice cream.

121FBCA0-91CC-42CA-BE7B-8D6E5AF3F2DD.jpeg
My Eggs Benny on sourdough, sauce on the side.

E4E68DC3-F7BD-45A2-B76E-E9B5781F386C.jpeg
Mr Katie’s Eggs Benny and Corn Fritters - why decide between your two favourites??!
 
Day 1 - Tues 3 Dec - The flight

We were booked on QF11 in Y+, as that’s our most affordable option with leg room ( Mr Katie and I are both 6’, and Miss 13 is now about 5’9”/175cm). And given we don’t seem to manage to plan more than six months ahead, many rewards seats are already taken.
We were hoping with two WPs and one SG, we might be able to get points upgrades to J, but alas, that didn’t happen. I was happy that we scored the one refurbished A380, as the IFE is superior to the prior A380s, even if seat pitch may not be.
Although I’d chosen a A,B, and D seats for us, with the change to a refurbed bird, we were moved to the three seats in the middle. Mr Katie and Miss 13 were assigned the aisle seats, and I was assigned the middle seat. Our seating preferences seemed to go in alphabetical order of our names, with my surname being the last alphabetically, my preferences were ignored. I didn’t bother ringing QF or getting it reassigned; just made Miss 13 sit in the middle for the flight.

We ended up sitting at the gate for around an hour while a seat was being fixed by an engineer. Not sure which one, it wasn’t in the Y+ cabin. Very glad to have IFE in the seatbacks in front of us, and we all ended up watching some TV/movIes.

Takeoff, then lunch was served - a salmon and noodle salad, chicken schnitzel, or lamb shank. I had the lamb shank and Miss 13 and Mr Katie had the schnitzel. Miss 13 was rather excited by the thought of the schnitzel, but it didn’t seem to live up to her expectations. She ate two bread rolls, which is fairly normal for her.

08BDEF91-2451-459C-8D63-8E6F5C42EF84.jpeg
OK legroom, and like in Y, much better if I don’t store too much stuff in the basket thingie.
900E567B-89E3-4C66-B64A-501BDCB28CF9.jpeg
Loving the big IFE screen!
489460C8-4EFC-48B9-BA02-CA1176CA0579.jpeg
Chicken schnitzel, “famous Neil Perry salad dressing” as the FA called it. Apparently one FA she knows called it that while serving it to Neil Perry. :p
61403764-B254-4899-86E4-1A33A906C176.jpeg
Lamb shank with spicy tomato sauce.
FDF6CEDE-6C2E-4BEB-977D-2D6A9D5D7AE4.jpeg
Handy knitting pattern holder.
17BBF4E5-B30E-48FF-907F-DE2F0CD220B1.png
Still checking EF in the lounge in the hope of a last minute upgrade.
 
Overall, the flight was uneventful. I think there were four FAs for the Y+ cabin, which is much larger now with 60 pax, and the cabin was full for this flight. The cabin got FAs to be seated three times, so a bit bumpy, which isn’t unusual for trans pac.

It was quite hard to get Miss Katie to sleep; using her iPad a lot doesn’t seem to help her sleep. It’s also a tricky flight to sleep on, given you arrive in LAX at around midnight BNE time. I made her give up the iPad at one point, and she slept for about two hours.

Breakfast was a hot or continental option; we were in row 32 (second row) and the continental option seemed to run out by my row. I generally prefer a hot brekky, so that didn’t worry me. Hot brekky was a frittata, with kale (🤢), tomato and a sausage. I didn’t eat the muffin thing.

F09DE262-B44B-4534-98A2-8E34CF682769.jpeg

We landed at about 6:40, 40 mins late, so immigration was busy. We were through immigration, customs, and the connection security by about 8am. Our AA flight to ORD was leaving at 9:30. We went to the QF Flounge assuming it would be quieter than the Flagship lounge, grabbed showers, and had some second brekky. With Miss Katie, the brekky offerings in the FLounge are probably better - she had a croque monsieur. I think I had some poached eggs. Apparently I forgot to take photos of that meal.
We had to wrap up Miss 13’s sandwich and take it with us, leaving the lounge by 8:45am.

Quick walk over to T4; the entry to the Admiral’s club/Flagship had a line out the door and into the terminal, so we were glad we’d gone to the very quiet QF FLounge.

AA256 LAX-ORD
We were on a nice A321, and happy to discover IFE screens. We were in row 10, the last row of Main Cabin Extra. I sat in the middle seat, and had the joy of my family leaning on me for a good chunk of the flight.
We weren’t hungry, so didn’t partake of the offer of frech food. The flight seemed to go pretty quickly, Miss 13 slept for most of it. It was good to be able to put up the arm rests and get them out of the way.

In ORD, we stopped by the Flagship lounge after having a quick wander through the terminal to explore and stretch our legs. Miss 13 didn’t eat much; Mr Katie and I both snacked a little.

AA2277 ORD - YYZ
Our last flight was an A319. We were slightly delayed out of ORD, so landed about 30 mins late. Just a beverage service on this flight. Some dozing for us all with such dark cabin lighting and no IFE screens! :)

Immigration at YYZ was slightly trickier than anticipated - the first machine we tried to use didn’t operate properly, then the second one was not as sensitive to touch as would be helpful to get processed. I also said Mr Katie had exceeded his DF allowances by accident, but that didn’t seem to cause him to endure a secondary search.

We got a cab to our hotel, and Mr Katie and I both pumped the brakes a few times! There was snowy slush around, and felt the driver was being more dating than we’d like. We got there safely.
Miss Katie was thrilled to see snow on the ground and on roofs as we descdended; and along the roads on the drive in to town.
 
We got to the hotel some time after 10pm. The room was fine, though the Queen beds seems a tad small. We wanted a bite to eat, and room service or the bar were our options. The bard had literally four items on their menu available that late at night - a club sandwich, wings, a pastrami/meat sandwich, and something else that did not stick in my memory.
We stayed at the Hilton Downtown, booked a two Queen room, $CAD222/night plus taxes. I’m Diamond, so we got Executive lounge access and breakfast included. No noticeable upgrade of the room.

We were in bed by midnight, and surprisingly we all had a pretty solid night’s sleep. I usually have issues flying to Eastern time in North America, but not this time. I let us all sleep in a bit the next morning.

73324377-C6A0-4106-836A-95CCDF796AE5.jpeg073816F5-954E-4B8B-8F16-BFCDD3A1B8B8.jpeg

Our only complaint with the two Queens was the single bedside table.

F67F5A3B-0690-4E28-909A-213EC42451B2.jpeg
There was a Comfy chair between the second bed and the window; Miss 13 commandeered this location for dumping her belongings. .
9D64F2D5-0DB7-4A14-9C84-695D97855AFD.jpeg
Night view from the room. I can almost see my company’s Toronto office from my room ...
0BB47BDA-0A6F-47F1-9FCE-8154FF9822C9.jpeg
No Diamond water in the room; got some from the front desk the next day.
B1DFB3F1-3B06-411F-BDB2-7B90AA6F1436.jpeg
No shub! A spacious shower with a door (no curtain to cuddle you while showering). Plenty of ledge space for everyone’s toiletries.
 
Golly, an 03.00 start. You are indeed made of sterner stuff than me (lol) .
It’s all, very exciting so far. Pity about the lack of upgrade to J , I guess that’s a feature of peak travel times?
Looking forward to more snowbound adventures. Have a great Christmas.
 
Weds 4 December

We slept in a bit, and I started moving around 9am. We had breakfast in the Tundra restaurant (didn’t check out the lounge) as we wanted to try to have something more substantial - Miss 13 and I quite like omelettes. A bit of translation into North American as Miss 13 asked for capsicum in her omelette, and then getting upset when I said she wanted peppers “Not spicy, Mum!”. All was good eventually.
B9E94D2A-215E-46BE-8C49-DBDE4E799DDE.jpeg

As we were one block away from my company’s Toronto office, we stopped by there next. One of my Brisbane colleagues had moved to Toronto for two years with his wife in September, so we stopped by to say G‘Day and deliver some Cadbury Favourites. I was able to meet a couple of people I’ve only met online, so that was good.

We then found an ATM with no fees (cash for Miss 13 for her spending money), and made our way to near the Hockey Hall of Fame to grab the Hop On Hop Off bus. We stopped by Timmy’s for some Timbits, coffee and a sprite.
811A5EC7-63A0-43F2-9DAC-EB6A80DC074A.jpeg
No Double Double for us, as I’m a black coffee drinker. We waited for the bus outside Meridian Hall, and then thought to call to check how often the bus was running. There was one bus for the day (very low tourist season) so there was two hours between stops. We had about half an hour before the bus was coming, so we headed to St Lawrence market to have a quick wander. We discovered Winners on the way, and found some new now gloves for Miss 13 - that morning we discovered she returned from her school Canberra trip last year with two right hand snow gloves!!
A1EE5857-C42B-4286-BAD9-5EAABE3A5938.jpeg

We caught the bus from St Lawrence market (and were not-so-secretly relieved when a gaggle of touring school kids were clearly not catching the bus with us, naughty thoughts!) and enjoyed the full tour around.
54A24BC5-C694-43F4-A777-2074E5C10D3E.jpeg
Given how late it was in the day when we got going, we just stayed on the bus, and got off at St Lawrence market. Mr Katie wandered through the market while I supervised Miss 13 making a giant snowball out of the snow on the tables and chairs outside the market. We then all went to find the area that shows the market building’s history as a jail.
3D6D9621-1DEB-4E60-B255-C9F0817C5858.jpegF33A982F-18F3-461D-9C69-A5A086CDA8A2.jpegA3D9F755-1106-4950-9622-22A302B53AF1.jpeg

After the market, still not feeling hungry for lunch, we walked to the Distillery district to check out the Christmas market. It had a lovely feel, though wasn’t quite at Germany-level. I may be a harsh critic, as Germany and its Christmas markets have a piece of my heart. Lots of lovely things to see, and a quick snack off some wurst on bread rolls.
658919A3-5093-48D7-AC87-B727751E0DCC.jpeg7B32CFD4-AF14-4CEB-B3F2-35C1482A8BE6.jpeg64F35E34-89F8-488D-8959-AB25CD7FF273.jpeg

We made our way back to the Hilton, discovering we could only buy tickets on the trams with coins. :( This resulted in some less than legal activity on our part. Cards are accepted at subway stations to buy and load Presto tickets, but not on trams. I am definitely finding the Toronto transit system frustrating as a tourist; more on that later.

We returned to the Hilton, and it was my turn to choose our dinner location. We’ve decided it’s easier if we take turns for making this decision, as getting consensus on each lunch/dinner was far too aggravating. We went to the Exec Lounge to sit for a bit while I searched for dinner options. I discovered an interesting option thanks to Google - Assembly Chef’s Hall, one block away from the Hilton, and somewhat like a cluster of popup meal stall all gathered together, or indoors food trucks. Miss 13 wasn’t hungry, so sat guarding a table for us while Mr Katie and I chose our dinner. I had a lovely Gnocchi and he had ramen. We enjoyed our meal, though it was a game night, and the free table we found was near the bar playing the Maple Leafs game and near the door.

We popped back to the Exec Lounge to partake of the honour bar before going to bed.
 
My gnocchi was from Resto Boemo, but was a ragu/bolognaise, not their mushroom one that apparenlty famously beat Bobby Flay.
A83E18EF-2788-4546-822B-27FDB33E9064.jpegCAC99BD9-3759-4FA7-938E-158CB287E2FC.jpeg4356BB15-713B-4707-8874-49876CF7A46E.jpeg

Honour bar at the Hilton - $CAD10.something per glass of cheap vino. There were also some spirits. Snacks are only served from 5-7pm, but the honour bar is open while the lounge is open in the evening - until 10pm.
877FB3F2-8FC3-41D1-86F8-0E6BCC92CE25.jpeg
 
EEB6C0A2-7B4C-4D49-AA7E-E079EC485D12.jpegThurs 5 Dec

We wandered through the PATH and had brekky at a food court near the bottom of the Eaton Centre for something different. Not a fabulous brekky, but a change from the hotel - after only one day of a hotel breakfast! :p We are enjoying that Miss 13 doesn’t need to be fed so quickly in the morning and we have the opportunity to discover something new.
43D890BF-1285-4E50-93D5-8E1531723FEE.jpeg

We then got ourselves Presto cards, and made our way to the Toronto Reference Library. We’d heard on the HOHO bus that there was an Arthur Conan Doyle room in the library, and Miss 13 wanted to see it. The collection was in the special collections area on the top floor, in its own room. As well as Doyle’s own works, there were works inspired by him, various books on topics of interest to him, etc. I browsed through a book on the Mormons, something about the terrible murders they’d allegedly committed; I also found a Holmesian inspired book by Kareem Abdul Jabar (and found out that KAJ used Holmes inspired techniques on the basketball court).
A5307450-48AF-4E17-BBEB-C94EAAB5C4EC.jpeg1E92EEAE-D35C-4213-A144-D9DA8A79B2AF.jpeg

We then caught the HOHO bus up to Casa Loma to look around. We spent at least three hours there - it’s a great spot at Christmas; they had a Christmas tree competition, and most rooms had a Christmas tree decorated by various semi-renowned people. If you happen to know some of the people on local design shows or who decorate fancy parties or have floral design businesses. ;)

A few pics around Casa Loma, built by Sir Henry Pellatt, who introduced electricity to Tronno, built this wanne be castle (in the hopes royalty would stay there one day), but lost the castle and his fortune when his electricity company was taken from him and fellow investors without any recompense. The house has been used in an amazing array of TV and movie shoots.

1B29D1BB-C052-48A5-A895-15ADF14675C9.jpegA5C48E7E-1E11-4468-805D-56AADFA8D82F.jpeg
4B812F3D-5B37-401C-9936-21FFC1AB19DA.jpeg
(May be recognisable for those who’ve seen Season 3 of the Handmaid’s Tale)
BFCE1067-B7E5-40AA-9013-E41974065F00.jpegE7CB84FD-BF19-4F7F-AA59-9BEB878F9D49.jpeg2927C986-69B3-45ED-B60C-AE083483DE93.jpeg
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

The random phone on its side in the previous post is one of the telephones in a bedroom in Casa Loma. When the whole city of Tronno (definitely sounds like an o on the end, not an a, Rooflyer) had something like 200 or so telephones, 50 of those (15? did I mishear?) were installed at Casa Loma.
902DB918-813F-46E0-8122-78B073356225.jpeg
Conservatory, including heating to keep the plants warm in winter
1FA01D1E-0FDE-4D28-B186-FDA06F3A72AC.jpeg
One room was decorated for Hannukah
1D016FD0-15B9-4980-9D39-BBE3CB4C802C.jpeg
Swans in the fountain! :)

Sir Henry wanted the very latest of everything in this home; hence the shower with its multiple nozzles in all directions and telephones in all the bedrooms. Sir Henry had a rather masculine bedroom; his bathroom was all marble for hygienic reasons, and I think it was also unique for the loo in some way - not sure if it was the flushing or being indoors. Lady Pellatt had a larger room, with a sitting room as well as her own bathroom. There was information about Girl Guides of Canada in her former dressing room; she was the second sponsor/leader of the Canadian Girl Guides and their membership gre incredibly during her years of involvement.
Lady Pellatt died about a year after they lost Casa Loma - her wheelchair was sold off in the auction of their goods to raise funds. Sir Henry passed away at 80, living in the basement or spare room of his former driver. Their only son had no children; it had always been the intention of Sir Henry to hand Casa Loma over to the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada* (which he served in, and sponsored later to participate in some kind of military games in the UK).
The third floor of Casa Loma has a military history theme.

You can climb up the two turrets - we went up one. There are various “Escape the tower” style experiences available at times at Casa Loma; when we walked up our turret, it was being decorated ready for something with a dragon and magic theme. The final stairs to the top is a circular metal staircase, which can only be climbed or descended by one person at a time).

An interesting 20 min video of Sir Henry and his life is shown in what was to be the house’s swimming pool; it gives a comprehensive overview of his life and history, and then some of the information in the self-guided tour is repeated.

There’s along tunnel to the former stables and garage; some older cars are displayed there, and this area was done up with a Santa seat and toy factory. I think kids can visit Santa there. Throughout the tunnel, there were various kids names and a declaration whether they were on the naughty or nice list.

When we finished at Casa Loma, it was past the time of the last HOHO bus, so we caught the subway to Union station to try to find the free ice skating on Front St. It had closed for the day, so we made our way to try elsewhere; we thought we’d try for the Beaver Tail shack, for a late afternoon tea (no lunch again that day). As we made our way through the PATH connections, I discovered it was only open Fri-Sun at this time of year. It was Thursday. :(

We found a Satrbucks, had coffees and a snack, then found our way to the Harbourfront where there was ice skating. I found out Mr KAtie has never been ice skating! Miss Katie ended up going out on the rink by herself. I was too worried about falling and hurting myself and Mr Katie didn’t know how, so he wanted to observe. AFter a few rounds of Miss 13 clinging to the side at every opportunity, we discovered there were lessons for the kids at the side. Unfortunately, they were lessons you needed to book in advance. One of the organisers gave Miss 13 a few tips. After a while, we stopped walking around most of the edge keeping an eye on her, and sat in one spot to watch her instead. She also ended up being brave enough for the middle of the rink, and was encouraging littler kids in their skating. Her Panda beanie from Singapore Zoo/River Safari continues to help us spot her in a crowd! A bit after 7pm it was time for the Zamboni to tidy the ice, so we took the opportunity to return the skates.
84674142-F60A-456E-B57B-BEEE571CA2DF.jpeg
Clinging to the sides
AF3104E1-05A5-4583-BA26-C3BF3DA7D947.jpeg
Being brave - she’s one of the darker blobs in the middle of the rink

We had dinner at Pizzeria Libretto, about two blocks from the Hilton. Their GF pizza base was great!
D7A72073-2436-4778-B9F6-443C5BEB78EB.jpeg
Back to the hotel to pack our bags for our weekend away at a log cabin, and leaving the hotel at 8am the next morning.

*I may not be exactly remembering the correct military regiment.
 
Sponsored Post

Struggling to use your Frequent Flyer Points?

Frequent Flyer Concierge takes the hard work out of finding award availability and redeeming your frequent flyer or credit card points for flights.

Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, the Frequent Flyer Concierge team at Frequent Flyer Concierge will help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

Fri 6 Dec - a big day of driving
4DBC9C6F-A646-40F3-8913-5E7E5E06B651.jpeg
We left the Hilton; it was snowing! Yay! Three excited Queenslanders! We lugged our bags to the Osgoode station and caught a Northbound train to Vaughan Metro station. Our friends who live in Barrie were picking us up. Their original plan was to go to the airport, pick up a Very Large Car, and meet us as the train station. Well, Friday morning traffic put that plan by the wayside. I had cell reception for a staton or two around the middle of the trip - around Eglington West - and found out they were running late. So, they picked us up in their car, then we went to the airport to collect the Very Large Car together. Mrs A dropped us there, while we went with Mr A to collect the car. He got an 8 seater Ford Expedition; as well as lugging all of our stuff, they decided to take the opportunity of the Very Large Car to take some new furniture up to their cottage. After the weekend, Mr A would take the VLC to New York state on a work trip.

After picking up the car, Mr A drove us to their house at Barrie. On the way we saw a semi trailer that had fallen down into a side ditch by the road. There were cranes, etc, in attendance to help get it out.
CA157DA3-36E2-42A4-9788-7453586AED12.jpeg B41FCDC3-927E-412C-8D2E-206001DB848E.jpeg


We packed both cars at their house, they organised some stuff, let Miss 13 play in the snow around the house (Barrie had had more snow than Tronno) as well as have a try of their snow blower.
We left their house around 1pm, went to the furniture store to pick up furniture to take with us; then we were off. Miss 13 went with Mrs A in their car, along with their two dogs - Clio, an Irish Wolfhound puppy the size of a small horse, and Hera, who is smaller and fluffy and sedate (and I don’t remember her breed).

We stopped at Parry Sound for lunch - Harvey’s and Swiss Chalet are at the same restaurant here. An introduction to Canadian style fast food. :) There was a Sobey’s across the road; Mr A grabbed a prime rib he was going to roast for dinner on Sat night, and we got the essentials to make our white chocolate risotto for dessert.
EEF09948-EA58-427D-8916-1D9B7D5AB668.jpeg

Our next stop was in Sudbury for Timmys. It was next to a Canadian Tire; we bought Miss 13 some snow boots there, as her two pairs of sneakers were not going to cut it. $CAD50 well spent. I also splurged on a $CAD5 belt, as I’d left my belt at home, though the thermals are helping keep my jeans up! :p

We eventually got to the cabin a bit after 7pm; they’re on a small lake north of Lake Huron, about 150km west of Sudbury. The cabin was just lovely - it has four bedrooms over three floors. Everything is well thought out, though as a Qlder, I find the lack of shade over the deck area odd. :)
8A24D826-F625-4D62-A47E-B73371684DC7.jpeg - Home made butter tarts, made by Mrs A’s SIL.

315F9C8C-F149-4413-8021-1A3123FB9A3C.jpeg
Sat morning view from the cabin
6FB197B1-5869-4C6C-8673-E6CDB2A9DFD7.jpeg
Miss 13’s snow boots, thanks to Canadian Tire
75E24206-682C-423C-B725-593D59B514F9.jpeg 3B0A708B-ED5D-4BB9-989C-4319959B19BC.jpeg
Their dock on the lake, and icy water at the edge of the lake.
 
Sat 7 Dec

We all slept in (dinner on Fri night was at a local diner - 17 - in Blind River, as the fancy restaurant in town had a private function on) on Saturday morning, though Mr A and were up earlyish as we’re the most early birds of the group, apart from the dogs.
A very late breakfast of eggs, bacon, ham, yoghurt, fruit salad ... wow! We then eventually went into town (Blind River) to get some eczema cream for Miss 13 - someone had forgotten to pack hers - and made it to the pharmac_ just before it closed at 1pm. We had been aiming to go to Mrs A’s SIL’s church’s bake stall - there was some kind of Cookie Walk going on, and you just have to say Bake/Cake Stall, and I’m eager to check it out!. However, we arrived at the church at about 1pm, and there were very, very few cars around. Mrs A called her SIL to discover that the bake sale had sold out within the first hour of opening. Thankfully, she had made that special batch of pecan butter tarts just for us. So awesome.

We wandered through the one-way main street, where I found some wool at a store - how could I not buy wool when the wrapper tells me the names of the sheep that it comes from?!
C0118517-ECDC-45D9-9253-4A681DAC7269.jpeg

We went out to the boat dock on Lake Huron, marvelled that we could see America from the dock ;) , and looked at the signs of beaver activity in the area.
687C01FE-FF1E-4E31-B902-332957DC2A68.jpeg Sideways beaver dams
C04A8237-297C-49EF-A9F6-6B24740F13B7.jpeg Sideways frozen rocks
796A3967-3B22-46F3-B01C-C0687595B0CA.jpeg I can see America! :p
F4EB0F8A-FF7A-4024-982C-600916C3A89A.jpegBEavers were here ... some other trees had been cut down just above the beaver chewed areas.

After Lake Huron, we went to the boat ramp at Lake Lauzon, and tested the waters to see how frozen they were. Miss 13 and Mr Katie both took turns standing on the frozen water just at the edge of the lake.
611E379A-A70E-4B7B-B9E2-9AA47146EE88.jpeg
AC4C5079-8E6C-478C-A78C-0C9C43F2C7ED.jpeg


Back to the cabin for a late lunch (hot dogs), and prep for dinner - Mr A also made two loaves of bread, and we had potatoes with raclette and other veggies with our roasted prime rib dinner. Not sure I’ll need that belt after all ... :p
A98BEBEF-56A0-4925-84B2-CFFD7B7F8A8B.jpeg Local ciders with lunch
8FD69359-5D0A-4774-AC45-FD3721381013.jpeg The dogs - the Irish Wolfhound was such a delight, but a big, enthusiastic dog who wanted to help me knit, help Miss 13 do anything, and also sat on my lap - which entailed her walking past and kind of resting her hips on my leg.
61771C63-C453-4922-B2F5-E99DA1F35C41.jpeg Not a bad view for some knitting. Until I realised I was so relaxed, I had to pull out everything I knitted that afternoon. :(
 
Jumping ahead of the TR with a quick report from Quebec City yesterday for @drron - the slides on Dufferin Terasses were closed because it wasn’t icy/snowy/cold enough yet this season!!! 😳😳

Yesterday it was around -10C, with a feels like of -16C thanks to the wind. A bit of snow on Weds night, but not a lot. Enough for Mr Katie to slip on icy ground near St Jean gate and us now being careful about his arm (it seemed to take the weight of his fall) until we get home - already booking doctor and physio for day of arrival. Of course, if it gets any worse, we will seek medical attention here.

86EE76E0-ADF6-4639-A3CD-19C01454D635.jpeg
 
Sun 8 Dec

Sunday was much the same as Saturday; sleep in, late breakfast. After breakfast, we took the dogs for a walk along the snowmobile trail to the dam between Lake Lauzon and Lake Huron. We discovered the fun of cracking the ice left after a puddle of water has evaporated! On the walk back, I saw a field of clean snow in front of the local rubbish dump, so I decided to make my first snow angel! I learned it's best to do this in snow gear, and snow falls into your gloves when you make a snow angel. :D
IMG_8096.JPGIMG_8097.JPG
IMG_8098.JPGIMG_8102.JPG

Later, we took the rubbish to the dump - all the rubbish bins were designed to keep bears out.
IMG_8106.JPG Quite the opposite of home!
IMG_8108.JPG Woody was 'ere

IMG_8111.JPG Lake ice starting to melt - the sound was so crackly!
IMG_8112.JPG You are in Bear Country ...

After the rubbish dump, we drove to Elliott Lake. There was uranium mining in this area, long since closed - but there is a museum of nuclear and uranium mining in the town if anyone wants to visit it. There's also a Maccas, a Timmys, and a supermarket, so it's a larger town than Blind River, which only has Timmys. ;)
Since the mine(s?) closed, the local council decided to promote the town as an ideal retirement location. Mrs A's parents tried it for a year or so, but decided there were too many people waiting to die :oops: so they're living elsewhere.
 
We were going to go up to a lookout, but it was closed for the season. It was on Rio Algom land based on the signs. There were great big mounds of snow, so we (that is, Mr Katie, and not Miss 13) built a snowman and I had another try at a snow angel. After making our snowman, the lads created another snowman, and decided to let Miss 13 drive the hire car and run over the snowman. They've been reading too much Calvin and Hobbes ... A word of caution - new age hire cars might have detectors that try to prevent the car from running over objects like snowmen. ;)
IMG_8113.JPG IMG_8115.JPG Views around the area where we stopped and played in the snow.
IMG_8116.JPGMy snow angel
IMG_8118.JPG The snow was THIS deep!
IMG_8121.JPGSnow ball fight!
IMG_8127.JPG Our snowman likes a double double
IMG_8133.JPG Mr Katie waiting for Miss 13 on her first driving adventure.

A man had parked his car nearby and gone for a walk, he returned before the mucking around with driving over snowmen. We had a lovely chat with him, he'd been a guide for hunting somewhere in Ontario. He told us black bears and polar bears should be worried about, but not brown/regular bears. Just don't frighten them or threaten their cubs. He said he'd had a Mama Bear and her cubs happily within a metre of him. We may not test his assertions ...

After a stop by the supermarket to pick up some fixings for dinner, it was back to the cabin for our last night there.
IMG_8140.JPG
 
Yesterday it was around -10C, with a feels like of -16C thanks to the wind. A bit of snow on Weds night, but not a lot. Enough for Mr Katie to slip on icy ground near St Jean gate and us now being careful about his arm (it seemed to take the weight of his fall) until we get home - already booking doctor and physio for day of arrival. Of course, if it gets any worse, we will seek medical attention here.

Another out of sync update. We went to Brisbane Northside Emergency on our return on Weds (our GP retired last year, and Mr Katie hasn't yet found a replacement), he had an XRay, confirmed no fracture. He was sent for an MRI. First appointment at the location very close to home was this morning. I also arranged a physio appointment this afternoon.

Physio looked at the MRI report - one torn tendon in his shoulder, and one with a partial tear. We're waiting for the doctor we saw on Weds to review the results and call Mr Katie. Based on what the physio said, he will need to see an orthopaedic specialist, and it will depend on the specialist as to whether they operate/ the physio wasn't going to predict any further what might happen. I hope some Christmas magic can occur, I've already tried one specialist at @Storyteller 's recommendation, whose rooms are closed til 2 Jan and is away til 6 Jan.
 
Motto of the story. Don't get sick or injured anytime from Mid December till the end of Feb!! The whole world stops. Hope Mr Katie is not in too much pain
 
Motto of the story. Don't get sick or injured anytime from Mid December till the end of Feb!! The whole world stops. Hope Mr Katie is not in too much pain

Thanks, @Julesmac, not a lot of pain, but limited mobility with his arm forwards or to the side, Discomfort sleeping. And of course, it was his right/main hand.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Enhance your AFF viewing experience!!

From just $6 we'll remove all advertisements so that you can enjoy a cleaner and uninterupted viewing experience.

And you'll be supporting us so that we can continue to provide this valuable resource :)


Sample AFF with no advertisements? More..

Recent Posts

Back
Top