Northern Lights 2024 - Part 5
(This is part of a series. Click Part 1 to begin at the start)
The final part of the adventure started with a final stop in Huntsville, Ontario. Huntsville is like a tamer, more low key version of Lake Placid. On this Saturday it was super busy. Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and the sidewalks were crowded with seemingly busloads of people visiting the small town. The plan was to visit some stores we passed by the first time. Whisperin' was curious. I also enjoyed this because it gave me an excuse to buy more stuff for her, that she wanted to get.
We went to a few stores, and purchased some artistic keepsakes at one store. I ended up buying her a stained glass light catcher. I also wanted to get her a new sweater. She ended up choosing a ROOTS Canada navy blue zip up sweater, which is super comfy. And also iconically Canadian! Part of me thinks that she secretly wants to move up to the area and live there. We then stopped at a park for our son's sake and then headed back out towards my mom's place again. I saw a 'chip wagon' and needed to stop to get authentic Poutine! Probably the third 'poutine' I had had the entire trip, but, meh... These servings were huge tho! I am still working on leftovers from it.
We had some trouble finding a hiking trail on the way to my mom's as some of the ones I wanted to go to were 'closed' for logging operations. But we eventually found a nice trail off the beaten path. The Sweetwater Nature Preserve trail.
It was a lovely hike, and had diverse terrain and biomes. Also a visible fault line, which was neat. A stone bridge, and old homestead, log cabin, and a nice view of some rapids. I added it to AllTrails, as it wasn't listed there and is a beautiful hike. The preserve is surrounded by Limestone Quarries, the area being a significant source for high quality limestone. But it is nice seeing this little island of preserved landscape.
We ended up spending a final night at my Mom's place, which was a wonderful time. Grandpa gave his grandson his old childhood wooden wagon, which was much enjoyed! His father had built it for him when he was a young tyke! So that is what, 4 generations now? I think that was a super sweet thing to do, and I know my little guy loves it and thinks it is special. It is one of the few things that he crys about when it's time to put it away.
Apparently the baby monitor failed throught the night, but it was alright, my mom woke up and settled her grandson back to sleep too, which I thought was super sweet. It was also nice watching Grandma and Grandpa read bed time stories to the little guy.
The next morning it was time to reluctantly return home to the USA. Part of me missed being in Canada. I kind of wanted to stay. But that changed once I got back into Toronto traffic... One final stop at Swiss Chalet and we were across the border and home. I finshed off the week having been inspired to make some changes around the house to allow my little tykester to play and explore better. I also am a little more open to a home in the woods somewhere. We shall see.
