Girl Meets Canada: The Good People of Ontario

Day 50! 50 days of glorious, responsibility-free randomness. I love it. I really do. For all of you folks out there with things like “jobs” and “homes”, I highly recommend ditching it all and getting yourself a little camper van.

Remember Jackie? The girl I met at the YMCA in Moose Jaw? Well, one of the first things she said to me was, “My mom lives in southern Ontario. You can stay with her!” So as I was leaving Detroit I gave Jackie’s mom a call and was given strict orders to “head on over and we’ll have a nice dinner!” And thus I was welcomed to Westover, and met Diane and her boyfriend Jamie.

Westover is technically part of the uber city of Hamilton, but it feels like you’re miles away from civilization. There are lots of fields and farms and the occasional horse. That’s about it. My cell phone didn’t even work and I’ve had reception pretty much straight since I left the Rockies.

Besides plying me with wine and tasty dinners, Diane and Jamie took me all over the countryside, showing me waterfalls and hidden shops and aunt Shelia’s house and the place to buy the best butter tarts ever. They have different flavours! Who knew butter tarts had flavours? I thought the flavour was butter. No, my friends, you can do so much more with a butter tart! I tried the Skor butter tart and my teeth are still aching a week later. But so, so worth it.

On Monday (Day 50! Did I mention that?) Jamie showed me a lovely scenic drive to Niagara Falls. I drove through the town but didn’t stop for fear of being surrounded and eaten by the swarming hive of tourists. The road goes right along the falls, and people were just stepping backwards out into the street, WITHOUT LOOKING, to get a “better” picture. I believe the technical term for hitting these idiots is called “culling the herd”. But then I’d have to get my front grate cleaned…and possibly spend some time in the gaol. Sigh.

On the way back a freak storm hit with rain so hard I couldn’t see the road. While this caused me to pull over at a rest stop until it passed, everyone else seemed to think it was a good excuse to speed up. By the end of the 30 minute rain there was a 6th great lake otherwise known as the 406. Weee!

Days 51-56 (Tues-Sun, June 29-July 4th)

It was time to either leave my wonderful hosts, or move in permanently and start signing adoption papers. So north and east I headed, up towards Linsday, Ontario, and my long lost family. And by “long” and “lost” I mean people that I see probably once every four years. Pretty much whenever there’s a wedding or reunion, or I happen to be driving through on a random road trip…

This was great fun for me but sadly does not make interesting blogging material. I caught up with aunts and uncles and cousins, drank a lot of coffee, and sat at my aunt’s pool reading. Repeat: over six days and you have my last week!

Oh, and I also complained about the heat a lot. Remember a few weeks ago when I was complaining about the snow? Well, now it’s in the 30s with a lot of humidity and my delicate constitution CANNOT TAKE IT.

I’m starting to figure out just why I’ve lived on the west coast for most of my life. The temperature only really changes about 5 degrees from season to season, which is a reasonable amount for a body to take. You don’t even need a different wardrobe between summer and winter. Just a few extra sweaters and an umbrella. Voila! Winter apparel for just a few bucks.

Photo Credits

All photos by Sarah Gignac

Webster Falls, Westover

Beautiful, people-free Westover

Doesn’t this branch look like a flying ghost?