My July Vacations

Finally I get around to writing again.  In June I was in Ohio with mom & dad for 2 weeks, but in July I was on vacation on and off too.  From Friday, July 4th - Monday, July 7th I visited my sister Ursi and her family in Kirkfield, Ont.  Then I came home for a day on July 8th, and from July 9th - July 13th I went on a Road Trip with Ben Dettweiler a friend from Kitchener here to go and visit another friend of ours (Tim Procter) in Ottawa (Ben, Tim and I have been friends as far back as public school, or at least high school).  On July 9th at 8:00 am in the morning Ben Dettweiler came to pick me up with a rental car to go to Toronto onto a small (150 people size) Sailboat called the "Kajama" which went on a 2 hour cruise along the Toronto Skyline, leaving from downtown Toronto Harbour.

About the Small Canon, at the furthest point out into Lake Ontario, they told us to close our ears because it was actually quite a loud shot that the Canon let off.

Afterwards Ben and I continued to travel from Toronto to Belleville, on Hwy 401 and in Belleville headed North East to Bon Echo Provincial Park where we stayed from Wednesday, July 9th in the evening till Friday, July 11th after lunch.  Bon Echo Provincial Park is a bit South East of Algonquine Park. On Thursday morning we went hiking, in the afternoon we relaxed and Friday morning we canoed along the cliffs that some of the pictures will show.  I should mention at this point that not all of the pictures in this blog are mine, but I have Ben's permission to use some of the pictures he took as we both experienced this trip together and my camera's pictures kind of went green especially in Ottawa.

On July Friday, July 11th Ben and I packed up camp & Tent before we went canoeing and afterward went to visit Tim Procter in Barrhaven (outscurts of Ottawa).  We went grocery shopping, talked, ate suppper and watched the movie Johnny English 2 and basically just relaxed as there was lots to catch up on since especially I haven't seen Tim in at least 7 years if not more.  The next day, Saturday, July 12th we went to Ottawa downtown to see the Parliament Building, got a free tour of the Parliament Building and even got to go up on top of the Peace Tower.  I really enjoyed that day a lot as the last time I was in Ottawa was when I was in Grade 8.  I would have been 14 years old at the time.  I am now 34 years old.  You kind of see things differently now then 20 years ago.  Plus in Grade 8 it was an organized learning school trip, now it was a relaxed only among good friends where ever we want to go kind of trip.  We saw more than just the Parliament Building, but also the Waterlocks (10 of them where the Rideou (spelling?) Cannal goes into the Ottawa River and just hung out around Ottawa.  Sorry if I sound too much like a tourist Tim.

The last event in July was the Swiss Club Thames Valley's annual Swiss National Day Celebration on the last Sunday before August 1st, since in Switzerland like Canada Day on July 1st, Swiss National Day is on August 1st.  My parents play the Alphorns, Dad sings in the Men's yodeling group and I play with the Swiss Farmer Band.  This year there was no one on the program to have a few reflective words, but they found a Swiss lady who said something after all and it was very interesting.  Of course, there's Swiss Traditional and Canadian Traditional Food and Snack all day long, and in the afternoon there is always The Stone Toss and Crossbow Shooting Competion.  I just got told by someone in the Swiss Farmer band that the heavier Stone for the Men weighs about 32 kg and the lighter one for women, 17 kg.  After the official morning ceremony at which the Bundespresident of Switzerland on tape also speaks, and I played with the band, since I've been to so many of these Swiss National Days year by year went for a 2 hour nap in the van.  A big part is too that because of my disability I can't do the Stone Toss or the Crossbow Shooting easily or at all.  So the afternoon gets pretty boring pretty fast.  This day reminded me though of last year when everyone was here (the whole extended family) and I kind of got homesick.  It's one of those moments you notice and wish we all lived a bit closer together and knew each other a bit more.