on the road again...

It's been pretty hot and lazy around here (to clarify, I am NOT complaining!). It is so hot, in fact, that even the cats are too lazy to hunt my yarn which I have carelessly left out a few times.

So I have not yet documented our last road trip, which was over two weeks ago. 

We love to travel, and hopping in the car with camping supplies, towels and flip flops always reminds me of the first summer we were together. We have always loved our little adventures. 

This adventure began when we shipped the kitties off to Warren's brother-in-law's house. It was super nice of him to take them, especially because he is extremely allergic to pets. He's a good guy!

Next we headed to Whitby to spend some time with my parents. They will be moving soon, so that was one of our last times to enjoy the house together. We also visited my sister's new apartment where we broke the place in with the world's best falafel (which, surprisingly is not in Lebanon or Israel, but in Ajax ontario ;)) and some laughs! Warren and dad golfed (woot woot dad! You beat Warren twice!!) and mom and I shopped at value village and had wine on the deck. I love my parents, and this was the best possible way to start the vacation.

Next we hit the 401 east for Ottawa to spend Canada Day with a good friend of ours D-vo. 

D-vo is a great guy; one of the best. He always shows us a great time, and is the best tour-guide in the city. He didn't grow up in Ottawa, but I swear he knows more about it than any capital city native. He brings us to the best restaurants, the coolest bars, and introduces us to amazing people. There are always things planned from parties, to D-vo style tours of the city, to surprise trips to exotic provinces ("Sara, did you bring your passport"?). This time was no exception!

So, being Canada day, the plan was to be super touristy and hang out downtown, have some drinks at the market, see the queen, stop in at a party, and see some fire works. 

Downtown was pretty well all closed down for the celebrations. Everybody wanted to see Queen E herself. 

 And guess what... we saw her! Do you see her there. She's really tiny, but there she is, with her red suit and white hat! Yup, we waited through all the (ahem) Canadian talent to see this... we were ready for a drink by this point!

We spent the day walking around, amazed at the sea of red. I love Ottawa. It is a city with a lot of spirit. If it weren't for the epic winters, I might already live there.

We walked until the sun went down, and enjoyed the best fire works I have ever seen! 

D-vo really showed us a good time, but it was time for us to move along. We got up early the next morning, grabbed some coffee/tea and hit up the nearest grocery store for supplies for our next adventure. 

A few hours west, and were were, once again, in Algonquin park. To prove to you how much I love it there, I hereby am going on record that when I die I want my body's ashes sprinkled onto one of the beautiful, crystalline lakes that live here. I love this park. It's by far my favorite in Ontario. Five minutes into the park we were greeted by this lovely creature:

a MOOSE! I know you can't tell, but trust me, it was a moose. She was pretty camera shy, so this was all I got. But don't worry; I met plenty of critters who were willing to pose for a shot. More to come...

But first we had to set up camp, and get on with the relaxing! Here are some photos of life at Pog Lake.

Obviously, we were in the wild, and were lucky to see a few, non threatening, cute critters! I am a big animal fan, and I love doing wildlife photo shoots like this:

On a canoe ride we saw this beautiful loon tending her nest. Warren called her lazy... men. The next day when we paddled past we saw that she had abandoned her nest. When we looked around we saw this:

AAAWWW! She was taking her little fluffy babe for a swim!


Other critters we saw:

Ya, nothing too ferocious or anything. By the time we were up and about it was too hot for any bigger animals. Probably for the best. I saw this on the news this morning. Better to photograph the little guys!

When Warren and I go camping we like to make really good food. No hotdogs (god forbid!) or jiffy pop. We make REAL food. Slow food. 


We did some spicy veggies over cornbread:

A campfire pizza:

Corn and potatoes with an organic, free range chicken:

And not ever to be left out of our camping ritual, HOME MADE MARSHMALLOWS, with graham crackers and organic dark chocolate. Ya, you're jealous, I know. There are no photos of the actual s'mores in action, because that happened after hours, but here are the marshmallows: 

They are the yummiest, fluffiest, vanillaiest things you will ever eat! Next year, come camping with us and you will see!


We had a lot of fun on our little getaway together. It will be too long until the next one. I will just have to look over these photos over and over again and relive the relaxed, easy feelings of being on the road.


Love Always,
Joan Blondina