Visiting Family, and Our Good Friend Bruce

Of course, by "Bruce" I mean the magnificent Bruce Peninsula.

Just a taste of this beautiful piece of the province.

Family, in this instance, was my Uncle Tom and Aunt Leona.

These photos are actually from the long weekend that we had a week ago, but I have managed to take a week getting things posted online.  Not entirely uncommon for me I suppose...

When my aunt and uncle retired they moved up to a great place they had built up on the Bruce and I, to my shame, hadn't ever been up to visit it.  Last weekend Euphy and I decided to remedy that situation.

Even the drive up from Toronto is stunning.  Once you're outside of the city and heading north it really doesn't take long before the countryside is composed of rolling hills which provide great views at surprising intervals.  Driving in Toronto puts me into an entirely homicidal state of mind, but if I can escape its clutches I'm quickly reminded how much I actually love a good drive.  I could spend hours cruising around just about anywhere else in Ontario.

 Our first day was spent largely exploring the area.  I imagine that it's impossible to live in a place like that without feeling a great deal of pride in the region that you've chosen to call home.  I'd be pretty eager to show it off too.

Also, the weather wasn't half bad.

In the evening we were treated to a fireworks show from the comfort of the balcony.  My family's neighbour is an amateur fireworks creator and he was lighting off some his latest creations.  I was having fun trying to photograph them.

My success was limited, but I definitely improved as time went on.

Since we had some beautiful clear skies I also spent a bit of time photographing the night sky.  It's a passion that I rarely get a chance to explore.

Tell me how you could possibly have any complaints about living there?

On Sunday Aunt Leona took us out for a hike on a section of the Bruce Trail.  The entire trail stretches over 800km from the Niagara region up to Tobermory, and there are some great stretches of it just a short drive from where we were.

We'd just got started on our hike when I spotted a patch of trilliums in full bloom just off the trail.  I excitedly ran up to get a shot.  For any non-Ontarians reading right now, the white trillium is our provincial flower.

I couldn't think of a better flower for the job.

After that burst of excitement we continued on and I discovered that the vast majority of the trail we were following was lined with trilliums.  Perhaps I didn't need to go off-trail to get that earlier photo...

As far as the eye can see.

Of course, no hike would be complete without getting out towards the shore for a gentle reminder that you're on an escarpment.

Quite the view.

We really did have a fantastic weekend.  It was great to spend some time catching up with family, and it's been far too long since I've been in that part of the world.  It's now up to me to ensure that I don't go so long again between visits.