A long weekend around the (somewhat) peak fall colour time .. three days, three different day trips. How cool was that? 
So here's part one of three.
We started the day early on Saturday and drove to Kitchener & Waterloo area for their annual Oktoberfest. There was free pancake/sausage breakfast (YUMM!!), live music (and some people dancing) and a barrel race.
The weather was gorgeous .. it was a little cooler in the morning, but it gets warmer during the day. It was very nice when we were strolling little J along the main street of St. Jacobs village and their farmers market.
They have this LEGO store in the outlet mall (right next to the farmers market) .. check out this life size Batman made from Lego bricks .. VERY COOL!! I love LEGO! ;D
After that, my friend gave us a little tour of the University of Waterloo (his alma mater) before dinner at Ali Baba steakhouse. Have you ever noticed that all university has that same distinct smell? Maybe it's the smell of “stress” (to pass exams, to graduate) .. hmmm …
Little J was behaving great until pretty much after we had dinner. Hmm .. it could be the mashed potato her parents gave her .. she had a very interesting face the first time she tried that mashed potato. A face that said “Yeech, what kind of food is this, mom/dad? Um, but I want more .. yeecch! Ugh, gimme some more!” (she did eat quite a bit of the mashed potato). LOL!
She was okay again when we got back to their place .. maybe she just wanted to crawl around and play after the whole day strapped in either the stroller, the car seat or a high chair. She's one cute little baby! 
Autumn officially started last weekend .. and what's a fall here without a fall day trip (or two or three or a lot?  ).
So, last Saturday I went with three of my friends to Algonquin Park .. it's my favourite park so far, 'coz the distance is just nice for a day drive, and there are a lot of trails there.
Unfortunately, they had a big wind storm last week, so the leaves were half on the ground. But it doesn't really matter 'coz the fall colour was still gorgeous!! There were a lot of people there, so I asked one of the park wardens for some recommendations on good trails, i.e. not too crowded so we could still enjoy the walk and view. He laughed. I looked at him funny. Then after he's done laughing, he told me to avoid The Lookout trail (the one that one of my friends was thinking of visiting) or any trails that had the word “lookout” in it. I agreed with him 'coz I did see the parking lot was full when I passed by it (plus three tour buses there). And because he's cute. Heh? Just kidding!! Hahaha!
He said all the trails were in good condition (except the Centennial Trail since they haven't had time to check it after the storm). So, after scraping the “busy” trails, he suggested to try the Hemlock Bluff Trail for a couple of hours or if I was staying overnight to try the Mizzy Lake Trail ('coz it takes about 4 to 5 hours to complete). I wasn't staying overnight, so Mizzy Lake was out of the question, but Hemlock Bluff sounded great.
Then as I was walking away, he called me back .. and he asked me how I feel with driving a little bit out of the main road. I asked what's off the main road? (You know, I wanted to make sure that it wasn't where all the bears were hibernating or anything like that. LOL). And he said that there's a pretty cool trail there but we just needed to drive on a gravel road for about 9 kms off the main road. Then he showed me where the trail was, and how to get there. It's called Booth's Rock Trail. He said that people don't usually go there because they have to drive off the main road, and usually no tour buses.
Hey!! NO tour buses?? Sounded GREAT to me! HAHA! 
Then as I was talking to my friends (for confirmation that they wanted to go there), we realized that they rate the trail as “difficult”. Hmmmmm ….. got me thinking twice. But then I realized that they also put “difficult” right next to the Lookout Trail – which I know is not difficult (been there quite a few times .. actually it's the trail that I take people to if they've never been to Algonquin before. Hehe). So, after a 7.5-seconds discussion, we were on our way to the Booth's Rock Trail.
The trail is about 5 kms long. It started pretty easy, passed by a couple of lakes, and then it started to get pretty demanding. We had to climb up, and although I think it wasn't too bad (could be worse), I must admit that we probably burned a LOT of calories there. Haha.
But the view when we finally got to the top of the cliff .. OH!! It's worth everything (for me, at least ). Here's one panoramic view of it:
Going back to the parking lot wasn't too bad .. we went downhill after the cliff, and there's actually stairs!
I know, I know .. there was no sun (it was actually raining on and off). If there was, the colour would've been brighter.
But the picture doesn't do justice there .. it was a lot more beautiful when you're actually there yourself (trust me!). The view, the fresh air, the colour, the water (I mean the lake, not the rain). Ah! Some of my favourite things combined all at once at the same moment .. a fantastic feeling. A good way to forget about one's life problems … even if it's just for a moment.
On our way back to T.O., we even saw a beaver!! People stopped their cars to see it. I pulled over too. At first we couldn't figure out what they were looking at, until my friend spotted the beaver:
Great day! Booth's Rock Trail just became one of my favourite trails …
Next time .. maybe I'll go visit the Centennial Ridges Trail (a 10-km strenuous trail! *GRIN*).
How would you feel if you went somewhere and you found out that the place you were standing on was once a sea?
My friend (SW) and I went to the Cheltenham Badlands in Caledon (just north of Brampton) yesterday. It was very strange to see an area where everything's red (nothing grows on it, except for very few persistent trees/shrubs) surrounded by green stuff (you know, trees and things like that .. hehe ). I felt even stranger when I walked around there — the whole time I was thinking “How can this part be like this, very different than that part over there that can support life?”. There's an explanation for the phenomenon, something about erosion and stuff — but it's still strange.
Then we read the thing there (we didn't read it when we first got there, 'coz somebody was blocking the text. LOL!), and it turned out that it's an ancient seabed! How cool is that? They're saying that some 430 million years ago (hmm .. that's quite a long time ago …) the area was underwater, part of something called the Michigan Basin (if I'm not mistaken). WHOA!
So, there I was .. imagining that I was standing on an ocean/sea floor .. dark and cold .. surrounded by some strange creatures swimming around me. The thought gave me the shivers .. and my heart beat faster than usual (it did! ).
Thank goodness I'm here now and the land is dry!!
The weather was a bit rainy and cloudy yesterday (on and off), so we didn't stay for too long. It stopped raining when we got there, and it started raining again after we're done roaming around the area. Lucky!
There's a trail (part of the Bruce Trail) that we could hike, but we didn't 'coz of the weather. Definitely will go back one day, maybe hike the trail, and then stay for the sunset (I heard it's gorgeous there).
Other than that … this weekend .. we ate too much!! D'OH!!!
(okay, now, note to self: focus .. this week .. exercise .. exercise .. exercise ……)
When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
— Ansel Adams
It's funny how everytime I see these two pictures, I remember the story of David and Goliath. The duel .. and how David killed Goliath at the end. A proof that size does not matter! LOL!
The background is Darnley Cascade. One of the many waterfalls found in Hamilton, Ontario. My friends and I went there to shoot some waterfall pictures. Gorgeous! (And yes, pics to follow in my album area .. )
Inglis Falls in Owen Sound — okay, so there's no falls in the picture, but trust me it's there!
I like the lake at that moment .. very calm .. I think I took that picture in August 2004 when my friends and I went all the way up to Sauble Beach (and Sauble Falls) to see their Sandfest and decided to stop over at Inglis Falls ..
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