I had my second trip of the year to Canada in November – it was short (not even a week) but very sweet!

I arrived on a Sunday and left the following Saturday – the flights were a little late at both ends but nothing to worry about…  I’ve got quite slick (from experience I guess!) with the hire car pick up in Toronto and Paul negotiates the Manchester airport pick up easily too.

I quickly fell into the routine with Mum and Dad of walking the track in the morning (which always involves meeting “the regulars” including both humans and canines) and then going for a coffee somewhere.  Tim Hortons was the most frequented of the options this trip – although McDonalds did feature) which was good because they were doing their week long Smile Cookie promotion… This is where you buy a cookie for $2 and ALL of the proceeds go to a local charity.  (The fact that the cookies were delicious was secondary to supporting local charities of course!)  I even brought some home from the airport for Paul to try.

We managed to get quite a few things done despite the brevity of the trip…

• Mum and I went for a pedicure at the lovely nail salon in Alliston where I feel we are pretty much regulars now.  We both opted for festive choices with reds and greens and sparkles.
• We got Swiss chalet takeaway – the festive special no less.  Perfect timing as it had just come out shortly before I arrived.
• We went to Champ Burger where I had the best poutine ever – a pulled pork version.  It was amazing but it’s also probably good that I don’t live too close to the restaurant as I’m sure it’s an artery blocking affair!
• The weather was excellent for some garden work with Dad mostly involving raking leaves.  It was nice to be outside in the bright November sun.
• The continuous task of sorting and trips to the charity shop and various other drop off spots continued.
• One day we drove west to Misty Meadow’s Market shop in Conn and then on to Anna Mae’s Bakery and Restaurant for our lunch.  I finally tried their famous brosted chicken – there was so much I brought some home and it did for another two meals!  And I had the peanut butter pie for dessert of course – it’s the best.
• On Thursday Janet came home – we went to Dairy Queen together for lunch (and a Reese and Oreo blizzard for me) and we also popped in to see Pat and the cats.
• On the way back to the airport I stopped in to see Jennifer who was rehabilitating after knee surgery.  It was lovely to see her and catch up for a couple of hours before heading to Pearson.

It wasn’t exactly a trip I’d planned that far in advance but the timing ended up being really nice.   It wasn’t quite long enough though as the time just flew by… I think I was just getting used to the time difference when I was on the plane back home!

Looking forward to my next trans Atlantic trip in 2026.