The Road from Elmira to Toronto

When a source tells you that you oughta see something because it’s the biggest, the only, the unique-in-some-way site, then you better go see it. That’s why we drove the long way ‘round to visit the Kissing Bridge and it was worth the trip, even for the contrast we would come to realize later. It’s the only covered bridge left in Canada and is in the heart of Old Mennonite country (& visited by thousands each year – parking photo) . It holds all the charm you might expect from its history. The bridge surface suffered deterioration with weather and use so locals built a structure around it for protection. Again, I refer you to photos that say it better. Yes, we did kiss (I knew you’d ask). The little store at the head of the bridge is run by an Old Mennonite family so most of the goods were in bags and the prices very reasonable.

On our way to another place of significance we read that its name was originally York and it first served as a trading post. Now it is Canada’s largest city and North America’s 6^th largest. It felt like a sprawling beast as we approached and like Vancouver from the Fraser Valley side it seemed to take forever to arrive. We intended to spend the afternoon taking in the sites, then head out to our campsite later in the day, however, we got caught by the baseball bug, learned the Jays had a date with the Orioles, so decided to indulge. Neither of us had been to a professional baseball game and there’s something magical about donning the cloak (jersey) of a fan and jumping on the bandwagon. Gord phoned his brother to get the lowdown on who we should ogle over, we picked up a program, bought a hot dog and coke and “Bob’s your uncle”. The Jays led a shut out of 7-0. As a side note, the train ride back to our room was every bit as entertaining and took nearly as long.

All is not sunshine and roses here in Toronto as Stella has decided she needed physio (we suspect a joint issue) and a spa treatment (oil change) so we, her measly servants, will appease her and wait for the go-ahead before moving on.