to North Bay

2011/09/18

Drove from Ottawa to North Bay today.  Two stops along the way.

First was Cobden, Ontario.  We lived on a farm a couple of miles outside of town, briefly, when I was a toddler.  I’m pretty sure the house was located near one of the barns in this picture. It’s no longer there.

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My earliest memories come from this place.  It’s where I said my first word, which was, of course, “tractor” – I’ve always been easily impressed by big, noisy machines.

One or the other of my parents would drive up this hill to go into town for supplies.  I used to get upset when one of them left,  and the other would sing to me – I still remember some of the songs my father would sing.  My mother used to sing too, but sadly I don’t remember that.

I remember there being a swing hanging from the ceiling in the room I spent most of my time in.

And that’s about all I remember; it’s surprising I remember anything at all from this place since I was between 1 and 2 years old.

There was a bee hive above the kitchen door and I was stung near my eye once.  I’m told it swelled up pretty badly, but luckily no permanent damage was done.

In the winter we would follow the tree line behind that barn and go for a picnic in the snow – imagine sitting on a blanket on the snow (the kind of snow that makes styrofoam-like crunch sounds because it’s so cold out), drinking hot chocolate out of a thermos.

 

Less than a 30-minute drive away are the Bonnechere Caves – surprisingly, I don’t think we ever went to them before.  Luckily I arrived just in time for a tour (you can’t go in the caves unless you’re on a tour).  The tours are about an hour long.  I really enjoyed this, and I highly recommend it if you’re in the area – just make sure you arrive in time for a tour.

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Cave teeth!

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Cave bat!

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Cave goatse!

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Outside Cobden was this interesting historical note:

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And later on I also passed a plaque about the NPD Reactor, but not knowing anything about it I didn’t stop.

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