The Travels of the Agnew Family

The Saugeen River that runs through Walkerton first runs through Hanover, 10 kilometers east. A park and trails border the river and makes a nice place for a walk on a sunny day.


Ice flowing down the river.


Zaph having a quick snack of snow. Still haven't figured out why he is so into snow the last couple of years. Won't touch an ice cube or crushed ice in the house.


An old rail bridge crosses the river yielding good river views.

Walkerton has a very nice theatre. We have visited it several times during open houses, have discussed going to a show and finally with a push from Anne, did. Anne saw an add in the local paper advertising an Eagles Tribute Band at Victoria Jubilee Hall. She suggested that Ed and I go with her and Victor so we did (we also dragged Rob and Ellen). The seats in the hall are not numbered so it's first come first sit. We arrived about five minutes after the doors opened and managed to find six seats together in the third row --- the theatre was already three quarters full. I thought we might be a bit low and close to the stage but it was fine. Apparently every seat in the house has a good view.


The band was really good playing all of the Eagles hits. They did sneak in one Johnny Cash song and did a great job on it as well.

Earlier in the winter Ed and I had discussed trading in the 2001 Honda Civic for a newer four wheel drive vehicle. The civic was a wonderful little car and has a few more good years in her but unfortunately not with us. As we seem to have decided to spend most of the winter here at home in the snow, we've decided that I needed a four wheel vehicle. When we returned home from New Orleans we started looking for our "new to us" vehicle. This week we found her. A 2012 Pacific Blue RAV4. She's everything we were looking for so we snapped her up.




Zaph insisted on a ride when we got home from picking up the RAV.

After our trek out to the Grotto, I started thinking about other spots in our local area that might be nice to visit in the winter. Today we drove out to Inglis Falls just south of Owen Sound.

Inglis Falls was a mixture of fast running water and ice.







Lake Huron is still frozen, at least near the shore.






I think you could walk across the lake to the island with the lighthouse.

We stopped at The Walkers House in Southampton for lunch. The waiter warned us that the service might be a little slow as they were very busy, but it wasn`t bad and the food was amazing. Ed had fish and chips and I had Shepards pie. Part way through lunch we switched plates so we could enjoy both meals. I`m not sure which meal was better.

We had been trying to get together with Jack and Lori and finally managed to today. As it was my birthday, Lori made me a very nice lunch.




and she made me lemon pudding cake.


After an afternoon of game playing we went to an artisan pizza restaurant for dinner. We ordered four different pizzas and shared. They were all really really good.

I decided that celebrating St. Patrick's Day would be a good excuse to invite a few friends over for a fun dinner. We bought a few decorations, downloaded about 11 hours of Irish Rovers music, downloaded some photos of Ireland (it's now a place I would like to travel to) to show on the photo screen/television in the dining room, found some recipes for traditional Irish food and some recipes for "green" food. Appetizers were Emerald Eggs, shrimp salad on cucumber slices, goats cheese topped with a green olive on crackers. Soup was Tomato Spinach Tortellini with tri-coloured Tortellini which happened to be the same colours at the Irish flag. Main course was Guinness Stew and Irish Soda Bread.


I made a not very Irish Coconut cream pie for desert as it's Rob's favourite. As I didn't want to put green food colouring in the whipping cream Ed made shamrocks to decorate the pie.


Zaph and I dressed in "green".


We also celebrated my birthday (tomorrow) and Rob's birthday on March 20th.

Ed and I were invited to go snow shoeing to the Grotto with our neighbours, Rob and Ellen and their kids. The weather was a little iffy as there was some rain in the forecast but as snow shoeing season will be ending soon we decided to drive north and hope for the best. About an hour and a half into the two hour drive it started raining, but we pressed on. Good thing we did as we drove out of the rain and into cloudy but dry conditions. The temperature was just below freezing but all in all it was good snow shoeing weather.

The grotto is a big cave on the shore that was carved out by the waves Georgian Bay. It is on the Bruce Trail with the easiest access point being at trail at Cypress Lake in the Bruce Peninsula National Park.


We've arrived. Now it's time to put on the snow shoes and start walking.


The chickadees are very friendly and like to be fed. When they land on your hand it feels like someone is poking you gently with a stick (that's the feet) and you don't feel any weight.


The water moving from Cypress Lake to Horse Lake.


The ice formations are incredible.


Ryan, in the ice cave.





Looking up through the arch.


Looking down through the arch. In the summer water you stand here watching the waves splash in against the rocks.


Looking down at Rob in the grotto. This is a favourite spot for scuba divers in the summer.


In the grotto looking out at the shoreline.




Heading back to shore.


Ed and I, taking a break.



On the way back to the car we trekked around Mar Lake and began the trek around Cypress Lake. After a kilometer and a half (or maybe two), the trail ran out and we couldn't find the bridge to cross the river so we snow shoed the kilometer and a half or two back to the main trail. The GPS indicated that we walked 15 kilometers. No wonder we were all tired.

Just south of Paisley is the Brant Tract Trails. The trails were developed for mountain bikes but can be used for snow shoeing in the winter.

Today was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures just above freezing, perfect for snow shoeing. The trails go through the bush and wind up and down hills. This is not a busy spot so the trails are not too packed so the snow shoes actually get to do what they are suppose to.

The Intermediate Provincial Curling Championships were held at the Walkerton Golf and Curling Club this year. Ed and I don't know a lot about curling (we tried it out one day last winter) but thought as it was in town that we would go check it out. We decided to watch the ladies as a Walkerton team was playing.


Four games were played at the same time but when Ed took this photo two games had already ended. Walkerton is in black and red jackets. The club recently installed cameras over the houses (circles) so the people in the viewing area can see the activity in the house. Made the game easier to follow as a spectator.


These two teams tided so they played an extra end which was very exciting to watch. Both teams used bank shots to position their stones and move the oppositions stones.


Rob bought an old radio at an auction sale and as Ed loves tinkering with old radios he said he'd look at it. What I like is that Ed is actually using old books and test equipment that we have saved for years.

Finally a nice day with temperatures just below freezing. As we haven't been on the snowshoes all winter we decided that it was time. We called the neighbours, got in the truck and drove over to Sulpher Springs Conservation area.


The spring runs all year and stays at a steady temperature of 9 degrees Celsius. Given how cold this winter has been it's quite odd to see unfrozen creeks and ponds.




Ellen and I trudging up the hill in the hardwood forest.