I’ve had a lazy week, blog-wise anyway. On the Easter long weekend, I made a trip back to the Toronto area to visit relatives. Our immediate family got together for Ponygirl’s birthday at the beginning of April. In most years, her birthday corresponds pretty closely with the Easter long weekend, but Easter was unusually late this year. We have another batch of birthdays coming up around Mother’s Day, so that will be our next family get-together. Anyway, as we had no plans for a turkey dinner here, I took advantage of the long weekend to travel.
The rainfall for the month of April has already set a record in the Ottawa area, and the month isn’t over yet. Environment Canada reported that the 16.6 mm of rain that fell at the Ottawa International Airport on Wednesday, the 27th of April, pushed the monthly total to 160.8 mm, well beyond the previous record of 143.8 mm. Ottawa usually receives an average of 60.5 mm in April.
As it turned out, the day I left was cool but beautiful and sunny, so I had a very pleasant drive.
It’s about a five-hour drive back to the Toronto area. The fastest route is to take the 401 express highway, which parallels the St. Lawrence river and Lake Ontario, but it sure makes for a mind-numbing drive. If our schedules can be coordinated, I like to break the trip with a stop at Fiddlegirl’s Peterborough home. I much prefer to enjoy some of the country roads along the way, and the side trip to Peterborough offers some lovely scenery. Unlike the uniformly flat farmland around here, the countryside features low rolling hills. At this time of year, they are just beginning to come alive with shades of green, and were set off by a gorgeous blue sky. I couldn’t resist making a few roadside photo stops and am sharing a few views of the rural Peterborough scenery here.
Willow House Chronicles 