Summer 2025 Road Trip – Part 1
In May, I wrapped up most of the loose ends for a major project at work, and told my boss I’d be taking roughly half of June and half of July off. He said, “No problem!” So I started planning what I would do, and I had a lot of things in mind. The first segment of my trip would be a major road trip in Canada.
Day 1
I left Charlotte and headed north, aiming to get at least beyond Philadelphia. After a chat with a neighbor during trivia night, I decided there were two things I wanted to see:
- The New River Gorge Bridge, an impressive single-span bridge that sits 900 feet high. The photo here isn’t very impressive because it was foggy and started pouring rain as soon as I got there (the official site has much better vantage points).
- Fallingwater, a Frank Lloyd Wright house from 1903. I got a lot of mileage out of joking that getting the permits required to build such a house today would require some serious bribes or blackmail.
I got past Philadelphia, decided I wasn’t tired enough to stop yet, so went straight to the south shore of Lake Erie, followed it up to Buffalo, and crossed the border into Canada. The border was empty, but hotel vacancies were scarce. I managed to scoop up the last room at a place in Niagara-on-the-Lake and, after over 750 miles, crashed hard.
Day 2
The next day, Michael bought me lunch at George’s Greek Village, which overlooks the Welland Canal. We had a great time talking about work, databases, and curling. I met Crystal for coffee in Burlington and we browsed through Ikea. Then it was nearing 4 PM on a Friday, and I faced the dreadful task of getting east of Toronto. Without hesitation, and knowing I’ll get a big invoice in the mail come August, I jumped on the 407 and made it to Ajax in record time. Once I got to Ajax, I had pizza with Ian and Alana. I didn’t take a single picture this day, but Michael sent me a selfie at Niagara Falls.
Day 3
On Saturday, we took pictures for my little NHL-inspired “Day with the Cup” project (more here), then went to Oshawa to see Sloan. I had waited over 30 years to finally see this band live, and it was epic. They played a small venue called the BOND|ST Event Centre with an opening band that was surprisingly awesome. I’ll spare you the videos, but Ian and I were belting out lyrics like we were in our 20s again. And the guy next to us nabbed a setlist!
Day 4
The next day (Sunday) I headed further east to Belleville to visit my uncle Dave. I stopped on the way at The Big Apple in Colborne and picked up an apple pie for them and some ciders for me. As it turns out, Lucy baked a rhubarb-raspberry crisp to die for, and the apple pie was just meh in comparison. No pictures here, sadly. I need to get better about that.
Days 5-9
I headed north to Bobcaygeon, a pit stop for my Day with the Cup. West to Midland to visit with Kirk and Petra. Then I finally headed north to Dan and Julie’s in Callander, Ontario. Where the sun was just setting at around 9:50 PM!
Unlike the curling trips in March, which are fast and intense, I had a lot more time to meet up with folks. I had breakfast with Scott and Todd, ice cream with the Corbetts, coffee with Ron & Sharon, The Riv with my sister, homemade pierogis made by Jason’s mom… basically I didn’t eat alone for any meal that entire week.
We spread mom’s ashes at Duchesnay Falls. John Corbett reminded me that this water flows Lake Nipissing ➝ Georgian Bay ➝ Lake Huron ➝ Lake Erie ➝ Lake Ontario ➝ St. Lawrence ➝ Atlantic Ocean. So where my trip would take me over the following days was apt.
On Friday, I stayed with Jason and Anna at their trailer at Sid Turcotte Park in Mattawa, where Scott also has a trailer. I remember swimming here a ton when I was a kid. We had dinner and breakfast using Jason’s Blackstone and man, nothing beats a griddle.
Then it was time to head further east.
Day 10
I went to Matt’s place in Ottawa (well, Gatineau). We had a fantastic spaghetti dinner and a good time reminiscing with the whole family. Matt had ordered us twin, limited-edition Tragically Hip shirts.
Days 11-12
My uncle’s advice was to avoid Montreal and Quebec City and then to follow 132 along the water, rather than take the bigger highway. So that’s what I did, and it did not disappoint. A windy road along the St. Lawrence let me see all these neat little towns, and every time I came around a corner I could see the next town on the horizon. I would always spot the church first. I made it a point to capture a few churches along this route.
I made it to Rimouski the first day. (And I’m glad I wasn’t in a rush, because it felt like every 3km there was a one-lane segment of 132 due to road work.) After Rimouski, my focus changed to lighthouses, because there are so many along this route! Percé was impressive, and there’s no way to truly express the scale of this formation from pictures.
Percé was impressive, and there’s no way to truly express the scale of this formation from pictures.
After Bonaventure, it started to get dark, so I headed south to Moncton.
Day 13
This was Day of Fundy. I waited my whole life to see Hopewell Rocks, and it was a major highlight of the year. Here is low tide:
I had 6 hours to kill between low and high tide, so I found some food in the area, a covered bridge, a long-abandoned lighthouse, and a church turned into a storage facility.
Then I came back for high tide. I didn’t stay long (this was not quite peak high tide) because the place was an absolute zoo compared to low tide in the morning.
That night I made it to Saint John, stayed in the Hilton on the harbor, and saw absolutely nothing from my room because it was pea soup fog my entire stay. The next morning I crossed the border and headed to Quoddy Head Light in Maine, a place we ventured to when Madeline was just a few weeks old. On the way back to the car, I got real up close with a porcupine.
I left Quoddy Head and headed straight to Andy & Ken’s in Rockland, where I spent the night, and then headed south to Northboro for July 4th stuff. That’s where part 2 will pick up…