Thanksgiving on the Bruce Trail in Canada

Lori, Jazz, me, Emma and Will on the Bruce Trail

Lori and her Springer, Jazz

Jim, Emma and Will at the ruins on the trail

Jazz and Feather have a swim

Puff balls 'exploding'

Last Monday was Thanksgiving Day in Canada and a wonderful day for a nice walk on the Bruce Trail in Burlington. The sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue, making a great backdrop for the bright oranges, reds and yellows of fall. It seems like the colors are much more brilliant in southern Ontario than those in Connecticut this fall. The very dry weather we had through August and September in New England have taken a toll on the usually colorful fall foliage. We've had color, mind you, but just a lot less brilliant than normal. The oranges and reds have seemed much more muted. The yellows are just as bright, though, but it almost seemed like everything was yellow this year. And now, mid-way through October, we're already into the golden bronze and copper tones, which is the customary second part of fall color. Well, I guess this is the time for that since we're halfway through October already.

Anyway, my sister Lori and her dog Jazz joined us for a Thanksgiving weekend walk on the Bruce Trail just north of Burlington, Ontario. This part of the trail has multiple side trails and runs in part alongside a creek that winds through the woods. We saw more people than we usually do when we've gone there before with my son, Aaron, probably since it was a holiday weekend, and it was such a nice day. We were joined by a dog that lives on the property that flanks the trail by the road access. We learned her name was Feather, but we called her Tramp because she looks just like the dog from Lady and the Tramp, grey and raggedy but cute and friendly. She walked (or ran) the entire way with us and our dogs, until we were near the end of our walk and thought we were lost. We thought she might lead us back to the beginning of the trail so we asked her to 'Go home', and she took one look at us and ran off through the woods. We decided not to follow her, bushwacking like she did through the woods, since we didn't know where she was going. We ended up meeting a woman who knew the trails well and she told us the way back to the beginning. It was a maze of trails and we weren't sure enough that we were on the right track, but as it turns out, we were heading in the right direction after all. We made it back to the cars with no problem once we got the directions straight. I guess we need to pay better attention when we walk there. Usually Aaron is the one who leads us through, and he's much better with directions!