Welcome back friends! Always a blessing to have you take the time to join me on my most recent adventures.
Greetings from Eau Claire! I arrived in Wisconsin on Friday afternoon as planned after having the most gratifying and blessed week in the Toronto area. I hope my brief summary in the post below provides you with a sense of how truly fortunate I am to be in the company of all these warm, kind, generous and fantastic friends.
The universe has sent messengers, my friends Dave and Jes, to remind me about taking good care of my health which includes regular exercise and a healthy diet. I've taken their concern seriously with a personal commitment to get back into an exercise routine next week.
I've been tardy in writing my two stories for submission to the Highlander. Mike, my Highlander contact, has also failed to return my messages after responding promptly to my first call. On a positive note, I did get confirmation from Google Maps that my suggestion to add
Taco Mami to Google Maps was accepted. Check out Taco Mami's kiosk by clicking the link!
May the universe bring endless blessings (blessings in disguise) and moments of magic 🦄 to you and your loved ones in the week ahead. 🙏
Travel Administration
Car rental is this week's topic. I learned about (and used) two different car rental company consolidators (like Booking.com for hotels) to book my vehicles in Canada and the USA.
Travel Maps
Welcome to my cottage life. The periodic trip into Carnarvon and Minden for supplies or visit the farmer's market.
Canada (Ontario): September 28 to October 3, 2025
Inter Country Travel: Canada to USA - October 3, 2025
Big Hawk Lake
Sunday, September 28 was my last day at Big Hawk Lake. Dave wanted to return to Toronto earlier in the day so we packed up and were on the road around 9 am.
Final Sunrise
The universe treated us to an extraordinary sunrise as a parting gift. There is always more intense colour leading to the sun appearing on the horizon.
Harbour Entrance
The small bridge in the background is the opening boaters have to navigate through to enter the harbour. As a novice boat pilot, I was extra careful to ensure I avoided shallow water where the rocks would damage the boat's propellor.
Log Chute
The Highlands area has a history of logging activities. A series of dams was set up to assist with moving logs to their ultimate destination using the river system. The dams were augmented with log chutes to steer the logs down the river on the dam's downstream side. These were the days when the limited roads in the area may have been insufficient to handle the logging traffic. Many thanks to friend Dave for suggesting I actually stop by this historic site which just off the road I had traveled several times during my stay. So many sites to visit that may be just 'under my nose'. Guilty as charged!
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| Dam |
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| Log chute remnants |
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| Log chute remnants |
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| Log chute remnants |
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| Log chute remnants |
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| Looking downstream |
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| Looking upstream from dam into harbour |
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| Dam's downstream side |
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| Read all about it! |
Port Credit
I returned to the Waterside Inn on Sunday afternoon. I was blessed with an employee recognizing me from a previous stay so he graciously reassigned me to a lakeside room from a city view room. He also kindly waived the $14 daily parking fee for my five night stay.
Hotel View
I'm sharing the remarkable view I had from my 12th room. I was blessed with witnessing the daily sunset from the comfort of my balcony. Lake Ontario is looking southeast, the marina is looking south, and the sun set views is the horizon on the right!
Sunrise 1
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| Toronto skyline with CN Tower |
Sunrise 2
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| The person (left) in the pagoda is my friend Jes |
Sunrise 3
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Thought the sunlight on Toronto towers was
interesting |
Port Credit Sunrise Walk
I'm sharing a few photos from my sunrise walk so you have a sense of my experience. The return walk takes about 90 minutes or so. The actual duration depends on how many people I meet along the way and how much we have to talk about.
Sunrise 4
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Sunrise 5
What is incredibly difficult to capture is the experience I have when I'm immersed in this natural beauty. I tried to capture the entire morning sky in the video clips below. Each sunrise is unique along with me having the same sense of awe with each sunrise. I continue to take photos every day irrespective of how many times I've been blessed to see the sunrise.
Sunset 5
This sunset is the end of day for Sunrise 5. We had incredible colours to start and end this day. The universe has endless magic for us to enjoy!
A Blessed Week with Friends
I find myself in an interesting place when I think about sharing my personal adventures when meeting with my longtime Canadian friends. There is this fine line I think I'm walking with what I want to disclose on my blog. I purposely disassociated myself from FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc. as I wanted to invest my time living my life which I believe be my primary focus. The degree of detail and photos you will see in my blog will be variable. There are moments I want to keep to myself!
Dinner with Sajee, Chand, Tiara and Joey
My good friend Sajee and her family hosted an amazing evening in their home on Monday evening that included a beautiful Sri Lankan meal! We had a most interesting discussion about where the spirit of life originates. Considerable attention is paid to people who have near death experiences with the bright lights (spirit of life?) as part of their experience. The author John O'Donoghue provoked the following question - if we accept the fact that our spirit leaves our body at death, when does this spirit enter our body? At conception? At birth? We all look forward to continuing this conversation in November when we both return to Canada. Sajee and her husband Chand are traveling to Sri Lanka as well as are on a 11 day tour to visit Buddha's home in Nepal and tree where he experienced his enlightenment.
I was gifted so much food from our meal to take home with me. What an incredible blessing!
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| Chand, myself and Sajee |
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| Dave and Joey chilling |
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My Sri Lankan meal including apple, blueberry
and strawberry rhubarb pie |
Wednesday afternoon was the designated time for my apple picking adventure. I invited a friend to join me in this walk down my memory lane on a bright, sunny and warm fall day. Apple picking in the fall was a family tradition with my three kids. My mid-week plan to visit Willams Orchards was thwarted by their restriction of allowing self-picking to the weekend only. The good news was the alternative destination, Wheelbarrow Orchards, we visited as a great place as well. The orchard also bordered on a small reservoir which enhanced the overall experience. I am most grateful for the knife and plate that Lisa, an orchard employee, provided so I could also enjoy eating an apple. I've been cautioned to avoid biting into apples given the issue I had with the crown on my front tooth. One bite and the tooth could be liberated from its location in my mouth. Yikes!
Pardon the limited photos. So busy having a personal expeience that I overlooked taking photos.
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| Wheelbarrow Orchard |
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| Memento - possibly a red-tail hawk feather |
Meeting with Friends
I was blessed to have an opportunity to meet several friends for an extended visit throughout the week. I have so many more friends to catch up in the weeks ahead. The brief synopsis for each meeting below is a serious understatement of my relationship with each person.
Coffee with Jes
I met Jes and his wife Julie on my Port Credit sunrise walk. Jes and I are kindred spirits about the state of the world and many 'spiritual' aspects of life. We've made plans to visit Jes at the Fo Guang Shan (FSG) temple in Mississauga on November 8 for lunch and afternoon activities. Jes is actively involved in supporting the temple. He is also the person who refers to me as a 'global citizen'. He recently mentioned that he has never met anyone quite like me - which I chose to take as a compliment. 😉 Also special thanks to Jes for the two types of peanuts from China that he generously gave me.
Lunch with Roy
I met Roy on my Port Credit sunrise walk a few years ago. I met Roy when he had just concluded a deal to sell his successful business
Upright Services to
Starline Trailers. Part of the deal involved Roy staying onboard for the following three years to transition the business. On the personal side, he is an avid fly fisherman who travels the world to pursue his interests. He is off to Tanzania and the Seychelles in the weeks ahead for what sounds to be fascinating at the very least.
Coffee with Justin
I met Justin on my Port Credit sunrise walk a few years ago. Familiar theme - right! I discovered that he and a partner had launched their own watchmaking company -
Maker Watch Company. I liked the Galaxy model he was wearing so much that I bought one for myself. I also left a copy of the Tao De Ching with him as I thought, based on our common interests, he may enjoy the read. He reciprocated with a book on Stoicism by Marcus Aurelius. A fascinating man with a fascinating personal story who is great to talk with. His partner, who was leading the marketing effort, left the business sometime ago leaving Justin to run the business himself. He just launched a new watch, click link above to view, that radically reduces his production time.
Breakfast with Pradeepan
I met Pradeepan in my program management role on the Hazardous Waste Project at Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (
RPRA). He was the project manager for the mobile application project aspect of the overall project. Pradeepan distinguished himself by the extraordinary attention to customer service. Very few individuals meet his personal standards. He is living the most amazing life with flexibility to pursue his personal interests. Inspiring conversation!
Dinner with Sasha and Felix
I met Sasha in my program management role on the Hazardous Waste Project at Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA). Sasha was our vendor responsible for drafting the new business processes for RPRA and the Ministry that were required to launch the new Hazardous Waste Program. We had the most interesting personal conversations once we concluded the business aspect of our weekly project update meetings. I connected Sasha with Denise in Barbados when Sasha expressed an interest in visiting the island. She and her husband loved their initial visit so much they have now revisited the island several times. I was humbled by their appreciation of my efforts to ensure they had a positive Bajan experience. And they are off to Barbados in the near future.
Lunch with Judy
I met Judy in 2006 on a CIBC project that she was the program manager for. We stayed in touch over the years shifting roles in different projects/programs over the years. She's been an amazing friend, confidante, and mentor over the past 20 years. She recently retired to enjoy the fruits of her hard work and her two grandchildren. Funny story about Judy; we knew she was stressed when we witnessed her busy reorganizing the papers/folders on her desk. This activity was her way of restoring control in the chaotic world she commonly found herself in.
Minneapolis Airport
I noticed the sign below while I was waiting at the Minneapolis Airport luggage carousel. The Firearms warning is something we Canadians are most unfamiliar with given the gun restrictions in Canada. It is also a good reminder that I'm in a different country with different laws and regulations.
Valley of Eau Claire
I attended the first of two Saturdays scheduled (October 4 & 18) for our Valley's Fall Reunion on October 4. What is a reunion? It is a time for conferring degrees upon a class of worthy Master Masons, a reunion of of friends we see too infrequently and a reunion of classmates from other years. I had the chance to see members of my Eau Claire Masonic Lodge as well as many new friends from last October's Fall Reunion when I first joined the Scottish Rite.
I was blessed with the invitation while attending the reunion to speak with my brothers at our October 14th meeting.
I've included the above link for anyone who is interested to learn more about the Scottish Rite.
Travel Administration
Car rental in North America can be very expensive if you try booking your rental directly with the car rental company. One option to consider that is less expensive than booking direct is
Discover Cars, a company I successfully used in New Zealand, Western Australia and now for the USA. They offered the same vehicles at a much lower price.
Auto Europe is the 2nd company I've used to book my recent Canadian car rental. I opted for Discover Cars for my USA rental given their better pricing and car rental options.
Next Week
The week ahead is focused on reinvigorating my yoga practice at
The Yoga Rooms, connect with my local friends, visit the Valley Golf and Events at least a couple times each week to see where my golf game is at, attend a soup lunch with my Masonic brothers on Wednesday, attend a
music event on Thursday evening and restart regular cardio and muscle exercises. I'd also like to visit the Dell's Museum to buy eikhorn bread and perhaps some home made sweets.
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