Roaming the Upper Ottawa Valley and Beyond

 The price of gas has kept us a bit more stationary the past couple of weeks. Couple that with me being sick for a few days (NOT Covid), Mike being very busy.....just life getting in the way of having fun. I had a birthday this week so Mike took me for a magical mystery tour in celebration.  We started down Hwy.41. The car started making a funny rattle, so we pulled into a popular picnic ground down toward Griffith. The little miss went for a swim in the lake there. We open the car door and she makes a bee line for the water. I let her run around a bit to dry off before we proceeded on the journey. Oh, and the noise in the car was some sort of panel that came loose. Mike was able to fasten it back together. The next stop on our journey was to Bon Echo Provincial Park. (Day visits to the parks are free Monday to Thursday this summer!) I last visited this park in May of 1977. It was not a fun vacation that time. I got lost in the woods with a newborn in a Snugglie. She was find but I was

 Today we headed down to Lanark County, looking for something in particular. We went through Renfrew, Burnstown and Calabogie. It was a lovely day for a drive. There were lots of adventure riders out on their ATVs (aka 4x4s). We saw about five of them in a bog where one fellow was REALLY STUCK. Like STUCK. We saw a lot of ATVs out and about today. We went to a place called Tatlock where there is this amazing marble mine. There is a lookout up Guthrie Road. A good sized parking lot and a big chain link fence to keep viewers safe. The mine wasn't operating today but we had a good look. There is a pile of rocks in the parking lot for souvenirs.  I was also surprised to see a fire tower. Imagine the view into the mine from the top of that! Piles of marble gravel, looking like snow All in all we were on the road for seven hours today. I'm really beat. M. had his jacket on his seat and the poochie ended up with the sleeve over her head like a hat.