One day at the archives was not nearly enough......so we returned for another day on Wednesday, followed by a visit to Brampton and a friend from the "old days", Carol.





Carol made us welcome in Brampton








We shared a pizza and beer before heading back to our Kamping Kabin again. Then again on Thursday, we spent the best part of the day scanning microfiche and getting what we could. By Thursday afternoon, however, we were at a point where anything further would require extensive time which we didn't have....so left that, and headed out, this time to Burlington, to visit cousins Ray and Susan, who'd invited us for dinner. We had a lovely visit and dinner with them, while a torrential downpour hit the area outside.


Cousins Ray and Sue in Burlington









It was then time to head back to St. Catharines, to sleep over at my brother John's house. My niece Kelcy was there, so we managed to get in a visit with Kelcy and her partner Shane. Friday morning was showery, and apparently the storms last night had become tornadoes in several areas of Ontario. We had a few projects......pick up my suit from the dry-cleaners, who were pressing it after being balled up in the Thule throughout the trip.......and pick up a blouse for Linda's new outfit - all in preparation for Saturday's wedding festivities. We had a lunch visit with Mom, as well.



visiting with Mom and brother John








With visits to the two main malls in St. Catharines we were able to find Linda a blouse, and then head out to Oakville, to meet up with Linda's cousin for dinner at a very nice restaurant. The waiters were very understanding about our slow speed of dining, as we were getting such a good visit with Diane and Steve. When we finally left, it was extremely coincidental to find that although we'd arrived about 20 minutes apart, in a very large parking lot we'd managed to park our cars beside each other!


Steve and Diane met us in Oakville for a pleasant visit and meal.








We drove back to St Catharines in time to take the dogs for a bit of a walk, before my brother arrived back from a Pink Floyd tribute concert. Time for a short drink/visit, and off to bed.
Saturday morning was one of the only dates we'd actually preplanned for the entire trip......so we left brother John's place in the morning to arrive at Port Colborne for late morning, to old buddies "Jaybee" and "Freddy", whose only daughter Jocelyne was being married this evening. We arrived in time to give Jaybee some meaningless advice for his Father of the Bride Speech, and then we all trooped out to the Niagara Parkway to attend the ceremonies.




The newlyweds with flower girl, Brooke









There was barely a dry eye in the church (did I tell you that I always cry at weddings?), and with Jocelyn and Jason all married off, we visited with some of Jaybee's pilot friends before heading out for a night of frivolities at the reception.





Jaybee and Freddie - proud parents!








Luckily, Jaybee had pre-arranged a limo for the drive home for the lot of us staying at his place, so we didn't need to worry about DUI problems. Arriving home, we managed to tuck into a few wee drams of scotch before actually calling it a night at 4AM. By 10AM we were sort of up and about, cooking up a storm of breakfast for the myriad people staying or dropping in, and by early afternoon we were off to pick up the cars and items left behind at the wedding the night before, and to visit a local airstrip, run by friends of Jaybee and Freddy. I was amazed to find an old friend sitting there, Leon, who'd been a flying instructor with me some 40 years ago. He'd just flown a Harvard in, and was chatting with a group of people there ....very nice to catch up again.
Back to the home in Pt. Colborne, for a pizza night, with beer and scotch (of course), and then an early sleep for all.
Monday morning we bade farewell to our friends, and drove across the Peace Bridge into Buffalo, NY (the only part of our trip in the USA), to visit with Linda's Aunt Ruth. Although she is over 90 years of age, she is more able, physically or mentally, than either myself or Linda. We went out for a lunch of Thai Food, and picked up a few groceries for dinner, then went back to her home for a visit. I was honoured to help her lay to rest the ashes of her beloved dog. It was a very nice visit, and made us appreciate that retired life really can be quite good for some time.
Tuesday morning found us back in Canada, westbound toward London, where we plan to visit some more graveyards in search of our family history. Enroute, we were able to meet up with cousin Sharon, who lives in London, but was travelling the opposite direction to us. But we at least got a catch-up over lunch, in Brantford, before continuing on and finding a mostly vacant KOA campground for our tent. It's been awhile since we've actually tented, as all of last week has been under a welcome roof....but the weather is fine, and forecast to remain so for at least a few days.
Being a Tuesday, this is also another day of reckoning, so here are our totals for Week 14:
Distance driven: 845.8 Km Gas: $101.52 Food: $216.41 Accommodation: $85.28 Other: $29.00 Total: $432.21 Almost $300.00 Under Budget for the week, thanks to generous accommodation and food help from friends and relatives, and less driving costs!