An Afternoon with My Parents

Both my wife and I had the day off, and the weather was beautiful and brisk for this January day. I called up my parents and asked if they wanted to make a small road trip with us, a simple and easy trip that wasn't too hard to do. They naturally were very excited about this idea.

I had planned four stops near their home, and I figured the entire experience would be around three hours. I needed it to be short because my father has a hard time being in the car for any length of time because of his back. He worked hard all his life, and unfortunately, his back is not as good as he would like.

The first stop was where I have wanted to take my parents since they moved to the area. It is only 20 minutes from their home, and they travel past it regularly. Sulphur Springs Conservation Area is a flat hike through the forest to a spring that never freezes and stays relatively warm, even in the briskest to winter days. When you arrive at the spring, you will understand why it has the descriptor of "Sulphur." 

Our second stop was a ruined church. St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church  is in the middle of farm country and stands proudly on a hill, or at least what is left of it. It also has an old cemetery dating to the mid-1800s. The church itself has been abandoned since the late 1950s. My mom would make a snow angel on the former floor of this church; what can be more appropriate than my angelic mother making an angel on this consecrated land?

Big Bruce is a roadside attraction where I took them for a photo op. It was a tiny detour and is probably the best picture of my parents that I have of them on a trip together.

Our final stop is a place that is very close to their home – McGowan Falls/Dam. (***Link to article****). We discovered that they have murals that we will be coming back to explore in the spring when we do our favourite waterfall tour in Grey-Bruce County. The falls was frozen and had some great ice formations. While we were there, the dam had sprung a leak! The warming sun had started to melt the ice and snow, and it was the beginning of the end for this ice block.

It was a fantastic afternoon with my parents. They got to see some interesting locations that are a short drive in their area and see the countryside from roads they usually do not travel on. Mom appreciated being included in this trip, the third for her with us and the first with my father. We have already started to make plans for our next adventure together.

A map of this trip and the locations of our stops can be found here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1oWcThlxeyaR32RzsPpa7EzMYCkdJaCOo&usp=sharing