Distractions, reflections

Leaving Tennessee, Jennifer and I were on different flights to Chicago, but met up at the connection for the same final leg to Toronto.  Jennifer had crossed the Atlantic from the UK not only to visit with G.A., but also to stop by Waterloo to plan the ISSS 2010 meeting.  With Allenna, visited the Wilfred Laurier University campus.  It’s a compact site, as viewed from the residence across the street.

Since the university tour only took to midafternoon, I suggested that we do some sightseeing.  The Grand River by the Elora Mill Inn is scenic.  We drove south over the bridge from the centre of the village to oversee the mill.

We walked a little farther west on the south bank for a better look of the dam.

Looking east, there’s some traditional-looking buildings on the north side, and the Metcalfe Streeet bridge.

Viewing the gorge itself requires driving back north over the bridge, and west to Victoria Park.  There’s a long set of stairs down to the level of the water.  The stairs curve, so only part of the route is visible from the top.  Read more... (369 words, 15 images, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

On the way to a meeting at the Township of Centre Wellington, Stephen and I got lost.  I hadn’t done the mapping in advance and was relying on Blackberry Maps on Stephen’s handheld device.  Out in the country, street addresses don’t work so well.  We stopped for directions, and were told simply:  go to the main street of Elora.  It’s not a huge metropolis.  As we drove into the village, we saw John parked on the side of main street, on his mobile phone, calling for directions.  We were all late!  There’s a lesson here for big city boys!

After our business was done, John had to head back to Toronto.  Stephen and I took some leisure time to take in the sights.  We walked south on Metcalf Street.

At the foot of Metcalf Street is Mill Street.  Looking west, the road curves around, and the Elora Mill Inn is at the end.

On the east side of Mill Street, there’s an information centre.  The lady there gave us a local map.  She suggested crossing the Metcalf Street bridge south, and following the river west.

As we crossed the bridge, the scenic Grand River revealed itself.  Read more... (400 words, 13 images, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)