Countryside Drive
I grew up in a family that used to love “Sunday drives”. Well, actually, we just used to love going for drives.
Mum and Dad would pile us all into the car, no seatbelts back then, their five little kids hip to hip and ready to let the daydreaming begin.
If you were lucky enough to get a window seat you might daydream that you were flying beside the car, up and over the ditches, bushes and trees, keeping time with the speed of the vehicle.
You might stare up at the clouds and imagine all manner of adventures up there too. We didn’t need a t.v. to keep us entertained. We just enjoyed the scenery and sang together in harmony. It sounds sort of fake but this is what we used to do!
On a summer’s day we might end up at the Dairy Freez in Kingsville for ice creams. In the Autumn we might end up at a roadside antique store where I would add to my affordable collection of salt and pepper shakers. In the winter we might end up at a pond for a time of skating and drinking hot chocolates from a thermos. And oft times we just went out for the love of the drive and returned home a couple of hours later.
So when my folks mentioned that they were hoping to head out on a drive with me I thought we should make that happen. I know it is not especially comfortable anymore for my aging parents to sit in a car for any length of time but they brought pillows to sit or lean on and we headed out in the morning with the idea of making it out to “Park’s Blueberries” in time for lunch.
I really enjoy driving, so with Dad in the back and Mum as navigator we hit the backroads and enjoyed the Fall sights as we made our way east. The last time I made this trip with my parents I remember taking photographs of all the wooden ‘quilts’ that adorned barns all the way there. Park’s is a huge, warehouse type garden centre, gift shop, bakery and restaurant (where you go through cafeteria style and then sit in the dining room.)
Imagine our surprise when we arrived to new Covid rules that said that we must receive our food in take-out containers and that the dining room was closed! We drove a long way for that kind of lunch! Luckily, I saw the small print that said if you are travelling with someone with mobility issues you can take one of the few tables available in the back room.
We enjoyed our soups/quiches but I truly missed the large, frozen blueberries that used to accompany every meal. After the very tasty lunch we shopped around and each of us found a treasure….(me: a couple of nice cards, Dad: a cute nativity scene, and Mum: incredible butter tarts and homemade blueberry/bran muffins)
After lunch, we drove through Dresden and came upon five ‘barn quilts’ that just happened to be all together on a heritage building and a fun home that really got into the Hallowe’en spirit.
Mum and Dad had been lamenting that all of the antique stores had had to close down because of the pandemic. That is why it was especially sweet when we came upon “Gary’s Garage” and it was not only open but huge and full of fun nooks and crannies to explore. Gary himself was just the nicest man who had a great joy for life, sense of humour, and was even quick to give deals to his ‘victims’ as he called us..ha ha. Once again, we all found a few treasures and my folks have a new destination spot for future antiquing adventures.
Incredibly, we were out and about for six hours. But we all enjoyed the day very much and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and reminiscing about our good finds.