Pembroke, Ontario (Because Vacation, That's Why! - Part IV)

First: the rental car. It's called a Spark, and it was the cutest thing I have ever driven. Not a whole lot of power, but fantastic gas mileage.
And it matched my socks.

Despite a construction delay on the highway, we arrived in Pembroke, Ontario, with the perfect amount of time to grab some essentials at the local grocery store, sufficiently ransack our hotel room, and clean ourselves up for supper we had scheduled with all the girls just across the street. By the next morning, we were ready to see something we'd never seen before. Cue: Barron Canyon trail in the stunning Algonquin Provincial Park.

The drive from Pembroke to the trail was mostly dirt road. More than once we suspected we had taken a wrong turn, but the disembodied voice that is Google maps assured us to carry on in the direction we were going. Sure enough, she was right. Why? Because B.F. Nowhere, Ontario, that's why!

Before we hit the trail, a Stop The Car! moment.

Then it was on to Barron Canyon.
The hike was easy with a well-maintained trail, and only took us about a half hour to get to the top. The mosquitos were miserable, but one cool thing I noticed was the lack of 'safety' precautions. There were signs that warned you: things like, "Please remember that this trail visits a very high, unfenced cliff top from which a fall would be fatal" but there were no guard rails, no fences, nothing that took responsibility away from the visitor themselves. You were responsible for your own safety, and that was just fine by me.

The mosquitoes had just about carried us off by this point, so we drove back to town to run some errands and make a visit to the laundromat next door.  As the clothes were washing, I went out shooting.

Mini-golf right in our backyard!

I had no time to tee off, however. There was a wedding rehearsal to attend!

Afterward was the rehearsal dinner, which consisted of a visit to the military town of Petawawa. Here, the mother of the bride had rented a cabin right on the Ottawa River, and we enjoyed an amazing barbeque and bonfire, courtesy of their family.

It wasn't a late night. We all knew we had to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed for the Vacation Grand Finale the very next day....