JACK and Jill went up a hill... to Sudbury!

Hello from Sudbury! We have arrived safely and are staying in a totally sweet Howard Johnson. We think we've recovered from our technical difficulties, so here I am updating from Amanda's computer. However, the photobucket website is currently having its own issues, so we'll try updating that later or in the morning. So sorry for the delay!

We left Toronto this morning, heading north toward Sudbury via Sutton West, where Sibbald Point Provincial Park is located. My grandmother's maiden name is Sibbald and that's the area our ancestor people are from, so I was pretty excited to see the place even though Grandma told me a few weeks ago that she doubts our relation to these Sibbalds in particular, claiming the last name is kinda common. Grandma, I beg to differ, because now that I think about it, it was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find our tartan when I was in Scotland. I decided it would be necessary to reclaim the land for my family.

We arrived at the park, and oh my gosh, it was gorgeous! The waterfront area was so peaceful and pretty, sitting on Lake Simcoe. We wandered back up to Eildon Hall, the house which Susan Sibbald named for her family home in Scotland after she immigrated to Ontario. Lovely home, but it was not yet open for summer so I didn't get to see the inside. Amanda and I went on to check out the church that Susan's son had built in her honor. It's a lovely little gothic building that is home to St. George's Anglican Church and a small family cemetary. My alleged ancestors sure chose a beautiful place to take their eternal nap... I'll get photos up soon! Now that I think about it, our Sibbalds are Scottish and this Sibbald is from Cornwall, England... but wait, the original Eildon Hall is in Scotland... I suppose I have to do some homework when I get home! Regardless of my relation or not, it was a really nice park. I'll just go ahead and claim it as my own!

The drive up to Sudbury was really pretty, too. Lots of trees and cool rock formations, very little in the way of development besides the road itself. We made a pit stop in Ojibway territory, where we met some nice shop owners who warned us about seeing moose. Warning?! We're hoping to see moose on this journey!

This is getting long, so here are some final notes I'll leave you on:

• trees of the day (bonus trees because they were all identified in MY park!)
• silver maple
• black willow
• American elm
• We named the car Jill. JACK and Jill, duh!
• I thoroughly enjoyed driving 100 on the highways today!
• We're getting used to the metric system.