Vacation @ Sandbanks - July 2008

This photo pretty much captures the weather we were treated to at least twice a day on our vacation this year. We went to Sandbanks in July this time hoping for warmer weather than the other times we've gone in August. Instead we got rain. Buckets of it! It was still loads of fun though.

One day after a particularly righteous downpour, we packed the kids in the truck and headed to Toronto to do some indoor stuff at the Ontario Science center and CN Tower. I hadn't been to the CN Tower in awhile and the kids especially enjoyed that one. I liked the very strange Star Trek transporter you have to step through now before you go up the elevator. I saw it and groaned to myself "A metal detector? I'm full of Cameras, Ipods, PDA's and GPS units! This is gonna take forever!". Instead I stepped into this thing, it said to wait 10 seconds and then it started blasting me with air starting at my toes and working it's way up. Lots of air pressure too. It was freaky. It beeped and lit green and I asked the guy as I stepped out what it was for.

"Bombs." He said..
Lovely..

After paying $75 for an elevator ride we ran around on the glass floor and took in the sights. I saw a plane take off from that island type thingy in the bay. Who the hell lives there?

We had good weather about half the time, and the dark rainclouds made for some great sunsets when they finally broke. The pic on the side is the same dock in the lead off picture where my friend Jim is getting drenched.

We went to the sand dunes every day, that's what the place is best known for, and they are pretty cool!

We popped out to a few other beaches and happened across a dead racoon at one of them. dead animals are so much easier to photograph than live ones, none of that running away stuff! It was almost like he was power-tanning or something (except he wasn't breathing.. ).


On the last night of our stay we went to dinner at place called JJ's saloon in a nearby small town. Turns our I knew the night's entertainment, "Louise", local guitarist extraordinaire. We attended a Don Ross weekend seminar in Cannington Ontario a few years ago. Small world! (the guitar fingerstyle world that is). So she made me get up and play a set on her nylon string classical guitar (god but I HATE catgut strings!). Not that she didn't have to twist my arm or anything.

The next day we drove back home (in the rain) and at the two hour mark we stopped a Tim Horton's 401 truckstop. My wife was inside for about 15 minutes. During this time I turned the key in the ignition half-way to roll up the windows. This started the air conditioner which, combined with the GPS, DVD player and Ipod music player sucked the car battery dry in 15 minutes flat leaving us stranded. I emptyed the entire Truck out in the parking lot looking for jumper cables and found none(they must be at home in the garage). I asked 50 peopel if they had jumper cables and then broke down and went to the gas station to buy some. They didn't have any but I made the guy check in the back. he had one pair left and was willing to sell them to me for $54! This isn't a jacked up on the fly price, he scanned them and up popped $54. He used to sell them for $34 but I guess Sunoco or whoever realized that people like me are desperate enough to pay anything.

When we got home we found that the power had been knocked out. So we went for lunch at Quiznos! A few days later my wife found the jumper cables - In the truck, under the spare tire.

Anyone want some jumper cables?