The End Of The Underground Railroad

Dad wanted to go to both the Farmer’s Market and the Emancipation Festival that were on today, so we started with the market and we bought many things, fruits, vegetables, jams, meats. It was grand. Dad had to bring all the produce home so it didn’t go bad in the hot car, so he dropped the rest of us off at Harrison Park. Owen Sound was the last stop on the Underground Railroad for escaping slaves, and this Saturday they were celebrating Emancipation with some outdoor stands, a band, food and Gospel singing. The first thing we saw was a little gathering opened by the town crier, where a whole bunch of people came up to speak or read poetry on the subject of slavery. One man had followed the Underground Railroad from Alabama all the way up on his bike. I didn’t get to hear all that much because I was down in the stream behind the cairn where the speakers were standing. Kizmet had wanted a drink so I was walking her in the water and tossing her sticks and rocks. At one point she dug a really big stone out of the bed and then wanted to get to Mum on the shore. She ended up having to do a slight doggy paddle to get there, the first time she’s ever swam. Oh so brave. After Dad had joined us and the gathering

broke up, we decided to take the 3km hike to Inglis Falls. It was fun even though I was wearing crappy shoes and the falls were very pretty. There were actually some guys breaking the rules and climbing down the side of the falls. It looked like my kind of thing, and not very hard because the way the water fell had shaped steps, so it wasn’t all that steep. We got back around 3:00pm, just in time for the Gospel group singing. That was fun to listen to, excepting the fact that one woman could not sing at all, but thought she could and was singing very loudly. I mean she doesn’t lack confidence, good for her, but wow. We went home a little bit after that and played a family game of Dominion. I did not win at all. Mum made salmon for supper, and I was just setting the table when we realized Isaac had been gone for a long time. Thus ensued a search party of three bikes looking for him throughout the campground. It took 45 minutes before Mum found him wandering out of a hiking trail with Kizmet. What adventures were had this day. After dinner we watched another episode of Corner Gas. That show’s great. Peace out m8s.

#camping #owensound #ontario