Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Ontario, Day 7 (Toronto Orientation)

    We left the southern shores of Georgian Bay and I already missed the area. It turned out great even if I knew next to nothing about it before I researched the trip. However, all things come to an end and now I had a better-known part of Ontario to explore. I hadn’t spent any time…

  • Ontario, Day 6 (Owen Sound)

    Our time along the southern tip of Georgian Bay was quickly drawing to an end but we still had one more destination along the shoreline towards the northwest. But first I took my final early morning stroll through Collingwood before the family woke up. I retraced some of the more memorable routes from earlier in…

  • Ontario, Day 5 (Lake and Caves)

    As I planned the trip, I tried to intersperse mellow days with active days and most of the time I followed those guidelines. Originally Day 5 was designed as something low-key in Collingwood without any driving. However, plans shifted a tiny bit and we did more than we anticipated. Hen and Chicken Island I ducked…

  • Ontario, Day 4 (Penetanguishene and Beyond)

    I had absolutely no idea how to pronounce Penetanguishene, and I still don’t. Typing it isn’t any easier. I had to cut-and-paste the name to make sure I got it right. Nonetheless, that’s where we pointed the car on our fourth day in Ontario, about an hour northeast of Collingwood. Notice that I mentioned road…

  • Ontario, Day 3 (Lake and Mountain)

    Now it was time to get serious about seeing some local sights. We got to Ontario without any issues, we had an entire down day, and next we needed something fun. Everyone in the family has a different version of fun but I had an idea. But before we started all that I still wanted…

  • Ontario, Day 2 (Downtime)

    Well, we made it to Canada and we decided to settle down for our first full day. I promised the family I’d take it easier and try to avoid over-scheduling them for once. But I’m not someone who can ever stop moving entirely so “easier” meant no activities further away than an hour. Plus, anyone…

  • Ontario, Day 1 (Choices)

    I’ve been to Canada a few times but never for very long. One time when I was a kid, maybe ten years old, we went to Toronto for a couple of days. It was so long ago that I can’t even remember most of the details anymore. However, every trip I’ve done afterwards lasted no…

  • Taming the Frontier, Part 2

    The drive up to Michigan was something I did for myself, and I visited a number of historical and cultural sites along the way. But I took the trip to drive a kid home for the summer and now I had a passenger for the rest of the ride. So I front-loaded most of the…

  • Taming the Frontier, Part 1

    I didn’t have a proper vacation in awhile. Then, unexpectedly, I had abundant time on my hands. I also needed to bring a kid home from Michigan State University who just finished the first year of a graduate program. So I planned a delightfully inefficient route through rural eastern Ohio to build my County Counting…

  • Culpeper Co., Virginia

    I enjoy county counting but it becomes increasingly difficult to reach new counties as my count increases. That’s why I began a sub-variant involving overnight counties. You see it counts “more” by my arbitrary rules if I spend an entire night there instead of simply passing through. That’s because it involves a tangible financial commitment,…

Latest Comments

  1. The British flag continues to fly at Roche Harbor, a couple miles north of English Camp.

  3. Been there Once for a few years. In 76 &77. Ran cooperative store. Even though it was very isolated It…

  4. As an Alaskan I always wondered why Interstates were a big deal. From my point of view a road went…