The drive that's not on Get Going Canada.ca

Rose and I wanted to get out of town on Saturday. We only had the afternoon so we didn't want to go to far away. It was gorgeous out, sunny and windy making it around fifteen degrees.

We decided to go to the Kawartha's to look for cottages. Trying to find anything in Muskoka is out of range right now. But if we could find anything under 200K even it’s a fixer upper that's fine.

We wanted to investigate places like Balsam Lake, Sturgeon, and Buckhorn. We drove out of town on 404 or DVP north to Newmarket. Turning off on Davis drive and turning right driving east we are trying to hook up with 48 north. Highway 48 is a really great drive. We used to take it all the time as an alternative to going on Highway 11 to cottage country. It's a mellow drive, something throw the Easy Rider soundtrack on for, because it’s a one-lane highway. I like the scenic way rather than the super highway.

We connect up with Highway 12 and a short dogleg takes us onto Highway 48 into cottage country. The road winds through forest and bogs. We don't see any lakes for a while. Then we enter Kirkfield. It looks like a very inviting little village. There's a B&B called the Kirkfield Inn with a restaurant. I love towns like this. I think we were grooving to Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde at this point. We could see a river wind through town. The buildings were old. Red brick and country stores. I imagine owing a cottage in the area and taking friends to the Kirkland Inn pub. I am regular. The best of all worlds. A watering whole that rivals anything in the city and a short car ride to the cottage. We like to go on Friday night to celebrate the coming of the weekend.

We are starting to get hungry. I think we imagined going to Bobcaygeon (like the hip song) for lunch. But we couldn't wait. Coboconk was our stop. There was a pub, slips my mind right now. It seems like Ceasers is the big drink. Families up from the city and locals slug back mason jars of the drinks. I'm torn I don't whether to order a Caesar or a beer. I settle for a beer. Rose and I have burgers. The sun soaks us as we enjoy the meal. Wolf eating his grill cheese sandwich.

Done with lunch we continue to look for cottages. Rose suggests getting off the highway and trying Balsam Lake Drive. We haven't seen any lakes yet so we figured this would take us to one.

Snaking along a tiny paved road we come up on the lake. There's some hardware bought for sale signs for some waterfront lots. We stop and take down the numbers. Balsam Lake is part of the Trent-Severn canal system. That means there are lots of boats going through the channel at high speeds but the upside is there’s an inter-connected lake system leading to Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay for boating. Balsam Lake is a big lake too not much smaller than Couchiching. We left a message for the agent. When she called us back we found out the lots were 300K each for 159ft of waterfront and 300ft deep. Not in our price range. It’s a nice area though.

We stopped for ice cream in Fenlon Falls. Kawartha Dairy ice cream is legendary. The road continues east towards Bobcaygeon. It hugs the side of Sturgeon Lake for most of the drive. It gets confusing driving though Bobcaygeon. I’m suddenly on a back street nowhere near the highway. Then a highway appears in front of me but not the one I was on. Not long before I am heading the right direction again on 36.

We turn south at Buckhorn and drive along the lock system. The river seems narrow. There are many dams and locks channel the water. Then we pass Trent University. It seems way out of town. Nice looking campus.

The drive back to Toronto is along a super highway. The speed limit is 110 Km. We are back at our house in an hour.

It’s a great 4-5 hour tour if you want to take an adventure on a Saturday afternoon.

[Travel]