Road trip to Sauble Beach

There is nothing like a good road trip to clear the mind. Sally, Tia and I did that on Tuesday and had a great time.

Yesterday morning dawned with that almost perfect lazy summer day feeling. Absolutely clear blue sky, cool, no humidity and with the forecast for a sunny and warm day. We had work-related stuff to do, but we knew it could wait.

After I got back from my regular morning workout at the Y, it didn't take long to convince Sally that we should really go for a drive. And Tia of course needed no persuasion to go for a 'Road Trip'.

We packed our camera, filled up the tank of the X Trail and headed west up Highway 26 with the intention of making it to Tobermory. I hadn't been there in years and Sally had never been.

Because we dawdled along we didn't get to Owen Sound until nearly noon. Once we saw the distance to Tobermory (and realized we had to make the return drive down the same road), we changed plans. We decided instead to head to Sauble Beach. With a stop first in Southampton. Had lunch there...fresh cut fries at an outdoor picnic table.

From there, we headed up to Sauble Beach. Not much had changed in the nearly 20 years since I had been there last. The Dairy Queen was still there, the shops and restaurants were still selling bathing suits and flip flops, and of course, the beach sign still arched over the entrance to the beach. We even got to park on the beach...something that brought back memories for Sally from her childhood experience at Wasaga Beach when you could actually get close to the water.

And even though we live in Wasaga with the longest stretch of sandy beach in Ontario, we were impressed with Sauble. The water was incredibly clear and clean and the sand felt like finely ground sugar. And for a Tuesday afternoon in mid June, there were lots of people on the beach.

After a quick walk around the shops, we rolled on. And because we had no clear timeline to get back, we took a detour...to Keady!

This is why unplanned road trips are so much fun: Exploration!

We headed back from Sauble turned south from Highway 21 at Jackson to Keady. Sally wanted to visit the well known Farmer's market there. Unfortunately we got there just as it was closing. Another road trip?

And since we were feeling unfettered, we decided to head back to Wasaga using back roads. The plan was to head east and end up on highway 26 outside of Thornbury.

It began well enough on paved roads but soon deteriorated to two lane gravel then to a single lane. The road names became a blur: Sullivan-Derby Town Line, Concessions 7, 11, 12, Sideroads 6, 7. After the detour around the closed and under-construction County Road 40 North, we found ourselves on the David McNichol Parkway (heck of a name for a country road) heading down into the Beaver Valley to the town of the Blue Mountains. Back into familiar territory.

What a glorious day! Even Tia was thrilled although she was exhausted and just wanted to curl up and sleep once we got back home.

The next time we may even make it to Tobermory....