When life gives you Potholes...

A few summers ago, we purchased our Canon. We started taking photos of everything around us and then Neil decided we needed to go somewhere scenic to really try it out. So we packed the car and headed to Canada.

We ended up in Sault St. Marie, where we rented a room for the long weekend. We barely slept there...we discovered the Trans-Canada highway and made daily excursions along the Lake Superior Circle Tour route.

I'm a big planner, and have binders (yes, binders) from past trips, full of itineraries, maps, menus and notes. This trip, however, was as random and whimsical as could be. When we got tired, we pulled into a parking lot and slept for an hour. When we saw a waterfall on the side of the road, we got out and spent hours exploring. We ate lunch in the Canada Goose Capital of the World. We kept seeing a weird sign with some sort of monster on it (it turned out to be a sign for Agawa Rock, an amazing place that needs a whole other post).

The most special place we found, a little park with a funny name, is what you might call our happy place. Potholes Provincial Park is located in Chapleau, Ontario (although I don't recall seeing anything resembling civilization). We found ourselves alone, walking in the afternoon sun along a trail filled with grouse and wild blueberries. I can't describe that day...it was just one where we felt good, had all the time in the world and just felt right being there. We spent hours on the rocks, in the water and eating the wild berries.

Whenever we're sad or Neil is sick from treatments, we talk about Potholes and what a wonderful day we had there. It's an instant mood lifter. In the past few months, we've talked about going back.

Today at lunch, Neil mentioned that he'd like to go up for our anniversary. It seems like so much has happened since we were last there, but I can't wait to renew my passport and head up to the place that holds so much meaning.