Peterborough, Ontario

We made it!!!

We arrived around 2:00 p.m. local time, hooked up with a buddy of ours up here and tooled around town and the surrounding areas for a few hours. It is just breathtakingly gorgeous and it quickly became apparent that we've made the right choice. The population is around 74,000, and everything you need is right in town, but conspicuously absent is the "strip malls and condos" look that's become all too common these days... it looks very small town even though it's not. There are trees everywhere, lakes and rivers all around, beautiful old architecture, clean streets, and really delicious food. The Trent-Severn Waterway runs right through town. There are tons of cabins and cottages right on its shores. Many houses and apartments are tucked away so you'd never know there were homes back there, except for a mailbox in front or a small break in the trees revealing a gorgeous tree-lined dirt road leading back to somewhere, and frequently they too are on the shore of the waterway or one of the lakes.

This place is so amazing! It's like a storybook fantasy. Honestly, I didn't know places like this existed anywhere other than books. When our friend told me about this place, a part of me wondered if he might be a little biased, or remembering things a bit better than they were. This is not the case. We were astounded by the sheer beauty of this place. It felt surreal to drive around and take it all in... our immigration process complete, our long drive at its end, and marveling at this place that was well worth every penny, every mile, and every moment of time expended to get here.

Tonight was the last night of the Peterborough Festival of Lights, a series of free outdoor concerts followed by fireworks, held twice a week all summer long. After dropping off our friend, passing the park on the way to our hotel, we heard the strains of "O Canada" for the first time since crossing the border... and knew that we were home.