Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Last Saturday we traveled in to Toronto to visit my friend Gabriel.  He is a 7 year old boy I met in Silverton, Colorado last year and for some unknown reasons we formed a strong bond in a very short period of time.  We have communicated by Skype, face time, letters and cards ever since.  We have exchanged gifts at Christmas and I send him books to read every other month or so.  We stayed at his house for 3 days and 2 nights and the two of us had a great time at the Aquarium-Canada in Toronto, building Legos and eating ice cream.

We also enjoyed visiting with his parents.  His father was not around much as he is a pediatric surgeon and was on call this last weekend however his mother (Beth) who is also a doctor was available all weekend – we now consider each other good friends.  Beth’s parents live in Albuquerque and they visit them frequently.   Next time they are visiting Beth is going to fly to Phoenix with Gabriel and Simone (the sister) and spend some time with us.

On Sunday we visited Aquarium-Canada and it was amazing – the variety, number and size of the fish was incredible – the only down side was that it was a rainy holiday weekend and everyone in Toronto was at the aquarium – the variety, number and size of the people was incredible – I think the number of people out numbered the fish.  We had fun in spite of the crowd.

We are now back at home in our RV.  Parting was sad but we promised to keep in touch by Skype and phone – his mother was a little sad to see us go also.  He wanted to come with us or wanted us to stay another day.

Tomorrow we are headed to Niagara Falls where we have a 5 hour tour booked – including the “Maid of the Mist”.   PRC

 

We just spent the BEST long weekend with Gabriel and his family in Toronto, Ontario. You may already know this story, if not Peter will tell you how they first met last summer on our road trip across the Southwest, USA.

Ever since we reached Canada, the   temperatures   have dropped.  All across the Midwest it was shorts weather. It’s sometimes cold now. (I love the cold weather.)  And it’s windy.

We arrived in Toronto Friday afternoon and were first greeted by Simone, Gabriel’s 9 year old sister. Gabriel and Peter have communicated regularly since last summer including by Skyping.  This is the first time we have met in person with Gabriel and his family since that fateful day last summer in Silverton, CO.

The family welcomed us with open arms mostly based on a relationship with a seven year old boy and a sixty-eight year old man. It’s one of those situations in which (if you believed in such things), you would think that the two new each other in a different life.  As Gabriel’s mom said, they are like two peas in a pod.  Seriously.  They were contented to play for hours together. Gabriel is no ordinary boy. He is special, not just because he is diagnosed with ADHD, but because he is all heart with all the challenges that go with having tons of energy that sometimes can barely be contained.

Gabriel’s sister is quite precocious, a very talented 9 year old. She plays the piano,the harmonica, sings and paints. (I am sure she has many other talents in addition to this.)  And she is quite beautiful.  Then of course there is the usual sibling rivalry, but with a different twist because they are both so unique.

Their parents are very special themselves. Both are extremely intelligent – Beth is a psychologist and George is a pediatric surgeon.  George is very dedicated to his young patients so we didn’t have a chance to visit much with him as he was on call this weekend. . Beth was more available and I feel that we started a long lasting friendship. We could have talked for hours.

In addition to the special dynamics of the weekend, we managed to do some activities. Saturday we spent time walking in Kensington Market which reminds me of Pikes Market in Seattle and First Friday in Phoenix. It was replete with unique shops, eateries, art galleries and street entertainment.

This was a holiday weekend for Canada – Victoria Day. Consequently it was crowded, everywhere. We went to the Aquarium on Sunday and ran into the same crowds.  Gabriel spent most of the time seeing the exhibits perched on Peter’s shoulders.

Needless to say, the weekend spent with this family was remarkable indeed.

We are back at HQ in the “Buen Camino”, our travel trailer, parked in Flamboro RV Park.

Tomorrow will be a busy and fun day. We are going to Niagara Falls. We will tell you all about it in the next post.

FYI: WiFi has been unpredictable since we crossed the border, even with the “Hot Spot” we purchased in Phoenix. Many of our e-mails and text messages have “failed to send.” Who knows how many don’t make it to us. I understand that some folks are having problems accessing the blog and/or making comments.  Let me know if you are having issues with this.  JY