SHOULD HAVE BUT DIDN'T......

The Lions International Clubs 38th annual District Convention was held this past weekend and once again I was a participant.  To do that I had to drive from here to our nations' capital, Ottawa.  In anticipation of the drive, I decided that if I left nice and early I could take a detour and meander through some of the towns in eastern Ontario I have never visited before and take in some of the sights before arriving at my destination. 
Each convention year I invite my friend Liz to come along and keep me company which she did.  I was also supposed to take my friends car to give it a good run, but with idea of just meandering I didn't think it fair to put all those extra kilometers on his car, so instead we took my van, which somehow ended up being crammed lots of "stuff" we just had to take along with us!  LOL 
Not only did we want to meander around Eastern Ontario, but also we wanted to purchase some specially Ontario grown rose bushes which are hardy and absolutely beautiful. 
I chose the towns of Smith Falls  which has, according to its web site three museums, being
1. The Heritage House Museum, 
2. The Rideau Canal Museum  ; and   
3. The Railway Museum  all of which will be once again attracting visitors when they open for business on our Victoria Day celebrations.

Then too there is the Town of Beckwith I thought might be of interest to explore.  Now if I had been clever before leaving the house I should have printed off the driving directions before heading out, which I could have used to find some of the Seven Wonders of Lanark County.  Carelessly thinking that these would all be in and close to the Town of Beckwith I decided I could just drive around and find them, but I never did, why, because these are not all in and directly around the Town itself, but in the County. I really should have printed out those driving directions because

I really would have loved to have seen the Five Stone Span Bridge 

and the

St. Peter Celestine Church.  However these will still be there for another  road trip and I will make certain I print off the driving directions. 

One direction I did take which turned out to be leading me nowhere led me down a dirt side road and once I decided it would not be leading me to any one of the 7 wonders, I decided it was time to backtrack and get back on the highway heading up to Ottawa. 

Once I found a place to make a turn around, this is what I discovered.

Isn't he magnificent?  I just had to stop and capture him on film.  Out there in the middle of almost nowhere, there he is standing ramrod straight in his glory ever watching. 

Then just up from where I spotted The Watcher, I spied this wonderful old log house which might at one time been a cabin....not sure, just guessing at that, however it was interesting enough to grab with my camera.

Even not finding one of the 7 wonders, I at least found the Watcher in the wilds, and I found this lovely log house to share with you.  I saw and heard many wonderful song birds which made the driving off route just as worthwhile. 

After driving around for another 1/2 hour and not finding what it was I wanted Liz and myself to see as tourists, it was time to head on into the City of Ottawa and check into the hotel where our Lions Convention was being hosted. 

After the convention ended on Sunday, we decided to go and have something delicious to eat.  We tried the Keg, but because we didn't have reservations we could not be seated.  Then we found the Lone Star Texas Grill...a very crowded family oriented steak house, with lots and lots of Bronco Billy Birthdays on the go with the birthday guest being seated on a portable horse with saddle and wearing a giant 10 gallon felt cowboy hat, the people all around sang a very loud and boisterous Happy Birthday!!!!  Because I really wanted to eat a STEAK we decided to stay and make the best of the noise which truthfully was ear splitting, but the meal was absolutely delicious and worth sitting through the noise to eat and before we finished our meal the noise levels abated a bit, all in all I really enjoyed the food.  

After the convention we went looking for Mark of Galeta Nursuries who grows only hardy roses for zone 4 in Ontario.  Mark grows 75 varieties of hardy roses.  When we found Mark he told us he was busy getting some of his over 9,000 bushes ready for opening in May. Phew, that was tiring just to listen to.
After we left Mark in search of the Antrim Truck Stop (a place friends said we should try to stop and have a meal at).  Finding it was easy and the place itself should be set up as a tourist destination, why, because it not only looks after truckers, but serves wonderful food, has its own bakery and a gift shop that is verrrrry interesting, and supports our Canadian Troops, quite the destination!  So if ever you are up near Arnprior, Ontario seek out the Antirm Truck Stop and treat yourself, you won't regret the stop.   
While heading for the nursery, we discovered this little church at the side of a road and which I found so interesting.  I just had to take it's photo.  It is named St. John's but I cannot remember whether it was and Anglican or a United Church and sadly I haven't found it on the internet.

The weather was sunny and bright when we left Ottawa but we were to expect the possibility of a thunder storm.  While stopped to take this picture I could also see the changes in the clouds above and soon rain was hitting the windshield. 

While I didn't find what I had set out see I found other interests which tugged at  my heart and these are best defined as the Blessings that were given to me while Liz and I meandered.  Sometimes your led astray to find a blessing you'd never have found otherwise, don't you think?
I realize I have not posted for the last several days, but was enjoying the convention highlights and meeting new friends and catching up with others I hadn't seen since last convention.  

To the Winners of the St. Patricks' Day Blog Hop would you please let me know if your little pressies arrived?  Cindy, a friend is driving to Minnesota on Wednesday from here and will mail your charm pack and bag when she arrives at her destination there, so it will not be too much longer before you receive it, but please let me know when it arrives. 

That is it for today folks, thank you so very much for stopping in and sharing some of your precious time with me.  I hope your day is a very good day.

Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.  ~Art Linkletter