Launching a new blog!

I will no longer be posting on this site but come visit me at childfree and workfree.

The new blog will still have some great posts about where to hike and snowshoe in the area. And when the COVID-19 pandemic is finally over, we hope to get out travelling again.

Hiking at Mont Cascades

A few years ago, I discovered the snowshoe trails at Mont Cascades. I was frustrated that the NCC had started to charge a fee for snowshoeing in the Gatineau Park, yet provided little in the way of services for the money. Unlike crosscountry skiing, snowshoe trails don’t need to be groomed. And the NCC wasn’t charging for winter hiking trails, which were being groomed.

Trail 56 to Lac Taylor

It’s been a while since we’ve hiked this trail. But my last blog post about has been getting a lot of hits in the past month so it was a reminder to try it on the first weekend of the Gatineau Park’s Fall Rhapsody.

This time we approached it from route 366 in la Pêche instead of the 148 near Luskville. When we exited autoroute 5 at chemin de la vallée de Wakefield, we passed by a packed P17 before 10 a.m. I suppose a lot of active people had the same bright idea to get out early for some exercise in the beauty of nature.

Patio Fridays #14

The new format for patiofridays is working much better. A late lunch followed by a few drinks discovering new-to-us patios.

Patio Fridays #13

With the weather getting cooler and the days getting shorter, we decided to mix up the order of patiofriday. Instead of stopping at the last place for food, we decided to start with a late lunch.

Cycling the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail: Upper Canada Village to Cornwall

NosyNeighbour and I have been going through travel withdrawal. And while I was frustrated to not plan our Austrian ski vacation for last winter, given the COVID hot spot in the Austrian Alps, I am now glad that we weren’t on vacation when the pandemic hit.

Patio Fridays #12

We decided to head to Old Ottawa South this week, having almost exhausted all the patios that are open in the afternoon. This week our stops included: Patty’s Pub, The Senate Tavern, Quinn’s Ale House and dinner at Lansdowne.

Patio Fridays #11

The streak of sunny Friday afternoons was finally broken. Maybe it was because for the first time we had company on our journey to explore patios in Centretown.

Patio Fridays #10

One of the challenges of patiofridays is that some patios only open at 4 p.m. That’s why we went back to two of our favourite patios. But the reason we started date night was to get to know our new neighbourhood. And then lockdown happened. So we started patiofridays. But I’m not keen on being on a busy patio with people who may be tipsy and not follow public health guidance.

Patio Fridays #9

I really thought I had written this blog post already but realized when I went to write about #10 that I hadn’t written it yet. Maybe it’s because we visited some of the same places and it’s all starting to become a blur. At least I can backdate it when I publish.