Great Day Gravel Running

I had a grand day. I woke up in a strange bed at Sass' parents house. They have a lovely spot near the highest point in southern Ontario. They invited me up for a dose of homemade pizza and along with my pal Sass, I greedily accepted. I headed north yesterday morning with a bottle of Burgundy to pay homage and a smile on my face knowing I was going to spend the day with some great people.

Sass' father is a retired engineer who makes pizza now instead of mechanical contrivances for industry. He spent his career making his industry a safer place to work. Now he spends his days making his farmhouse nice and snug and making dinner for his welcome guests. Sass' mum is no slouch in the kitchen herself and she whipped up an amazing lunch as a prelude to the wood oven pizza. It doesn't get much better than this.

After a few wobbly pops to wash down the pizza, I retired early so we could get up in the morning and head to Ted's Range Road Diner. We make an annual trip there to hook up with some friends that we don't see often enough, and enjoy the best breakfast within a 40 mile radius. I recommend Ted's Gastronomical Sandwich if you make it for brunch. Otherwise, split the Bison and Whitefish with your best friend and have surf and turf. The Caribou medallions make a nice appetizer. Sass will vouch for me.

Ted's is an odd looking place, and you would never expect a gourmet meal in such a wacky looking spot. He has set up shop in an old Quonset hut several miles west of Meaford Ontario. He's just outside the gates of the Meaford Tank Range. Folks come from far and wide because Ted's food is so good. Almost as good as Sass' Dad's Pizza.

After brunch Sass and I hit the road in search of the old corduroy road and some springtime touring on the backroads. We were not disappointed. We stopped in the Epping Swamp to take a few pictures (which you can see below, along with a couple I took last month to show you the differences). We made it to the corduroy road, but it was pretty wet. We got some lovely shots, but none of them were much use to PJ for his TV project. We headed off to cruise down the Jungle Road. Anyone who knows me and the rest of my high school era friends knows the Jungle Road. It runs right through several country blocks of Grey County Forest. There aren't many people. Just lots of rocks, trees and critters.

All in all, we had a grand time cruising from Ted's, through the Bighead River valley, over the Beaver River valley and uphill to the Grey Highlands and the Dufferin plateau. Under a bright sun, we opened the convertible top, and our bellies were full of good food shared in the company of some good friends and family. I didn't want it to end.