A Trip To Sudbury

May 11th was Mothers' Day.  It was also mom's 96th birthday!  We left home on Wednesday May 7th.  We drove back roads about 60% of the way, spending the night in Midland after visiting some breweries in Collingwood.  It was our first visit to this area, on the south shore of Lake Huron.  On Thursday we continued our drive north to Sudbury, and stayed until Tuesday morning, the 13th.  We managed the drive home in one go, taking about 7 1/2 hours.  Traffic and road construction did not hamper our journey.  

We ended up purchasing a new AC unit in Sudbury for the upstairs room, and we installed it this afternoon.  It's much smaller than the older one, which was 10,000 BTUs.  This one is only 6,000 BTUs.  It will get a trial run tomorrow and Friday, which are supposed to be pretty warm days.  We also came home with some fine ales from breweries along the way, as well as a restocking of Mead.

 

Trilliums were in bloom, and we stopped near Ridgetown to view some.

 

A quiet forest and some lovely trilliums.

 

Located in Alvinston ON, this has become a regular stop on the way north.  Our vehicle sits in the parking area.

 

The tap list at Northwinds Brewery in Collingwood.  We brought home some Nosey Parker and some Milk Run.

 

Just around the corner was Endswell Brewery, with some terrific English style ales on handpull!  There was also a separate pizza business inside with vegan pizzas, so we stayed a while and had our dinner.

The two beer engine handles are on Deb's right.  Both cask ales were superb!

 

Two ales were on cask at Endwell Brewery.  We will be back!

  

This is the final lock on the Port Severn/Trent canal.  After this lock boaters find themselves with access to Georgian Bay and the upper Great Lakes.

 

We hiked at Port Severn on the way up to Sudbury next day.  There were two dams, two waterfalls, and the canal lock.

 

The lake at Port Severn, which sits just above Georgian Bay.

 

One of the waterfalls scurries beneath a bridge at Port Severn.

 

Meanwhile in Sudbury a mining train crosses the Regent Street Trestle.  The trestle crosses two roads, three train tracks (two of which are mainline) and Junction Creek.  Trains pass about 100 meters from where my family lives, and where I grew up.

 

A quiet path leads from the hill near the family home to a vegan paradise corner in Sudbury.  There is a vegan Mexican restaurant, a vegan cafe and bakery, and, in season, a vegan ice cream shop.  The trail emerges at the railroad trestle, seen above.

 

Family dinner.  Deb's right hand on left edge.  Lynne, my sister-in-law; Emma Lee, my youngest niece; my brother Steve; Joe, partner to my oldest niece Alicia; mom.

 

Emma Lee created this masterpiece vegan black forest cake for our dessert.

 

Emma Lee puts the finishing touches on her creation. 

 

Since the family in Sudbury subscribes to Netflix and Disney+ (which we do not), we were able to continue watching the newest Dr. Who series.  We managed to finish Season One (much better writing, and some really fun stories), watched the most recent Christmas Special, and then caught the first episode of Season Two.  We also watched most of the rest of Season One of the newest version of Lost In Space.  We have one episode remaining in the first season.  Much like the old series, the adventures are mostly ruined by Dr. Smith.  This time it's a she, and she is evil through and through.  There could easily have been enough story opportunity without the miserable character of the doctor.  After a while one wishes to just stop watching, which is what we did.  The other characters are great, including the three kids.  Ruined by overuse of Dr. Smith; sound familiar?

 

In film news, there are two to report on that we watched before our journey north.   The Assassin is a film from 2015, split between Hong Kong and Taiwan.  Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien has created a masterpiece of cinema, a far cry from the acrobatic and violence filled Wuzia film type many have become accustomed to.  This film, by contrast, is mostly quiet and reflective, with occasional bursts of lightning fast fights that sometimes end with both combatants simply walking away.  The photography is stunning, the acting is restrained, and the sets are lush and a bit other worldly, with frequent use of filmy curtains.  The film won Best Director at Cannes!  It's easy to see why.  Worth more than a single viewing, this film is highly recommended.

 

The film is leaving Criterion May 31st.   

 

Antonioni's 1957 Il Grido follows a man who has been spurned by his wife.  She leaves him suddenly, though obviously things have been building for a while.  He keeps charge of his young daughter, and together they leave home and travel while he searches for work and a place to live.  The film is ruined by a totally stupid ending, but otherwise is quite good.  When he ends up at a lonely gas station with a beautiful woman who runs it, he has a grand opportunity to settle down and start a new life.  However, his problem is that he loves no other woman except his wife.  He thus throws away an opportunity that might have saved him.

The film rambles a bit, and the settings and locations are as bleak as the man's life.  One feels sorry for the little girl, whom he doesn't seem to really love or cherish.  She seems more like a stray dog to him that he picked up on his travels, and he treats her as such.  We meet many interesting characters along the way, including a former girlfriend who would also have liked him to stay with her.  He doesn't stay, choosing instead to move on like the proverbial wandering cowboy.

Though not a particularly great film, it has moments that are memorable and unique.  The frustration for viewers when he finally returns to his home village and sees his wife but fails to go and see and talk to her, are off the scale.  Then comes the stupidest ending of almost any film I have seen.  An early film by the master that his fans should seek out.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Mapman Mike