July 30 Wednesday, Conestogo Lake Conservation Park, ON

Woke to a very grey day, and it soon turned to rain and a thunder storm, headed off with the wipers going for the first time. Decided it was a good morning to find a Laundromat and catch up, headed into Elora. We do light laundry every day in the shower, and it dries well during the day, but every week need to wash sheets and towels, and shirts. So this was a first…and it worked a treat, they had big commercial machines, so in 20 mins the washing was done for $4, and about another 20 mins to dry for $1.25. Met Marcel from Montreal doing his laundry, another long interesting chat.
Elora proved to be a real discovery, an historic village, built around a mill on the Elora Gorge, and the buildings have been restored, with lots of boutique type shops, quite a few with an art focus. Although aimed at tourists, it was not tacky, and I found a Reikers shoe shop, that had a sale…bought a great pair of red walking sandals, so so comfortable. The heel straps on the pair I bought at the start of the holiday have already parted company! Lunch stop was a little French café for a soup and sandwich lunch and coffee.
The weather had cleared, decided after reading about a market in Kitchener (225,000 population) in Lonely Planet to head into it. But not a good call, “Jilly”, got us there brilliantly, but the market was only a few vendors, and in a rough part of town. Keyed in the Mennonite town of St Jacobs into “Jilly”, and she got us out of the city, but once again it was a real tourist mecca, and not at all what we like. So decided to call it a day, and stopped at the library in Elmira to do my emails and load the blog, and out to a camp on a lake at Conestogo. $34 for the night. We are struggling to find campsites that are just basic with electricity and no frills. Hopefully as we get further north and east and away from the cities, it may improve. We are aware that this coming weekend is a 3 day, and the camps will be full, so booked a 3 night stop up in the lake area, it will probably be good to have a relax for a few days.
We are really coming to grips with “Jilly” the GPS, and it makes traveling so much easier. Ian can also keep an eye on the map while he is driving, to see what turns are ahead. It is invaluable in cities, using motorways, with not having to think ahead as to what lanes we should be in…..I am sure it has saved the “navigator” from a matrimonial!