Napanee Vacation: Loyalist Cove and Toronto

I’m staying with my brother Ron and sister in law Adell, at their Hay Bay home near Napanee.  Gilbert is so enjoying romping about the acreage, sniffing everything, with his cousin cockapoo, Eva. They’re quite the team.  When one barks the other barks. Their capacity for excitement is unprecedented.
I shipped my sailboat to the Loyalist Cove Marina last fall so I’d be able to take my brother sailing this summer. With his pancreatic cancer stage 4 diagnosis I couldn’t expect him to come to the west coast to go sailing so I brought the boat to him. The SV Giri was stored through the winter in the Loyalist Cove Marina boat storage compound.  Now their rigging crew are restoring the SV Giri to good working order. Ron and I watched the mast being stepped after the boat itself was lowered into the fresh water of Lake Ontario.
My niece in law, Tanya, my nephew, Andrew and a couple of their friends had painted the bottom of the boat with the antifouling paint they use for Lake Ontario.  She also painted the topsides white which really makes the boat look presentable.
Ron’s cancer had stopped responding to the UBC chemotherapy protocol being provided by the Queen’s University, Department of Oncology at Kingston General Hospital.  Dr. Anna Tomiak , the medical oncologist in charge of Ron’s care is truly an amazing clinician.  Ron and my sister in law Adell, loved working with her residents as well.  
Now Ron has been transferred to Dr. Aaron Hansen, at Princess Margaret Hospital for a new clinical trial.  That’s what brings us to Toronto today.  We’re staying at the Chelsea Hotel which is so community conscious that it has special accommodation and reduced rate for patients like Ron attending weekly chemotherapy from out of town.
Ron rode a Yamaha 100 cc motorcycle across Canada until his wife and mother of his three children told him she didn’t think motorcycles were the safest vehicle for young father’s with babies.  Ron, who has always put his family first, sold his motorcycle.  I shipped down the Yamaha 250 I’d got for my friend who decided she didn’t want to ride it in Vancouver traffic preferring the Smart Car instead.  Ron’s not ridden it but it’s been there in his garage. He’s on the so called ‘blood thinner’ i.e. anticoagulant, Warfarin.  So far he’s not taken the motorcycle out even though Adell supports him doing anything that will help him overcome his cancer.
Since the motorcycle has been there I’ve been thoroughly enjoying myself riding it about the country roads of the Lennox and Addington county.
I rode to Belleville to attend a meeting one night and having been going back and forth from Hay Bay to Bath where the boat is now moored.
We attended Trinity United Church in Napaneee and witnessed confirmations and partook of communion.  A very uplifting community church with a real depth of spirituality present.
On the weekend Ron and I and Adell drove over to Picton and up to the Restaurant at the Inn on the Lake on the Mountain.  It was an incredible day of heat and family.  Brexit had just occurred so politics was a topic of conversation.  So much upheaval and so much confusion these days in the news with Canadian and American elections and now Brexit.
Meanwhile we were enjoying a lovely meal on a patio with blue skies.  After Ron and Adell pointed out to me the Adolpho Reach where I’d be sailing in a day or two.
While Adell take care of the dogs and house Ron and I drove to Toronto yesterday on the busy 401 freeway.  With some excitement and a few circles of the area we actually found the Chelsea Hotel and parked the car.  Checked in, we walked over to a favourite Dim Sum restaurant that Ron and Adell had found on previous excursions.  We had the best won ton and shrimp dim sum. I loved the sticky rice.
After we walked down Dundas and caught the subway at St. Patricks. I love the Toronto subway. So many good memories of riding it with my Aunt Sally and later with my first wife Baiba and then my second wife Maureen.
Ron and I were born in Toronto and when Aunt Sally was alive we both came to live with her for months at a time, lovely vacations with my mother’s extraordinary sister.  We reminisced about her riding the subway, having tea with her and our cousin Ruth Anne.
Ron wanted to see the new Tezla car which was on display in their store in Yorkdale.  I’d seen the Tezla car in Vancouver when it was first unveiled.  Ron talked with the lovely sales staff and enjoyed learning more about the ins and outs of this $85,000 car.  With his kayaking, bicycling and gardening my brother is very green. By comparison I was wearing my Harley Davidson t shirt and am not yet interested in electronic cars, not terribly impressed by the new electric harley either. I like the roar of the Harley engine and know ‘loud pipes save lives’.  Nothing beats playing Steppenwolf, “Born to be Wild”  on the stereo full blast heading down the freeway.  Meanwhile the little Yamaha is all I need for the flat rolling country roads around here.  Meanwhile Ron has the Tezla craze.
At the Bay I was able to get a sports jacket and slacks while Ron watched the soccer game.  Back at the hotel we were both exhausted by all the walking and glad to get in the hot tub on the top floor.
Now I’ve got to catch up to Ron at the Princess Margaret. He was off early this morning to have his blood taken and wanted me to meeting him on the 18th floor. Now having had a coffee, I’ll catch up to him and wait to learn the results.