SWITZERLAND
OTTAWA VALLEY Back Roads
JOHN SWITZER
Finally, it was the weekend! I had the luxury of some spare time, the sun shone bright and warm, the air was sweet with late spring and the open road beckoned. It was still early when I met a buddy at the Stittsville Timmy’s.
We grabbed a coffee and hit the road heading west, past Carleton Place, and, not for the last time, crossed the Mississippi River. We discussed the politics of the day, where the deals were for which car or motorcycle that we could not afford, then ridiculed our friends, while wishing they were with us. We shared our dreams and concerns about our families; you see we are dads and it is our job to worry. We saw the large stone church at the turnoff to Ferguson’s Falls; so rambled down Cty. Rd. 15 to Cty. Rd. 12. The sun bleached out all of our day-to-day mundane worries, as we listened to the song of the tires on asphalt, while inhaling the sweet smell of freedom and adventure. It is probably written somewhere that this is what they call the joy of movement.
For no good reason, we stopped at an old church (St. Patrick’s Church) and, as we strolled through the grave yard, we marveled at this lovingly constructed monument to a by-gone era of closely knit communities. The time worn headstones basked in the sun, while murmuring the names and dates of our ancestors reaching back to 1856 and beyond.
When we arrived in Lanark, we decided to visit the Lanark Landing Restaurant. We were not disappointed, finding both prerequisites of good food and friendly service. While wandering around Lanark, we stopped at the dam, from which the power had originally founded this unique, masonry enhanced settlement. The water was fast and fresh in the warm sweet air of spring and the smell of fresh cut lumber just added to the moment. We drove down Cty. Rd. 12 past the numerous sugar shacks, crossing the Mississippi River many times (we even found a covered bridge) to McDonalds Corners. We kept to the excellent paved roads, while enjoying the rock strewn landscape that made the truck bob and weave as we snaked along. Not bothering with directions or headings, we just let the road lead us and, after some time, we arrived …. back in McDonalds Corners! We had somehow looped around the countryside on Cty. Rd. 8, just because the roads were good and the sights and sounds were even better. Immediately before re-arriving in McDonalds Corners, my friend mentioned that “there sure was a lot of distance between coffee stops”. So we stopped at the McDonalds Corners General Store. Upon entering the store, we knew we had lucked in; not only did they have wonderful,
20 BOUNDER MAGAZINE
www.bounder.ca
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