When my kids were still going to elementary school, often a post-summer assignment was to write about "What I did on summer vacation" as a way to bridge the kids from summer back into school mode.Now, I've only got one child left in school, and she's in Grade 11 this year; I'm having doubts that she'll be required to come up with such an essay - but if she were asked to, what would she say?As a 16-year-old with her own ideas of what's good in music and movies and so on (and it's often as far away from mom-and-dad's tastes as possible), I fear the words "boring" and "nothing to do …" would enter her description, plus working lots of hours (but still not full-time).So to bring balance to the picture, I would submit our family had a nice, relaxing time that wasn't as "boring" as all that. On our drive out to Ontario, some of the family members saw examples of wildlife they had never seen before; while I was at the wheel, I saw at least two moose in proximity to the highway. The first one was the right-hand ditch, and at first was a large dark hulking shape - then the moose lifted its head as we drove by. The second one I caught a glimpse of was in the process of climbing up onto the highway on the left side, which kind of unnerved me, and made me glad we weren't there to see if it trotted across or not.Otherwise, the two girls and I saw a black bear after going for a walk on a gas-break; a deer and fawn ran across the highway right in front of me; and I saw three or four foxes right by the side of the highway. This isn't a huge number, but I've been on many trips where no wildlife of any kind was spotted.One of the highlights for me of the stay in the Sault was to see two tall ships put in at dock, the HMS Bounty, and The Pride of Baltimore II. The Bounty was the actual ship used in the movie, "Mutiny on the Bounty", an early Mel Gibson-Anthony Hopkins movie, while the Pride was a replica of the ship of the same name used on the American side in the War of 1812.There were also lots of opportunities for relaxing, including a day at a beach, a shopping day or two, a movie night, a barbecue and bonfire at my wife's brother's place, and lots of visiting with family and friends.On a personal level, I was able to get lots of sleep, do lots of reading, some writing, and do some photography of some of the scenery and the tall ships. All in all, I found it was an enjoyable and relaxing time off with the family, minus one (who was touring in B.C. with her hubby). And that, class, is what I did on vacation.
