Dana and Andrzej were gracious enough to extend an invitation to us to come and visit their area. We were finally able to go this year. They were absolutely wonderful hosts and we thank them for the opportunity to visit.

We spent our first day in Barrie seeing the old downtown area and also took a ride on the Serendipity Princess boat and toured the bay. There were a lot of high dollar homes there!

All images unless otherwise noted were taken with a Canon EOS 5D
and are © 2006 D.M. Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

A neat sculpture called the Spirit Catcher.	We took a ride on this--the Serendipity Princess.
My summer home. I wish.	Those Canadians think of everything!
Street scene.

Our second day was spent at the Bear Creek Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary. Dana and Andrzej are involved with them and we got a behind-the-scenes tour. I also, thanks to Andrzej, was able to do some incredible photography thanks to the opportunity to get into areas that are closed to the public. Unfortunately, I don't know the animals as well as they do, so I only have a name or two to identify them. A big thank you to Dana and Andrzej. And a big thank you to Mary and Warner, the owners, who made us feel like family.

Monkey love!	You can just see a brave bee buzzing around this tiger's head.
Mmmm...	Now that's a big kitty belly!
A couple of the wolves.	Pretty tiger.
Peek-a-boo, Andrzej!	RIP Mydnyte. My heart is breaking.
I see you, but you can't see me!	Tonka, my favorite guy at Bear Creek.
Pretty cougar.	I'm so pretty!
Oh, I simply cannot stay awake any longer.	Cougar
Lynx	Lazy lion.
Yeah, what do you want?	Gorgeous!
I'm going to get you!	Don't bother me, I'm watching something.
I told you not to bother me!	Something smells funny!
Yawwwwnnnnn!	Get back! I mean business!

During our visit to Bear Creek, we had an amazing opportunity. They had babies that we could interact with! There was a 3-week-old cougar in the house. In honor of CrowDog, they named him Nequa (CrowDog's first name). It means Native Son. What a wonderful thing to do! We found that even though his eyes were barely open and he could only scoot along the floor, he could already growl and hiss! We also were able to play with the two 3-month-old Jaglions, Jahzara and Tsunami. Their cage mate, a lion cub named Bomani, also got to come out and play. It was a blast having them run us all over the front yard. It was like a bizarre square dance with us ducking under leashes and exchanging them to keep them from tangling up as the cubs attacked each other. "My" little lion had a great fascination for the lawn mower. And he had a great fascination for the German Shepherd who only wanted to play fetch! Playing with the babies is something that I'll remember the rest of my life.

Nequa, the 3-week-old cougar.	Donna with Nequa. Thanks, Dana, for taking the pic!
Mary with the baby cougar.	Dana, with Jahzara (Jaglion) and Donna with Bomani (lion cub). Photo © 2006 Andrzej Taramina, Tarafrost Photography.
Donna with Bomani who is thinking of attacking the German Shepherd! Photo © 2006 Andrzej Taramina, Tarafrost Photography.	Donna (with Bomani) and CrowDog with Tsunami (Jaglion). Photo © 2006 Andrzej Taramina, Tarafrost Photography.

Our next destination was Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where we took a day-long ride on a train to visit Agawa Canyon. It was a beautiful park and a nice train ride. However, it took me a couple hours to stop feeling the rocking motion when we got back.

Our dome car--no kids!	A view out the back door of our train. We got yelled at for being out there.
A lake seen from our car.	Our dome car.
Flowers in the park.	A view of the picnic area of the park.
South Black Beaver Falls.	Bridal Veil Falls
A butterfly on some flowers.	A bee on some flowers.
A view inside the dome car on our return trip.	A few of the cars behind us. A bit foggy due to the plexiglas windows.

All images unless otherwise noted were taken with a Canon EOS 5D
and are © 2006 D.M. Anderson. All Rights Reserved.