I had to go to a corporate event on Friday night which would have been much more difficult to endure if Steve Patterson had not been the MC. We made sure to listen to "The Debaters" on Saturday morning. I like his positive energy.

So, we left at 7.30am Saturday after heavy rains and winds but it looked benign enough, although that would change. It has felt like spring in Toronto on and off for a couple of weeks so we weren't looking forward to snow but that's what we got after the Holland Marsh. And, going through Barrie, there was heavy slush on the road in the left lane and the traffic was moving cautiously at 75km/hr - sort of like a cycling peloton - in the 2 right lanes which were slush free. But, of course, someone had to roar up on my left and spray so much slush on my windshield that I was driving blind for 4 or 5 seconds. It was terrifying but I'm sure that it was worth it for them to arrive a couple of minutes ahead of the rest of us.

The road was soft with holes but nothing bad enough to stop us. It's king of like rally driving where you need to maintain speed in places while searching for the sink holes and ruts. It started to snow steadily just after lunch with strong winds from the NW and that's what we got for the rest of the day. It felt like November except with daylight until 8pm.

The skiing is pretty much over. I'm sure that we could walk to the Clear Creek trail with our skis and do it but I'm also sure that we won't so it's on the next season's sports. I did 2 circuits of the lake on the mountain bike in driving snow and Siobhan walked/jogged. Peddling through 5cm of snow on top of soft sand or mud is tough going.

Spring is taking hold - even on what seemed like a winter day. The south facing shore has about 10 feet of open water and most of the snow is gone. The Black River is raging. We stopped at the Falls at Vankoughnet and it was as high as I've ever seen it. The road is underwater just downstream which cuts off about 10 houses.

We were able to get all of the camping equipment out in the car. I will ship the kitchen box by ground to Phoenix on Tuesday. We're heading back up to the cottage Good Friday morning.