(Mom's birthday. She would have been 82.)
On our last full day in Alliston my sister took Glenn and me on a driving tour of surrounding towns. We passed through Tottenham where there is a steam train but I believe we were just a few days too soon for its running season, Newmarket and Barrie, to name a few. Somewhere along the way we picked up some of my favourite Beeton honey. Too bad we were missing a honey festival by one day.
We went to this interesting church (St. James?) in Colgan.
A Pieta replica is out back.
This house in Schomberg, now a restaurant/pub, was the former home/office of a doctor related to a friend of ours. It wasn't open for business when we arrived but a young woman let me in. She showed me the dining room and explained that it was the doctor's operating room, and the morgue was below it! She gave me free rein to wander the grounds. The lilacs smelled nice.
Continuing the drive we passed this unusual building.
Still lots of farm country.
We came to the East Gwillimbury municipal hall. Right beside it is the Sharon Temple, built by former Quakers I believe.
What vivid greens! This small building was nearby. 
We drove along Canal Road where a canal runs through farmland. Farmers bring Mexicans up to work... and in winter cars slide off the road that runs along the waterway. Redwing blackbirds were here. In fact, redwing blackbirds were nearly everywhere we went across the country.
This is one of those things you don't think about on the west coast. My sister says these little roadside huts are built for children when they have to wait for school buses in winter. Of course. Otherwise they might freeze to death standing out there in blizzards and freezing cold temperatures.
We drove in to look at the Honda plant, or one of the Honda plants in Alliston. This is where our little green car was built. I had no idea how huge this industry is in Alliston. Honda wanted to build another plant but a road was in the way. Honda got the road! And now the population has to drive some distance out of its way, but they don't mind, I'm told. There are many, many business that supply parts and services to Honda. My nephew has explained how it all works and it's quite ingenious. We drove by a parking lot with row upon row of white semi trailers. I'd never seen so many in one spot. My sister said that it was Friday so, because of the recession and cutbacks, the trucks sat idle for a day. You could see that if Honda ever went out of business, it wouldn't just affect Honda but all the other businesses connected to it, and it would be devastating to the town.
It may be Honda's home but it's also home to these geese.
Back at my nephew's house, Glenn and I went for a walk around the back streets of the neighbourhood before suppertime. They do use a lot of brick in Ontario.My sister put on a wonderful big spread including her fabulous potato salad. We visited more relatives I had not seen in years and met some new ones, including my other nephew's wife and their two year old son whose birthday we were celebrating. We spent an enjoyable evening in the back yard watching him open his presents and run all over the lawn. Glenn even did some drawing with him.
So, that was our last full day in Alliston.
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