In 1980, we moved to Kirkland, a suburb of Montreal, Quebec. These are some of the trips we took in the early 1980s.
We visited the Laurentian Mountains often, as well as a cottage in 1981. There, we shot at bats and frogs with Gary Ross, and of course, Uncle Sean visited, as he always did. We spent that summer swimming in the lake and playing with the owner's kids.
We visited Toronto in 1982 with Dad's broken foot. We went to the CN Tower, as well as Marineland and Canada's Wonderland.
In 1985, we also stayed at a cottage, where more of the same ensued. We also ate at Au Petit Poucet, where we had their signature ham. Otherwise, summer vacations and weekends were spent going to Ottawa to visit family. I did not like having to move to Montreal, so the 1.5 hour trips to Ottawa were regarded as a highlight of my youth. I also spent some great summers and winters with Brian Daly and brother Jason, building tree forts or going camping in Boy Scouts. We had great times in the summer parks programs (easy going day camp), and many days talking about Star Wars or playing pitching machine. In 1984, we won the championship game against a team we were never able to beat in the regular season. Brian's mother, Victoria, was from Saint Vicent and Brian had visited when he was younger. It's always been a goal of mine to eventually visit. Maybe this winter… The other Jason, Jason Forbes, also became a lifelong friend when we were 10. We met at a YMCA Saturday morning cooking class. He eventually travelled somewhere, which would influence my life, which I'll tell you about a little bit later.