I jumped ahead with that last post about the yellow brick, because it was post something yellow week, but I should probably tell you why we were in Canada at all.

My sister has retired and is finally in a position to travel and we decided just about a year ago that we were going to visit Kincardine, Ontario, because there’s a bagpipe parade there every Saturday evening during the summer months.

You might wonder how we knew that.

Well, the wonderful blogger and photographer Backyard Bird Nerd visited the town last summer and wrote about how beautiful it was. Given my sister is a bagpiper I thought she’d be interested and forwarded her the blog post. Together we decided we’d go check it out someday, and that someday turned out to be last week!

On Wednesday we packed up the car with two tents and enough stuff to house a small army and set off across the Bluewater Bridge from Port Huron Michigan into Sarnia Ontario. We had camping reservations at two parks, Points Farm for Wednesday and Thursday and MacGregor for Friday and Saturday nights. She was hoping to see a bagpipe parade. I was hoping to see the Milky Way.

And so our agenda was set.

But along the way we found other wonderful things, the first of which was a beautiful blueberry farm just past a stunning sunflower field. We actually turned around and went back to the blueberry farm, intent on buying some fruit to snack on. But we found so much more.

The owners are wonderful, happy and friendly people who have spent years improving this farm. Along with the blueberries there is an art gallery featuring work from local artists. And they have plans to expand into other areas, including medicinal plants.

They gave us a tour of the property and it’s truly beautiful. If you’re ever traveling Canada’s Highway 402, not far east of Sarnia, take a few moments to stop in, and definitely buy something!

And then it was on to the lake. Just like my Lake Michigan, the eastern shore of Lake Huron is sandy and beautiful, with the same Caribbean blue and green water.

We had a lovely wide campsite, the bathrooms were clean, there was a beach that allowed dogs, and wonderful walking trails.

The first full day there we went into the closest town, Goderich, to use the library’s internet. We wanted to find out more about Kincardine’s pipe parade.

The town is adorable, with a central square and shops all around it. As we got out of the car I thought I heard bagpipes. But it was Thursday afternoon, and we weren’t even in the right town. Maybe it was my imagination.

But when I heard it again we followed our ears to the center of the square where we found an outdoor stage with a bagpiper, a fiddle player, a keyboard player and a bass player! They were doing a sound check for a Celtic concert that was happening that evening!

Well, forget going to the library! We sat there and listened to them warm up and play and then we went to an early dinner at a local restaurant while we waited for the show to start.

What a fun evening! Three groups played, the whole town looked to be in attendance, people were swaying and taping their toes and singing along. Some even danced.

Little kids ran around and danced to the music up front. Everyone was smiling.

It turns out we stumbled onto a Celtic festival week in Goderich that apparently happens every year, where professional musicians teach classes during the week and put on a festival over the weekend, along with this free outdoor concert on Thursday night.

And we just happened to be there.

Friday we went back to the library and looked up the information we needed to find the pipe parade on Saturday evening. The library had a turret just like the library I used to go to as a 7 year old a few decades ago.

I felt right at home.

So how did the star search go? Well, other than seeing a few Celtic stars we didn’t have much luck. Wednesday and Thursday nights were cloudy.

We had a big storm blow through one night and we got a little damp wet.

But that’s another story. More to come.