Soylent Green is People
September 9, 2024 — Day 9
Struisvogel Ranch, Carrying Place, Ontario — Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary & Nature Campsite, Ingleside, ON
(Note, this is being written in Mid-October, but I’m going to make the published date mid September just to keep the trips together.)
Before we left we had to go see the ostriches! They didn’t open until 11 so we had a slow morning. Paul tried the latest haul in his odd-soda quest. This time it was Coke flavored with maple syrup!
Let’s just say it must be an acquired taste. To be fair, Paul doesn’t like Coke, he drinks Diet Coke and the two are very different. It had a slight maple flavor, we thought it would have more maple, but the maple was certainly there! (susan here: of all the weird-flavored beverages he’s purchased this one had the most potential. Think coke with maple syrup after taste. Certainly better than cucumber soda which was the worst of any he’s found. That was a real gagger.)
We drove over around 11:01 because it was raining, ok, heavy misting. We think the owner was watching because she was leaving the house, entering the barn/gift shop just as we got there! Lots of pictures coming!
First the incubator.
Then the newborns from a webcam, it can take a few days for them to get out of their shell.
Then the chicks.
We bought some stuff. It’s not mandatory at a Harvest Host but it is nice after all we’re getting a free space for the night. If nobody buys things then the hosts will just go away, and then where are we? (susan here: in a Cracker Barrel parking lot?) Susan got a T-shirt and Paul got some strange Soda that is made locally. Each can has a picture of an ostrich. Of course we don’t have a photo. But then we went out into the yard to see and feed them!
First stop is the egg stand where you can stand on an ostrich egg. They’re incredibly strong and can support 300lbs!
Then we fed them, which was, I think $5, but $5 Canadian, which is about a 25% “discount.”
Some were getting aggressive with each other. Check out the eye on the middle one above. And these ostrich below were feeling rather zippy. There was lots of wings flaring.
We could see the breeders area but weren’t allowed in, the owners didn’t want anyone disturb the parents.
So back around the barn to visit the chicks.
We still had to drive to the next campsite so it was time to leave. We encountered a narrow bridge. Susan just seized the lane, driving down the middle. We do this going over the bridges Cape Cod.
We think corn was in this structure, or maybe Soylent Green.
It was a pretty uneventful drive. Susan noticed it first, “It’s fall here!” Sure enough, some of the trees had started to change.
The road, I mean the trail, to the campground was wide, paved and smooth—except it was the opposite.
We setup camp and Paul played radio. The deer were not affected by the antenna. (susan here: they probably thought it was the weird relative that everyone whispers about.)
Daily: 257 km (200 miles)
Total: 1,324km (823 miles)
Driving km/Day: 265 (165 miles/day)
Overall km/Day: 146 (91 miles)