This is the 5th of a series of posts dealing with my 2024 trip to Eastern Canada. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports (typos, bits I don’t feel like making public). Also, I’ve added additional thoughts with the hindsight of a year later or to add further clarification. These are indicated by “NOW”.
Someone nearby was coughing rather dramatically last night and I have a mildly irritated throat. Hope I haven't caught a cold from him. If you're sick, both hotels/hostels and transportation can refuse you entry, so catching a noticeable cold during the trip could conceivably cause me to wind up on the streets.
[NOW: I managed to avoid getting sicker this trip beyond mild throat irritation and coughing.]
I left Wilson Hall and did another circle around the Free Palestine encampment, I scouted again to where I'll be staying when I come back to Toronto, since this place was booked on some of the days of the second Toronto portion. I visited Yonge-Dundas Square and had breakfast at McDonald's (the one nearest the Square). I visited Union Station to doublecheck the train times. I briefly visited the park by Jack Layton Ferry Terminal before returning to Union. I bought a GO Transit daypass (all transportation today that service). I could have gotten a cheaper one but it would have meant no souvenir and I think it would require paying by phone, something I'm very reluctant to do. Was disappointed by the lack of physical schedules. I took an eastbound Lakeshore East train (all GO trains and all GO buses today were doubledeckers) to Oshawa Station in Oshawa. I snagged an upper front seat of the 92 bus and took it to downtown Oshawa.
[NOW: Yonge-Dundas Square is now Sankofa Square.]
I visited Comic Alley Toys and Sunshine Variety; I suspect the DVDs in the latter are rental only. I started to go to Gnu Books but changed my mind. It's a long walk, I lost nearly an hour doing the trip on a Sunday, and it was overcast. I returned downtown and it started to rain just as I was arriving at Worlds Collide Comics, where I bought a comic hardcover. I visited Entertainment Cube and Memorial Park. Leaving downtown, still raining I visited Henry's Cameras looking for a backup camera but apparently no current cameras use my kind of batteries. I visited Deja Vu Discs (note: unlike the saying, no accents on the store name, any branch. I got lunch at Burger King and took it to the bus stop first before eating. I took another 92 bus to Whitby (got a top front seat again). Due to the rain risking my camera, I decided to skip Comic Book Addiction, which was in the opposite direction. As I was arriving at Whitby GO Station, the rain started comic down harder so even though I was almost there (I had to put on my poncho. A train arrived just as I was doing that. so I only just missed the train due to the rain.
I finally took a westbound Lakeshore East train (every subsequent train reference is same) to Ajax GO Station in Ajax. Rained there too. I did walk to Deja Vu Discs and Buy & Sell Kings. The rain got a bit harder, so using the somewhat clear poncho from Niagara Falls Ontario, I covered the camera and took photos through the plastic. Obviously that altered the look of the photos a bit but at least I could do photos with minimal camera risk. It did subside enough for me to stop covering it with the poncho. I arrived back at Ajax GO Station, making good use of covered areas. I took another westbound train to Danforth Station in Toronto, skipping Rouge Park Station at this point due to rain. It had stopped raining by the time I arrived at Danforth. I visited Buy & Sell Kings, then returned to the station and chanced Rouge Station via an eastbound train.
I walked from there to Rouge Beach. It rained a bit en route but not too bad; saw geese with goslings along the way. An outhouse had a large puddle inside (just rain water). The beach is at Lake Ontario and Rouge River runs into it. The river separates Toronto from Pickering. I briefly visited the Pickering side including an overhead lookout area.I returned to Toronto and got a few more shots before leaving. Even with the bad weather I could tell this was a place to return to in a later trip, hopefully with nicer weather. Walking back from Rouge Beach to Rouge GO Station, a rabbit crossed my path.I took a westbound train back to Union Station. I checked a luggage drop off place (more on this below) and learned I would have to book online. I walked along Canada's Walk of Fame, this time less focussed on getting the names in the shots. I visited Sonic Boom Records, which no longer sold DVDs. I visited Nathan Phillips Square again.
At Toronto Eaton Centre I visited Indigo. At Bourbon Grill I managed to snag a bigger container of food than usual because they were closing for the day and it had all the remaining food. I went to Yonge-Dundas Square, where a musician was playing again. Someone sitting near me was playing his own music so I moved. I returned to Wilson via the Free Palestine area.
Megabus has baggage and weight limits so to avoid being burned I booked baggage storage for the time I'll be in Ottawa. That way I don't risk having to sacrifice my carry on suitcase that I inherited from my dad.
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