Fall Colours at Calabogie Lake
刚过的星期一是加拿大的感恩节公共假期。
去年我忙着写Mount Tremblant, 忘了解释什么是感恩节。今天就先谈一谈吧。
感恩节是北美特有的节庆，约始于16或17世纪，为了感谢上天赐予的好收成。由于加拿大位置偏北，冬天来得早，所以加国的感恩节比美国早一个月左右 （加拿大感恩节在十月的第二个星期一，美国则在十一月的第四个星期四）。依传统，感恩节是一家团聚吃一顿丰富火鸡晚餐的节日。在加拿大，很多人趁这个三天假期到郊外休息和看秋叶。
Last Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.
Thanksgiving Day is unique to North America. It is believed that Thanksgiving started around 16 to 17 century. It is a day to express gratitute for the things one has at the end of the harvest season. Locating more north and with a colder weather, Canada celebrates its Thanksgiving about one month earlier than USA. (Canada’s Thanksgiving is on 2nd Monday of October, and USA on 4th Thursday of November).
Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a day for families to get together and enjoy a large meal, usually centred around a large roasted turkey. Often, it is also popular long weekend cottage getaway and to observe the autumn leaves.
Calabogie Lake and Resort
就如去年的感恩节，今年我们和Ed弟弟的一家人租了一间郊外屋舍(cottage) 来渡感恩节。这次Ed弟弟选了一个人烟稀少的小地方 – Calabogie，它离多伦多约五个小时车程。这个小镇主要依旅游业来维生。镇上有座小山。兴建Mt Tremblant 的发展商在这里也建了个小型的滑雪场(如图）。山小，很适合新手学滑雪。
有趣的是，没下雪的日子，很多脚车手来这里downhill mountain biking （嘻嘻，抱歉，不知道它的中文翻译）。 Downhill mountain biking 就是，坐平时滑雪的缆车上山顶，再坐特别设计的脚车，一路从山顶‘滑’下山脚。做这种运动的都是年轻小伙子，为刺激。这还是我头一次见到这种运动，看他们脚踏车下山坡的速度，真为他们捏一把冷汗。
Like last year, Ed’s brother family and us booked a cottage for this Thanksgiving. Unlike Mount Tremblant, this time we chose a much quieter small town – Calabogie. It is about 4 to 5 hours drive from Toronto. Tourism is the many economy here, and there are also skiing facilities, built by the same company who developed Mount Tremblant. The hill is pretty small, hence it is a good place for skiing beginners.
Interestingly, the ski lifts are used by downhill mountain bikers during summertime. They take the lifts to the top of the hill, then go downhill with their bikes. We saw a group of young bikers, obviously, enjoying the speed and thrills for this possible last sunny weekend before winter arrive.
Sunrise at Calabogie Lake
镇上有个湖，叫Calabogie湖。我们的屋舍就在湖边。每天一早醒来时，可以见到日出，天边湖上都染了粉红色，很是好看。渥太华离这里很近，很多人在这里投资买渡假屋，周末一小时就可到达，有山也有水。我们租的屋舍就是Ed弟弟妻子的同事的。
Ed弟弟一家来过Calabogie好几次，对这里很是熟悉。很幸运的，整个周末的天气都很棒。为捉紧机会享受户外活动，我们将四天的节目排得满满的。早上多到山上小路走走，看落叶，看秋天玩颜色的游戏。中午骑脚踏车，傍晚到屋前的湖划船。晚上晚餐后，就到湖前起火看天上的月亮星星。这种生活好不写意！
我们都很喜欢这里，明年夏天会再到此一游！
The Calabogie Lake and the Calabogie Peak in town make this place a paradise for cottage getaway, especially for people from Ottawa, which is only one hour away. Many of them buy cottages here, like the one we booked is owned by Ed’s sister-in-law’s colleague. Our cottage is located right next to the water. Everyone morning, the beautiful sunrise wakes us up, to see the stunning pink dye at the sky and on the water.
Ed’s brother’s family has been here a few times, they know this area really well. Thanks for the gorgeous weather last weekend, we were able to jam-pack many outdoor activities throughout. In the morning, we would go out for a hike, then a bike ride in the afternoon, then boat rolling during the evening. After dinner, we then set up a camp fire next to lake, and enjoyed full moon in the sky ! It was absolutely a perfect long weekend away !
We love this place so much that we already started talking about another getaway here next year summer !
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