Choose Your Own Adventure Saturday

When I was growing up, there was a series of books I loved called "Choose Your Own Adventure." In them, you'd decide every few pages which of two options you preferred, and then the story would twist and turn based on your decisions.

That's sort of what happened to me today. I had intended to check out two local festivals, but after I walked 3.3km to the first one, I couldn't find it. (Yes, I know that sounds strange, but it's true). It had to be in some building I wasn't familiar with, so I found myself next to a subway station and decided to get on a train instead of walking back towards home.

Without any forethought, I decided to go to the largest park in the city as I had never been there before, and it has been on my list of things to do before I leave the city. I arrived within a few minutes and plunged into the park, reading maps at first to find my way and eventually taking any and every off-the-beaten path that caught my attention.

I was well-rewarded and found a zoo with many exotic creatures, an exceptionally gorgeous garden, several sporting complexes, more trails than I knew what to do with, a school for the visually impaired, a museum, a tomb, a pond and a disturbingly friendly duck who swam about a foot away from me and refused to leave until he was quite sure I wasn't there to feed him (I did not use the zoom on my camera at all for this shot).

Before I knew it, I had covered another 5 or so kilometres and was too tired to explore anymore. I never did make it to either of the two festivals I had intended to visit. I do hope to return to the park again in a few weeks when the fall foliage should be completely breathtaking.