Winter vs Summer Ontario

All of my mom's family live in Ontario so every second year we take a trip out east to visit them. We only started doing this when I was 18. So I've been there twice. Once during Christmas ( the first Christmas we spent with her family) and one this summer (due to the fact that her dad is really sick).

Both experiences were awesome. My parents are from a small town called North Bay, which is where we went to because both my grandparents live there. However the closest place to fly into without costing you an arm and a leg, is Toronto. Toronto is a 5 hour drive from North Bay. So the first trip out there was a bit scary because it was in the middle of winter and we had to drive 5 hours on a snowy highway with no maps (before I had a smart phone). The only thing I remember on the drive was searching for a Tim Hortons to make pit stops at!

Once we got there, the City of North Bay was breath taking. It was however very cold, which was annoying. But the snowy town was beautiful. I mostly liked seeing all the huge churches that they had.
There wasn't too much to do other than to visit family, and drive around (while the parents reminisced). So my spiel about the winter version of North Bay has pretty much come to an end. I did however love getting to visit my mom's side of the family though it was great to spend Christmas with them.

 

Me and my Uncle, the very first time I went to Ontario.

 This year, I was given the opportunity to go back to North Bay during the summer! My mom's dad is extremely sick and she wanted to visit him but not alone (my dad had to work). So I told my mom that I would do the trip with her as a mother-daughter bonding thing!

It was a great experience. The family aspect was of course the usual awesome experience. This time however there was a lot more do to other than just look at snowy buildings! North Bay is surrounded by two huge lakes so during the summer you can swim, take boat tours, and go hiking. There are tons of hiking trails and things to do outside!The entire week I was there, the temperature was in the 30's.

Me in the left photo and my mom in the right photo. Those are her brothers.
The man on the left is my Uncle Dan. He is the man in the previous photo above.

We went hiking up through a bunch of trees and eventually got to Duchesnay Falls. That was so beautiful, with tons of water and trees. It was so calming compared to the busy hustle bustle here in Calgary.

Duchesnay Falls

 I enjoyed the week we were there in the summer better than the week in the winter. Just because I'm a summer person and love water and beaches. The week was filled with swimming, sand castles, and walking around in the sunshine. We meant to go on a short boat tour via the Chief Commanda II to tour the lake but it didn't fit into our schedule.

Beautiful Chief Commanda II

 Both trips to North Bay were amazing but I enjoyed the summer version better (might be a biased opinion anyways). Has anyone else been somewhere during winter and summer? How did you like the two seasons differently?