Skating in Orillia again

Orillia has seven public outdoor rinks. So far I've only skated on two of them - the Murray Street Park rink, and the First Baptist Church rink.

I was back in Orillia on the February 23/24 weekend, but didn't have a chance to add a new Great Skate site to my list. My dad and I drove out to Sparrow Lake, to see if there were any opportunities to skate there. But while the scenery was beautiful, and the ice was thick enough to support fishing huts, there wasn't a clear, smooth patch for skating. Even the rink at one of the local resorts was slushy and neglected.

Sparrow Lake: hope they bring those benches in
before it thaws.

Later, once my sister's family had arrived, the prospect of driving all over town with small children hoping that one of the new-to-us rinks would be in good condition wasn't very enticing. So we ended up back at Murray Street Park, which is so conveniently located just a few blocks from my parent's house.

There was a skim of snow on the ice, but otherwise it was perfect for skating. My nieces enjoyed showing off their skating skills to their grandparents, and Six-year-old seems to have caught the knack of gliding - finally!



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