Niagra Falls

We arrived back at Somerset Centre on Monday and left for Niagra Falls on Thursday! Roger is doing some work at the Niagra Falls Airport and since he drove my house here, I came too! It's lovely fall weather here. We spent Saturday afternoon in Niagra on the Lake, a small town in Canada right near the Niagra River and Lake Ontario. The town is full of beautiful restored old mansions and there are flowers everywhere. We ate lunch in the patio restaurant at Niagra on the Lake Golf Course - right on Lake Ontario. It is the oldest golf course in North America - it has been there 135 years!

We rode our bikes along the river yesterday afternoon and went in to see the falls in the evening. We were surprised that the park around the falls is open 24/7. They shine colored lights on the falls at night to give them a rainbow look. They are amazing any time of the day!

Return to the Scene of the Crime

Today (Sunday) has been the nicest day we've seen in ages - 60 degrees, blue sky and no wind! We took the ferry across to Mackinac Island and rode our bikes the 8 miles around it. Less people and congestion made it nice and I stopped to look at the scenery - so I managed to stay on my bike this time! The water in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron is crystal clear - you can see all the stones along the shoreline. We enjoyed lunch with a great view of the harbor, shopped around a bit and then came home. I'm so fortunate to be able to come back and ride the trail I missed last year!

We were remembering the summer we flew a small airplane from Texas to Michigan and brought the girls to Mackinac Island. They were about 8 & 10 and disappointed that we didn't go directly to Grandma & Grandpa's house. We landed at the airport on the island and told the girls we would call a taxi to take us to town. They didn't know there were no cars on the island, so when they heard the "clip clop" of the horse and buggy "taxi" they were excited. We rented 4 bikes, did the trek around the island and had such a fun day that we all have good memories of it!

You Know You're a Redneck......

You know you're a redneck if................you park your car on the side of the road in Mackinac City at 7:00pm and wait until 8:45pm for a parade of semi-truck/trailers all decked out with chrome, lights, fancy paint jobs and polished to mirror finishes! Yup, we watched about 100 trucks come across the bridge and drive through town blaring their horns and applying their "jake brakes." All part of the Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show - see the video on the city's web page for just a glimpse of the excitement!. My favorite was a semi trailer painted with a tribute to the military - it was awesome!

Third Annual Mackinac Bridge Antique Tractor Crossing

Over 800 antique tractors lined up for the 3rd Annual Mackinac Bridge Crossing yesterday - tractors of all different colors, sizes and conditions driving across the bridge from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace. A fun experience for Duane, Bill & Roger to do together. Dave, Marion, AnnaLee, Salle and I went to breakfast and then lined the street with the other spectators to see the "parade."

Our 21 day trek around Lake Superior has ended - everyone is leaving to go home today. Roger & I are going back to Somerset Centre, where we stayed this summer, until the end of October. We had a great time with family - we are not used to having traveling companions!

Sault Ste. Marie

We left Canada - the customs agent searched the motor home! - and stayed two nights in Sault Ste. Marie. The campground is right on the river so you can watch the big ships go through the locks. The guys toured the Bush Plane Museum and us girls went back to Canada and toured the shopping district!

Agawa Bay

On the road again…..to Wawa where their mascot big goose welcomed us to town! We unhooked the Saturn and drove to see High Falls and Silver Falls. Six of us can fit if Bill rides in the trunk!! Enjoyed our picnic lunch and then drove on to Agawa Bay.
We are at Agawa Bay Campground – located right on the shore of Lake Superior and nestled in the pine trees - it is gorgeous! Getting the trailers and our motor home into the sites was “kind of tricky” (as Samantha would say.) Thank goodness all the guys are good at maneuvering the rigs but, even Roger was nervous about scraping the sides! We watched the sunset from the beach and decided since it was so difficult getting in and out we would stay a couple of nights.
Another gray, rainy day but we went exploring anyway – afraid if we wait for the sun we won’t see much! Our neighbors said there was a terrible storm last week and the waves that were crashing into the shore were about 10 feet high!
This is a beautiful portion of the coastline. Lovely, isolated coves dot the shoreline and the rocky outcroppings remind us of Maine. We stopped at Katherine’s Cove and Sinclair Cove. Where you can not see the coastline there are hundreds of small pristine lakes and rivers nestled in the trees. We keep looking for a moose munching on the shoreline!
The Sand River flows into lake Superior and the water falls down a beautiful rocky terrain. We hiked up to the top of the first falls but not the entire path.
Roger & I hiked down to see the Obijwa pictographs but, omg! – a treacherous trail and we did not venture out on the cliff to see the 35 drawings! Look at the pictures and you’ll see why!
We’ve enjoyed our morning coffee out on the windswept beach. A few whitecaps today. Montreal Island is directly across from us. We were told the Canadian government established a caribou herd on the island but, about 4 year years ago the bay froze and either wolves got to the island or the caribou left because there are none there now.
On our way to Sault Ste. Marie today after we disentangle the motor home from the trees!

Aguasabon Falls & Gorge

We drove from Thunder Bay to Rossport, Ontario yesterday with rain and sunshine alternating throughout the day. We stopped to see Quimet Canyon, supposedly the “Grand Canyon of Canada” but, there is no comparison! Roger & I saw a black bear on the side of the road as we drove into the park – by the time I alerted everyone via our “walkie talkie” and got my camera out he was long gone!! We had to park the RV’s, unhook our car and shuttle everyone back to the trail leading to the overlook. A nice walk in the woods and a pretty spot – we had lunch and then continued our trek.

I have been disappointed that we could not see more of the coastline in our travels – the road is inland and the trees block the view of Lake Superior except for occasional glimpses – but we finally had some beautiful scenery the last part of our way here. We are camped at Rainbow Falls, along the shoreline and it is lovely. Roger & I got up early this morning to see the sunrise over the bay. We planned to hike back to the falls this morning but the gate was closed!

We drove toward Marathon and stopped at Aguasabon Falls and Gorge on the way. We are staying the night at Whitesand Lake Campground – a place truly out in the “boonies!” We are all trying to earn some money playing “31” and “Right, Left, Center.”

                                                                                                                          

 

 

Good News: better scenery and better weather today.

 

Bad News: no phone or internet service and Dave & Marion’s slideout is not working properly – Roger and Bill are literally pushing it in and out manually!

 

 

 

This old logging wagon is on display at Whitesand Lake. The wagon and the sleigh rails are all made of wood. In the winter, it was used, each night, to drizzle water on the logging road to create ice ruts for the other wagons to follow during the day. The ruts prevented the other wagons, loaded with logs, from slipping off the road. Sounds like a cold, lonely job for those night time drivers!

 

 

                                                                       
Trivia: White River, Ontario is the home of “Winnie the Pooh”

Thunder Bay

We arrived in Thunder Bay, Ontario yesterday after a pretty drive along the coastline. We stopped at Grand Marais for shopping and lunch – continued to “High Falls” on the Minnesota/Canadian border – then across the border to Ontario. I had to “off load” some wine to Bill & AnnaLee because customs only allowed so much per person!

I am writing in “live writer” and will upload this to my blog when we have internet service – we unplugged our Verizon card so we wouldn’t be charged “roaming” rates!

There was a vicious storm during the night and it was still nasty this morning but we took off exploring anyway. Guess it’s how the town got it’s name!

Kakabeka Falls, means “thunder water” in the native Indian language and is located just west of Thunder Bay. They are the highest falls in Canada. Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is here too – the cliffs look like a side view of a sleeping giant.

We ate breakfast for lunch at “Hoito” – a restaurant know for their skinny pancakes – like a crepe – and “clobbered milk” which is like homemade yogurt. The restaurant was started many years ago to offer plenty of good, low cost food for manual or “bush” workers in the area - “Hoito” means “caring” in Finnish. When in Rome…….

Amethyst is a semi-precious stone mined in the Thunder Bay area so, after lunch we went shopping at the Amethyst Gift Centre.

We all have our jeans, sweatshirts and winter coats out but are hoping for nicer weather tomorrow! Roger and I are suffering from “technology deprivation” without the internet!

Two Harbors

We toured the lake coastline near Two Harbors, WI yesterday. A gorgeous "autumn like" day with clear blue sky and sunshine - in the low 60's. Splitrock Lighthouse is the neatest lighthouse we've ever seen. It was built in 1910 after a terrible November storm in 1905 wrecked 29 ships - the north east winds battered them against the steep cliffs and rocks along this northern coastline. Yesterday they were repelling and rock climbing on the same cliffs! I'll let my pictures speak for themselves!

Apostle Islands

We toured the Bayfield Peninsula today. We drove up to the town of Bayfield, WI - reminded us of Portland, Maine with its harbor full of sailboats and quaint downtown area. The weather is nasty - in the 50's, windy and raining but we made the best of it. Lunch and shopping and then out to Meyers Beach to see raging Lake Superior - 4 ft waves and strong winds - we did not stay long!
Roger pulled me out to the shoreline so Bill could get our picture and a big wave got us good!
There are 22 islands in the archipelago chain called the "Apostle Islands" located off the coast of northern Wisconsin in Lake Superior. The best way to see them is via a boat tour - big & small, each one offers something different. The violent storms and waves from Lake Superior have formed big sea caves, in some of the islands, that you can kayak through. The weather wasn't too conducive to boat tours so we had to settle for viewing them through the mist.