RV-Dreams Journal

More Rain Than Sun - (Tay Valley, Ontario)

I ate too much last night and was up at 1:45.  So I did some reading and didn't fall asleep on the couch until about 3:30. 

Eventually, I went back to bed and read and slept awhile longer.  There was no rush to get up as a steady rain had settled in.

I've become somewhat addicted to reading books written by "thru-hikers" that have tackled the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail.

I just finished "I Hike" ....

 

 

by a guy who has hiked all three trails.  And I'm currently reading "A Long Way From Nowhere: A Couple's Journey On The Continental Divide Trail".

 

 

That one is interesting because the husband and wife alternate writing each chapter so there are different perspectives of the same hike at the same time.

I picked those books up for "free" using the Kindle Unlimited Free Trial.

I fantasize about doing a long hike some day, but I'm not really interested in doing any of the three big U.S. hikes in a single year.  But I would enjoy the challenge of completing at least one of them, even if it is in sections over a few years. 

Once I got up, having just read more about long-hiker food challenges, I had cake for breakfast.  :)

My feet were hurting from yesterday's activities, and I wasn't sure about running today.  I'll have to get tougher before considering a multi-week hike.  :)

However, a little before noon, the rain stopped and I joined Steve for our run.  As we ran, we discussed possibly doing some overnight hiking together somewhere in the future while Linda and Esther did something more to their liking.

After lunch, Steve finished off the cake, and I was glad that temptation was gone.  :)

With the sun out and little wind, Steve started getting the aluminum boat ready for a tour of the lake.  But there was something wrong with the fuel line.  It wasn't long before the clouds rolled in and it started raining again.

Esther had bought a new game for the cottage called "Qwirkle".  So Linda & I broke it open and played while it continued to rain. 

 

 

It's a great little game.  It's not really a "board" game, but more of a table game similar to dominoes.  It's easy to learn, but there is more strategy than dominoes.  We had a good time playing it.

By the time we finished, it was time for dinner.  Esther made a delicious ham hock and bean soup, and Linda put together a salad.

After dinner, we watched a couple of hours of TV and then called it a night.

We're just chillin' here on the lake, so we're happy as long as it's not freezing cold and storming.  But it would be nice to have a couple of days in a row without rain.  :) 

---

Sports Birthday & Evening Feast - (Tay Valley, Ontario)

It was a beautiful morning and we had planned a day of sporting activities for my 51st birthday.  I don't like to make a big deal about my birthday, and I told the others not to make a fuss, but I was pretty sure the ladies were going to anyway.  :)

I took some photos of the back of the cottage before we got busy.

 

 

 

 

Then Steve and I did our morning three-mile run.  After we got back, we got showers and prepared for the second leg of sports activities - golf.

We were joined by Esther's father, Herman, affectionately known as "Herman the German".  :)

Herman is 90 although you couldn't tell.  He's in great shape and definitely has his wits about him.  Esther's mother, Rita, is 83 and she too seems much younger.  I'll get some photos of them in the coming days when they get back from town.

Herman was a heli-skier, meaning he was dropped off on remote, natural slopes by helicopter.  He started heli-skiing when he was my age, 51, and did that for 25 years.  He said he logged over 3.5 million vertical feet.

Today's plan was to play nine holes with Herman before he had to drive back to Ottawa this afternoon.  We went to Evergreen Golf Course outside the town of Westport.  It's a public, first come-first served golf course much like the municipal courses back in Louisville.  However, this one was in much better shape and a bit less crowded than those.

Herman uses a pull cart and walks the course.  Steve and I often walk and carry our clubs, but we decided to rent pull carts this time.  Herman doesn't hit the ball very far and his eyesight isn't great so we had to make sure we watched the ball for him.  But he was usually in or just off the fairway, and his game is pretty good.

It was a gorgeous day on the course, although I couldn't seem to put two good shots together.  My score was terrible, but I didn't lose any balls and we had a great time.

Back at the cottages, we had some lunch and then it was time for our tennis match.  Steve beat me 6-2 in the first set, and then I managed to win the second set 6-3, although I don't think he's showing me his "A-game" yet.  :)

We played a tie-breaker set and he won 7-5.  Whew.  I was drenched in sweat for the second time today.  But it felt great to be that active with a three-mile run, walking nine holes of golf, and a marathon tennis match.  We joked that we might get the boats out and do some paddling after dinner.  :)

After getting cleaned up, we joined Linda and Esther and Esther's sister Kathy and her husband, Geoff at the other cottage.

 

   

 

It clouded up, but I took a few shots while Steve grilled up some ribs, pork chops, sausages, and brats.

 

 

It's a little bit of paradise on this quiet lake.

 

 

 

Steve took a picture of us as we relaxed on the deck.

 

 

The table was set, and it was almost dinner time.

 

 

I was supposed to take pictures of all the food - the grilled meats, the salad, the fresh green beans, and corn-on-the-cob - but after all the exercise from earlier, I was hungry and just started digging in.  :)

After the fabulous meal in which I ate way too much, the gals brought out the cake Linda made and added candles.

 

 

Fortunately, the breeze blew out all the candles.  We enjoyed the swiss chocolate cake sprinkled with crumbled toffee candy bars along with some vanilla ice cream.

It was so good, we all went back for seconds.  I got a picture of half the cake, but there was only about a quarter left by the time we were done.  :)

 

 

After dinner and cake, we were all pretty much stuffed.  Esther & Steve and Kathy & Geoff gave me gift bags with Canadian souveniers.  So much for not making a fuss.  :)

The girls went next door and joined the neighbors for a campfire on the lake, but I retired to the cottage to do some reading.  I think I was asleep by 9:00.  :)

It was a wonderful birthday - busy, but absolutely wonderful.  :)

---

Rainy Day, Sushi Night - (Tay Valley, Ontario)

Today it rained even more than yesterday.  But it gave us a chance to do more catching up, and we relaxed with our Kindles.  I finished a book and started another.

Gavin, the fellow with the drone that we met at Indian Head Cove in the Bruce Peninsula National Park emailed us the video collage he put together in Tobermory.  We thought he was just going to email us the footage of that night, but he sent us the video taken over a few days that he edited and set to music.

It's five minutes long and a great visual overview of Tobermory.

 

 

Here's the YouTube link for those that want to view it there:  Aerial View of Tobermory.  Thanks Gavin!

Steve & Esther had some errands to run, and didn't get back until the afternoon.  When they returned, the rain let up just enough for Steve and me to go for our run.  

The rain continued throughout the afternoon and then the four of us got together for dinner.  The gals decided they were going to make sushi.  Steve & Esther had a neighbor that showed them and Linda took a class on our 50th Birthday Cruise last December.

So, they cooked some rice, sliced up some cucumber, carrots, avocado, cream cheese, and some cooked shrimp and imitation crab.  Many people think that sushi involves raw seafood, but "sushi" refers to a dish made with vinegared rice.  You can have vegetarion sushi with no seafood, or you can have sushi with raw fish or with cooked seafood.

Esther started and spooned some rice onto a sushi rolling mat and then added nori (edible seaweed) and the ingredients of choice.

 

 

Linda attempted a shrimp roll.

 

 

The first couple of sushi rolls they tried didn't turn out so good.  Let me re-phrase that, they tasted good, but they weren't very photogenic.  :)

Linda tried again, using the nori on the outside.  Now that one looked more like it was supposed to .....

 

 

and it sliced better.

 

 

Esther's next couple of rolls turned out prettier as well.

So, we had some laughs and ate sushi with a little soy sauce, ginger, and wasabi until we couldn't eat any more.

We made the best of a rainy day and went to bed early reading ourselves to sleep.  We'll dream of sunny skies for tomorrow.  :)

---

In Between The Rains - (Tay Valley, Ontario)

An extra benefit of being at the cottage here on Farren Lake is they have DSL internet.  So, with the rain, I've been catching up on uploading photos and posting Journal entries from our time at the beautiful Bruce Peninsula National Park area.

Fortunately, the rain stopped long enough this morning for Steve and me to run their "loop" which is about 5k (approx. 3 miles).  That's longer than I've been running, but it wasn't bad.

Later, Esther and Linda walked the loop.

Then it rained more.  Then it stopped and the sun came out.

Steve then called one of the neighbors, and we walked over to his house to play tennis.  I play tennis once every two or three years.  I rarely play but I have a decent racquet I got at Goodwill for $2.  I've never had a lesson, but I have decent instincts and ability even if my technique is terrible.  :)

Steve cleaned my clock, but I was getting better after two sets.  And it was a great cardio workout.  A year ago, I would have been lucky to get through one set without passing out.  :)

While we were playing, Linda and Esther drove into the town of Perth to the grocery.  By the time they returned, it was raining again.

As the rain continued, we did some reading until dinner time.

The rain let up and I grilled some salmon and sausages while the gals made a salad and sides.

After dinner, the rain stopped and the lake became calm.

 

 

We got some sunset color in the clouds just before dark..

 

 

It looks like it's supposed to rain again tomorrow, but that's okay.  We'll do some reading and relaxing, and we'll work on getting caught up on some emails and web stuff.

I'm just happy I don't have to drive anywhere for awhile.  :)

---

Long Travel Day To Farren Lake - (Tay Valley, Ontario)

With the weather forecasted to be rainy the next two or three days, we nixed any plans to make another stop on the way to Farren Lake where our friends own a couple of cottages.

The Google map said it would be a 350-mile drive taking eight hours.  I added an hour for fuel and food stops.  We rarely travel half that many hours in the RV, but we were anxious to get there, and we can barely tolerate hotel stays and the extra expense anymore.  :)

We left the Adventure The Bruce Inn just before 9:00 and made a grocery and breakfast stop in the town of Wiarton.  It was our first stop at a Tim Horton's, a Canadian fixture with over 3,000 locations in Canada.  We saw one in every town that had at least one stoplight. 

Tim Horton's started in 1964 as a donut and coffee shop but now has a much wider selection.  In 1995, they merged with Wendy's and they now have over 600 locations in the U.S. 

Our breakfast was good, and their prices were quite a bit lower than anywhere else we had been.  I'm sure that's part of the reason that every drive-through we saw was backed up and the parking lots always seemed to be full.

We left Wiarton hoping to find a gas station on the edge of town.  Nope.  We were getting quite low on fuel, so we were relieved to find one in a small town not too far down the road.

Now, the fuel is priced by liter and there are 3.785 liters to a gallon.  We paid $1.35 CAD/liter which came out to about $5.10 CAD/gallon.  With the favorable U.S. exchange rate, that was about $4.72 U.S.  Yikes.

Later on, we stopped at an Arby's for a restroom break and Linda wanted to get a fountain drink.  My Mom had given us a bag of Canadian coins she had collected over the years, and Linda was doing her best to use them wherever she could.  The cashier at Arby's was a little taken aback when Linda paid her bill with Canadian pennies, and Linda was confused by her reaction.

We didn't realize that Canada stopped making pennies in 2013, and cash transactions are now rounded to the nearest five-cent amount.  Most places still accept pennies, but they don't have to as the penny is being phased out.

With "sales" taxes, transactions still come out in pennies and checks, credit card transactions, and electronic funds transactions are still handled down to the cent, but merchants have already gotten used to rounding up or down for cash transactions.

Speaking of "sales" taxes, Canada has a federal 5% GST (Goods & Services Tax).  The provinces can add a PST (Provincial Sales Tax) that is charged separately, OR they can charge an HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) which combines both the federal and provincial taxes.  Ontario has an HST of 13%.

We're learning.  :)

As we traveled, we managed to avoid the rain for the most part although it always seemed to be right behind us.  Another thing we've noticed driving through Ontario is that there are a LOT of golf courses, even out in what seems to us to be pretty rural areas.  I brought my clubs, so I expect Steve and I will play a few rounds.

We finally arrived at our destination (about an hour and a half southwest of Ottawa) right at 6:00.   Whew, that was a long day of driving.

Esther & Steve greeted us and showed us around the two family cottages on the lake.  Though built in the early 1960s, they have been well preserved and exceeded our expectations.  It's going to be wonderful staying here for the next three weeks.

We met the family and they showed us to our quarters.  Esther & Steve are staying in their Class C motorhome.  They have a fifth wheel in Desert Hot Springs, California for the winter and they had a truck camper they were using for travel during the summer in Canada.  But they recently sold the truck camper and got the little 25-foot motorhome.  They are a couple of the Canadian full-timers we've met in our travels and have become great friends.

After we get settled and the weather clears up, we'll get some photos to share.  It's really nice.  :)

---

The Bruce Trail - (Tobermory, Ontario)

This morning we went to the Tobermory Princess Hotel for breakfast.  They had Wi-Fi there, but it wasn't much better than what we had at the Adventure The Bruce Inn where we were staying.

Rather than fight with it, we decided to go ahead and make the drive out to the section of the Bruce Peninsula National Park where we would be hiking and paddling today.

 

 

As we drove out Emmett Lake Road, we came to a fork.  Right would take us to the lake we intended to paddle - Emmett Lake.  Left would take us to the trailhead where would hike.  The plan had been to paddle first and then hike but, at the last second, we decided to hike first.

The lake was big and there was nothing particularly special about it other than it would be uncrowded and peaceful.  However, if we didn't paddle today, I was okay with that.  But I definitely wanted to hike this section of the Bruce Trail along the shoreline.

So we parked at the Halfway Log Dump Day Use Area parking lot.  Like the Grotto/Indian Head Cove/Cyprus Lake area, the parking fee was $11.70 CAD, but it was self-pay here.

 

 

Halfway Log Dump got its name because it was a place of easy access, between the cliffs, to the Georgian Bay for the logging industry.  Logs were dumped on the rocky beach for pick up and transport.

The trail was about 1k (.62 miles) from the parking lot to the shoreline where it intersected with the Bruce Trail.

 

 

We continued on past the sign above to the beach.

 

 

We didn't realize that the Bruce Trail was immediately behind that sign, and we started to look for the white blazes along the beautiful shore.

 

 

 

Realizing that the Bruce Trail is quite well marked and not seeing any sign of it, we backtracked and discovered that we had completely missed it.  The trail goes through the woods away from the lake.

 

 

Our plan was to hike the 2.7k to Stormhaven where there are backcountry campsites and pit toilets.  Along the way, the trail would pop out along the cliff tops for great views.

Now, the this trail section was listed as strenuous, but at only about a mile and two thirds, we discounted that.  Well, that short hike was more difficult that we expected.  There are no level areas - it's all either up or down and some sections are quite steep.

But with views like this, it was well worth the effort.

 

 

Other than birds, this ribbon snake was the only wildlife we saw.

 

 

But this hike is all about the overlooks and the gorgeous Georgian Bay water.

 

 

It looks like a tropical paradise, but the beaches are white rocks rather than sand, and the water, while tolerable in the shallows, is pretty cold.

 

   

We eventually climbed up to Cave Point which is the highest cliff in the park.

 

 

I could have just stood up there and taken in the views all day.  And often, we lingered several minutes.

 

 

 

After what seemed like a really long 2.7k, we reached Stormhaven.  Linda was happy to see the privy.

 

 

We walked down the steps past a few of the wonderful campsites and the "bear poles" where campers could hoist their food away from critters.

 

 

 

The campsites sat back in the trees just above this lovely beach.

 

 

Apparently some creative and industrious campers had been busy.  They built four lounge chairs out of slabs of the rocks, and Linda took full advantage.

 

 

 

While she rested, I headed west to see how far I could go before I was cut off by cliffs.  More clear water and rocks.  :)

 

 

  

Though there was some rock scrambling involved, I was able to go pretty far before I thought it would be wise to turn around.  It was maybe only another kilometer or so to Indiana Head Cove where we watched the sunset last night.

 

 

  

Back at the rocky beach, Linda was still resting on her "chair" and she wasn't ready for the hike back just yet.  So, I went in the opposite direction for awhile.

I had a great time scrambling around and over the rocks and stopping to take yet more pictures of the scenery.

 

 

I could see the huge cave in the cliffs below Cave Point, but it looked a little too ambitious to get all the way there.  But there was a smaller cave, and I scrambled up inside to take a look.

 

 

More picturesque views from inside.

 

 

 

I was gone a long time and the "Linda clock" in my head told me I'd better be getting back before she started to worry.

When I returned, she hadn't moved other than to get up long enough to add "arms" to her rock chair.  :)

 

 

 

We were there an hour to an hour and a half and didn't see another soul.  I was in heaven playing on the rocks, taking pictures, and just admiring the natural setting.  It was well worth the tough little hike.

As the sun got higher and it warmed up, we headed back.  With the lighting slightly better as we returned, I took pictures from many of the same spots .....

 

 

and threw in a few new shots as well.

 

 

Just when we'd think we traversed the toughest part of the trail, we'd come to another steep section.

 

 

It was only about a four and a half mile roundtrip (plus another mile for me scrambling around at Stormhaven), but it seemed a lot longer.  We were certainly ready to sit when we finally made it back to the Jeep.  But what a wonderful morning we had.  :)

We drove over to Emmett Lake and decided, by then, that it was too windy to have an enjoyable paddle, so we bagged that idea.  We'll have lots more opportunities to paddle on this trip.

On the way back to Tobermory, we had to pass the Cyprus Lake Road which leads to the Grotto and Indiana Head Cove.  Linda suggested that we stop and get some more pictures and just sit and people watch.  Plus, we'd already paid for parking for the day, so we might as well take advantage of it.

The signs said the parking lots were full, but when I got to the entrance booth, they said they had two parking spots available.  So, we took one.

The 1k back on the Georgian Bay Trail seemed a lot longer today than it did last night.  :)

And, as expected, there were throngs of people on the trail and at Indiana Head Cove.

 

 

 

The shot above includes a cliff jumper in mid-air on the far left.  There are signs saying cliff jumping is dangerous and illegal, but the daredevils didn't seem to care.  We had plenty of opportunity for people-watching ... that was for sure.  :)

We found a viewing spot high up on the rocks, and I left Linda there while I walked around and took more photos.

 

 

There was no one at the Grotto last night, but there were a few there today.

 

 

There were a couple of dive boats in the cove.

 

 

I returned to Linda.  It was a bit windy up on her perch, so we moved to a more secluded spot out of the wind to enjoy a little late afternoon snack.

 

 

A pair of kayakers glided by below us.

 

 

 

I have to admit I was a bit jealous.  That was the kayaking I wanted to do.  :)

We managed to get through our snack without giving in to the gull which was hanging around and hoping for a handout.

 

 

We moved spots a couple more times and continued to enjoy the sunshine and the clear water and the antics of all the people (and a few dogs).  We stayed for a couple of hours and more and more people arrived on this Friday afternoon.

Finally, it was time to call it a night and we slowly strolled back to the Jeep.

Back at the inn, the staff had moved our stuff to a new room.  We picked up a key and got comfortable.  The inn offers carry-out pizza, so we ordered one of those and they delivered it about a half hour later.

With poor weather predicted for the weekend, we decided to head out tomorrow and to skip other stops we were considering.  We would just go ahead and make the long 350-mile drive to Esther & Steve's cottage.

Well, that's it for our brief visit to Tobermory and the Bruce Peninsula.  We really like Tobermory and there is more to see and do in the area.  Perhaps one day we'll bring the RV and spend some more time here.  :)

---

Bruce Peninsula National Park - (Tobermory, Ontario)

Well, this enty may actually be a better introduction of Tobermory than the last one which I called Introduction To Tobermory.  :)

Tobermory, Ontario is within the Northern Bruce Peninsula Municipality which has a polulation of less than 4,000 spread over 188,000 acres.  The town of Tobermory at the end of the peninsula is home to somewhat less than half of the 4,000.

 

 

 

 

Tobermory is the gateway to the Georgian Bay, the huge eastern part of Lake Huron.  Lake Huron is the second largest of the Great Lakes by surface area, and the fourth largest lake in the world.  Georgian Bay by itself is 80% of the size of Lake Ontario, the 15th largest lake in the world.

This tiny town is home to two national parks - the Bruce Peninsula National Park and the Fathom Five National Marine Park.  It's known as the "scuba diving capital of Canada" and even the "freshwater diving capital of the world" due to the clear water and the number of explorable shipwrecks in the area.

There are two glass-bottom boat tour companies that take visitors to a couple of the shipwrecks and to and around some of the islands, including Flowerpot Island where there are two natural seastacks known as the flowerpots.  Photo from Flowerpot Island website.

 

 

We considered taking one of the boat tours, but decided they didn't quite meet our "value meter" criteria.  :)

So, this morning, we went into town - it's a small place and everything is convenient.  I had read the Coffee Shop had Wi-Fi, so we went there for a breakfast wrap and to upload pictures.  Unfortunately, they no longer had Wi-Fi.

They told us the library next door had Wi-Fi, but the signal wasn't very good outside and they didn't open until 10:30.  So, we decided to go do the easy Singing Sands hike/walk on Dorcas Bay.

There is no daily entrance fee for the Bruce Peninsula National Park, but there is a parking fee at its most popular trailheads.  The parking area at Singing Sands is free. 

 

 

 

We walked the little boardwalk trail out into the "fen", a marshy wetland.

 

 

There were several wildflowers and lots of Pitcher Plants, carnivorous plats that feed on insects that fall into their "pitcher-like" reservoirs.

 

 

 

After the short boardwalk tour, we went on what we thought was the main trail loop.  It turned out to be an old road that dead-ended after about three quarters of a mile.  Oops.  Oh well, it added an extra mile and a half to the day's walking.

The main trail was still an old road ....

 

 

and water blocked passage in a few places.  We maneuvered our way around and took pictures of the frogs we encountered along the way.

This is one of many Northern Leopard Frogs we saw.

 

 

And this is a Wood Frog.

 

 

The Singing Sands Trail has a couple of cut-overs from the woods to the shoreline, but we continued on to the end before crossing the dry, rocky area back to the edge of the lake.

 

 

As we walked through this area, we kept our eye out for a Massasauga, an endangered pygmy rattlesnake.  The signs said this was perfect habitat for them, but we didn't see any lurking under rocks or ledges or the flowering shrubs.

 

 

We also looked for orchids along this trail as it was known to have a few different species.  Of course, we didn't really know where or what we were looking for, and no orchid-like flowers caught our eye.

We continued to follow the shoreline back to the parking lot.  It wasn't the most interesting trail in the world, but it was a nice walk to get our day started.  There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot when we started, but by the time we got back to the Jeep, there were probably fifty or so.

The most popular spot in the park is the Grotto/Indiana Head Cove area.  I wanted to get photographs, but I had read that it was always crowded during warm, summer days.  The young fellow at the Visitor Center told us to go before 10:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. to avoid most of the crowds.  So, we decided to go in the evening to watch the sunset.

We went back into town, and I went to the library to upload photos.  Linda did a little shopping in the shops along the harbor.  The library Wi-Fi was just fast enough to get photos uploaded and get the prior day's Journal entry completed.

Linda bought an outfit she was very happy about, and then we decided to have lunch at the fish 'n' chips place next door to the library.

 

 

Service was slow, but the fish 'n' chips and the fish tacos were good.  And we chatted with some folks from Ohio while we waited.  There were very few license plates in the parking lots that weren't from Ontario.

After lunch, we went back to our room to take afternoon naps.  We read until we fell asleep, and then headed out around 6:00 to go to the Cyprus Lake area - the location of the park campgrounds and the parking area for the Grotto & Indian Head Cove.

At the "Head of Trails", there are three trails that will take you to the shoreline: 1) the wide, easy Georgian Bay Trail, 2) the Horse Lake Trail which comes out east of Indiana Head Cove, and 3) the Marr Lake Trail which is a bit more rugged and hits the shoreline west of the Grotto (which is west of, but next to Indiana Head Cove).

The vast majority of visitors take the Georgian Bay Trail .....

 

 

 

so, naturally, we took the "non-stroller accessible" Marr Lake Trail.  :) 

 

 

 

That trail came out on a boulder beach (not Linda's favorite terrain).

 

 

The lighting wasn't great, but we sacrificed perfect picture lighting for fewer people - not a bad trade-off.

 

 

Before heading right (or east) to the Grotto, we went left (west) on the Bruce Trail.  As I mentioned yesterday, the Bruce Trail is marked with white slashes on the trees.  The trail is very well marked and there is a key to the "slash system".  This double-slash indicates that the trail turns right ....

 

 

and this double-slash means the trail turns left.

 

 

Eventually, we made it out to Overhanging Point.  There was a small sign, and we walked out on the rocks to take a picture of the rock shelter below, and .

 

 

the cliff with the sun reflecting off the water.

 

 

But then Linda recognized where we were from the movie we saw at the Visitors Center.  We had been standing on Overhanging Point, so I changed locations to get a picture of Linda out there.

 

 

Then she got one of me.

 

 

I'm a bit more ledge-conscious than Linda .... but you already knew that.  :)

Then, we walked back across the boulder beach ....

 

 

and into the woods toward the Grotto.

 

 

We arrived at the Grotto and had the opportunity to take some pictures with no people in them.

 

 

 

We climbed up the rocks on the other side of the Grotto and got this nice shot of the sun starting to sink in the hazy evening sky.

 

 

A few steps farther was this look at the cave.

 

 

And, after a few more steps, we were looking down on the beautiful Indiana Head Cove.

 

 

There were just a couple of stragglers left, so we pretty much had our pick of spots.  We walked around to the other side, chose a rock above the water and sat down to enjoy the sunset while our feet dangled over the edge.

 

 

While we munched on our trail mix and enjoyed the tranquil beauty, one of the tour boats pulled up in the midst of its sunset cruise.

 

 

We sat there for quite a while longer and some other started to arrive.  One fellow had a drone that he flew over the scene.

We exchanged emails and he's going to send me the footage.  Cool.

Once we determined that the colors weren't going to get any better, we headed out.  It was a very pleasant evening hike.  :)

So, that was pretty much it for today.  Tomorrow, we have plans to do some paddling and another hike along the shoreline in a less popular area of the park.

See you then!  :) 

---

Intro To Tobermory - (Tobermory, Ontario)

It was a cloudy, cool morning with temps about 20 degrees lower than yesterday.

We had a good, filling breakfast in Grand Bend, and then made a quick stop at an ATM to get some Canadian money before heading up to the Bruce Peninsula.

It was about a 160-mile drive up to Tobermory.  The speed limits are relatively low and we enjoyed the slow ride on the good roads.  Also, the clouds disappeared and the temperatures increased nicely.

We arrived at the Adventure The Bruce Inn around 1:30, well before the 3:00 check-in time.  They weren't ready for us, so we went to the nearby Parks Canada Visitor Center for Bruce Peninsula National Park and Fathom Five National Marine Park.

As is our custom, we watched the 15-minute movie about the parks in the Visitor Center theater.  It was very well done and highlighted the beauty of the shoreline along the Niagara Escarpment and The Bruce Trail.  That's what drew me to choose this area for our second stop in Canada before we go on to meet our friends Esther & Steve.

After the movie, we talked to one of the staff about hiking and paddling opportunities.  He was very helpful and drew on our map the points of interest he thought we would enjoy.

Since we still had a while before check-in, we checked out the lookout tower at the Visitor Center.

 

 

The were some nice, but distant views beyond the high-flying Canadian flag.

 

 

At the bottom of the tower, Linda read up on the Burnt Point Loop, which is a 4k side trail off the famous Bruce Trail.  The Bruce Trail runs from the Niagara Peninsula over 800k (500 miles) to Tobermory.  Some of the most beautiful scenery is in this area, and we're hoping to take it in.

The Bruce Trail is marked by white slashes on the trees, and the side trails are marked by blue slashes.

We walked the Bruce Trail ....

 

 

about a half mile down to the Dunk's Bay overlook.

 

 

That part of the Bruce Trail was wide and easy, but we'll be hiking some rugged sections over the next couple of days.  Here are a couple pics from the overlook.

 

 

 

After that, we hopped on the narrower, rocky and rooty, Burnt Point Loop.

 

 

It wasn't a difficult trail, but we definitely had to watch where we stepped to avoid turning an ankle and tripping.  Open-toed shoes would not have been a good choice.  :)

The trail winds through the woods and then has three or four very short spurs out to the shoreline.

 

 

 

Here are more pics of the lake from another spur.

 

 

Crystal clear water with shades of blues and greens draws me in every time - love it.  :)

 

 

Back into the woods.

 

 

It was an enjoyable little hike and a nice workout.  It was almost 5:00 by the time we returned to the inn to check in.

I booked two nights for the same nightly rate as we paid last night.  But the Adventure The Bruce Inn is a newer, and much nicer facility.  In fact, it is such a nice room that we bit the bullet and booked a third night at the much higher weekend rate.

By the time we got settled in our room, our big breakfast was starting to wear off so we went to the Grandview Dining Room for dinner out on their deck.

 

 

 

We had a nice view and the weather was pleasant although it cooled off quickly when a few clouds blocked the sun.  After a delicious onion potato bacon soup, I went with their salmon dish with cashews ....

 

 

and Linda chose a pecan encrusted chicken.

 

 

The service was pretty good, but slowed way down toward the end of our meal.  Still, the flavors were great and I'd have to say the setting and food together combined to make it worth the higher prices.

We're quickly learning that the prices and sales taxes up here are a bit higher than we are used to and the dollars are adding up quickly for this little trip.  Of course, the tourist season is short and we understand they have to make as much as they can while they can.  And I inflated our entertainment budget for the year mostly based on this month in Canada, so we'll just keep having fun even if it does cost a little more than my "value meter" likes.  :)

By the time dinner ended, we had changed our evening plans.  We were going to do a sunset hike, but instead decided to soak in the hot tub at the inn and then just relax in the room.  Good decision.  :)

Our only issue with our room is that the Wi-Fi is pretty bad.  So, we'll have to find another option in town if we want to get photos uploaded and Journal entries posted.

Tomorrow, we'll have a little breakfast somewhere that has Wi-Fi, and then do a couple of hikes.  More photos of clear water and beautiful shorelines to come.  :)

---

Canada Trip Begins - (Grand Bend, Ontario)

The night was slightly less noisy than the night before, but we still didn't sleep very well.  With plans to leave at 8:00 this morning, I was ready to get up when I couldn't go back to sleep at 6:30.

I might have tried harder had my blurred vision of the clock noticed that it was really only 5:30.  Sheesh.  :)

But we were up and the traffic noise was picking up, and the workers had started to arrive, and the electic breaker tripped.  Might as well return some emails and finish packing for our 315-mile trip.

We were ready to go right at 8:00.  We parked the truck, handed Mike the keys so he could move it around as necessary, and we were off.

We took the back roads from northern Indiana into Michigan.  Eventually, we hopped on the interstates that took us past Lansing and Battle Creek and Flint.  As we usually do in our travels, we avoided the largest of cities, like Detroit.

We stopped for lunch and to take on cheaper fuel in Port Huron, MI before crossing the border into Canada at Sarnia, Ontario.  It was a quick, easy border crossing.  There was a one-vehicle wait and then the border agent looked at our passports, asked a few questions, and we were through.

I had chosen sort of a random stop for our first night in Canada - the Lambton Shores/Grand Bend area on Lake Huron.  It just seemed like a good stopping point for our first night, and I thought we could visit Pinery Provincial Park.  I had also read that it's a great place to watch the sunset.

In my research of the various hotels and Bed & Breakfasts, I had discovered that nothing in the area was cheap, especially when compared to the overnight camping fees we are used to paying.  :)

I chose the Whispering Pines Motel & Rib House. 

 

 

 

It was close to Pinery, close to the public beach at Grand Bend, they have free Wi-Fi, and they specialized in ribs for dinner.  :)

We arrived around 2:00.  I had contacted them about a reservation and they emailed that they would call and get my credit card info, but they never did.  Fortunately, they still had a room for the night, and an elderly lady, Lorraine, checked us in.

They still use the old manual credit card imprinters, and it was just like being in some far-flung little town in the U.S.

The sign at the office said reservations are required for dinner, but she told us they were catering a birthday party tonight, so we were likely out of luck.  I asked if we could just get a plate of ribs to go and have in our room.  She wrote it down, but we still weren't sure what that meant.

Lorraine exchanged some money for us, so we'd have some Canadian dollars if we needed them.

We checked into the little "new" room, and decided to drive the four miles over to Pinery and walk the beach for our daily workout.  The park entrance fee was $16 CAD, a little pricey for a one-day visit, but at least they take Visa and we have a favorable exchange rate right now ($1 CAD = .93 U.S.).

A Provincial Park is much like a U.S. state park, but of course the Ontario province is about the size of Texas and Montana combined.

We drove through the huge park and eventually arrived at the first beach parking area.  There were lots of cars indicating that it might be a bit more crowded than we hoped.

We walked on the boardwalk and sand until we got our first glimpses of Lake Huron.

 

 

 

The beach was much narrower than we expected and it was full of people.

 

 

A walk along the beach would require dodging people and dogs and we wouldn't be able to walk with any kind of rhythm.  So, we bagged that idea.

We got back in the Jeep, and drove to the Heritage Trail.  It was a 3k "accessible" trail through the woods.

 

 

 

Along the trail, we encountered bunches of teeny-tiny frogs.

 

 

They were about the size of the fingernail on my pinky finger.  Here is one next to my shoe.

 

 

And we also saw this beautiful green snake on the trail.

 

 

 

It was, no doubt, hunting frogs, and it should eat quite well.  :)

We power-walked the trail to a pier along a canal where we saw canoes and kayaks earlier.

 

 

 

We power-walked the entire trail twice and then we ran it a third time.  Then we did a shorter cool-down walk.  After almost seven miles total, we felt like we'd had a good workout and we enjoyed our time alone on the trail.

By then, it was time to head back.  Pinery Provincial Park looks like a great place to camp and it has some good variety with the beach, some short hiking trails, some paddling options, and lots of bike paths.  We thought we might come back after dinner to watch the sunset, but we opted for the public beach in Grand Bend instead.

Back at the motel, we got our showers and had to deal with changing water temperatures - scalding one second and freezing the next.  But we survived.

We went to the restaurant right at 7:00, but it was closed.  With the door unlocked I wandered in.  Apparently the birthday party decided to do take-out and they weren't planning on opening the Rib House tonight.  However, they specially prepared each of us a plate of ribs to have in our room.  Very nice.

We opted to sit outside at table with an umbrella next to the pool.  The evening temperature was perfect, and it was a comfortable option.  Our dinner was very good - the ribs were meaty, but the sauce could've used just a little more "tang".  They just gave us the check and told us we could leave the money in the room.

After our unique dinner, we drove into Grand Bend.  It's a quaint, touristy little beach town.  There was something about it that made it nice rather than annoying.

We parked in the public parking lot down by the beach.  Folks were gathering in the chairs on the lawn of the beachfront hotels as they prepared to watch the sunset.

 

 

We paid our parking fee and got our our loungers.  I don't recall if I mentioned it, but our old LaFuma loungers succumbed to nine years of use and abuse.  We tried some cheaper models, but they weren't nearly as comfortable, so we returned them and ordered some new LaFumas - a luxury for sure, but well worth it.

We debated whether or not to bring the chairs since they take up a lot of space, but tonight we were glad we brought them.  We set up in the sand and people-watched as the sun started to sink over the lake.

 

 

With our early morning wake-up, we probably could have gone to sleep right there.  :)

Linda stayed put, .....

 

 

while I got up to wander around and take a few more pictures.

 

 

 

 

I walked down to the pier and got a couple shots of the light marking the channel into the small harbor.

 

 

 

As I walked back, the sun started to disappear below a line of clouds.

 

 

The Grand Bend area is, indeed, a great place to watch the sunset.  :)

When it looked like the best of the evening sky colors were gone, we packed up and drove back to the motel for the night.

I worked on photos while we watched a little TV and used the Wi-Fi to return some emails.  With our earlier than planned wake-up this morning, it didn't take long for us to start nodding off.

Tomorrow, we head up to the Bruce Peninsula and Tobermory for a couple of days.  After that, we have some ideas for the weekend, but no decisions have yet been made.  We're wingin' it.  :)

Our first day in Canada was a little quirky, but in the end, it was a nice beginning.  :)

---

Preparing To Leave The Rig For Painting - (Bremen, Indiana)

Between the trains and the traffic, it wasn't exactly a quiet night.  The air conditioner and Linda's little bedroom fan helped drown out some of the noise, but at 5:30 this morning workers started to arrive and the electrical breaker tripped.

With our white noise gone, sleep was elusive.  We got up and turned the inverter on to do our morning routines.

At 8:00 a.m., we walked over to the office and met with Livia, and then the owner of Mike's Custom Painting, Mike Weldy, joined us.  We walked around our rig and discussed the paint job.

Our decals are peeling and cracking, and though the exterior still looks good from a distance, it's definitely starting to show some age.

We chose paint colors and they are very close to the colors in these renderings.

 

 

 

The basecoat is a little lighter and will match our truck's Arizona Beige color.  We flipped through some samples and selected a rich red.  While Livia was writing everything up, I flipped over the red paint sample and it's called "Cambridge Red Pearl" - it was meant to be.  :)

Ordinarily, they paint the awning hardware to match the rig, but since we just added the new awning and they will tie in with the black in our paint job, they won't need to paint the awnings.

They will paint the air conditioner shroud and the vents, and they will paint the edges of the Flex Armor (RVRoof.com) spray-on roof the same as the basecoat.  The roof itself will remain white to reflect heat, but from the ground it will look like the roof is painted.

They are also going to paint the sides of the slideouts so that the design flows whether the slides are in or out.  And we have added the optional "chip guard" protection - an extra coating to protect the front of the fifth wheel from rock chips.

For those interested in the main paint process, there is a six-minute video on the Mike's Custom Painting home page.  Mike now has six locations in the area and they do manufacturer full body paint as well as "after market" jobs like ours.

Once we were satisfied with everything, we started the process of getting the rig and ourselves ready.  Livia said the process is pretty consistent and takes four weeks, but on occasion it may go a few days longer depending on what they find in the prep stage.  

We went into downtown Bremen and visited a storage facility.  They didn't have any units available, but the recommended an insurance company that had a few units.  Perfect.

Since we'll be living out of our Jeep for the next month or so, we had to store some of the business stuff we haul around.  And we decided to store the bikes and bike rack as well.  Once it was unloaded and we locked up the storage unit, we vacuumed and washed the Jeep.

Back home, we started the process of packing and organizing.  We could have departed in the afternoon, but we decided to spend the night and get an early start in the morning.

We packed up our recreational toys - our Sea Eagle boat, my golf clubs, and my tennis racquet, and some fishing tackle  - and we loaded a couple of small suitcases.  The first week of our trip, we will be staying at hotels, so I packed everything for easy access.

As the afternoon went on, I did some trip planning and we downloaded several books to our Kindles.  This past week, we got an email from Amazon announcing their "Kindle Unlimited" service.  For $9.99 per month, you can choose from over 600,000 books you can read for free.  And since there is a 30-day free trial, it was perfect timing for us to download a bunch of books for no cost at all.  :)

By the time the evening rolled around, we were pretty much packed and ready to go.  Linda did the final chore of defrosting the fridge and freezer, and she wrote a checklist of everything we needed to do in the morning before we leave.

We will be on our way by 8:00 a.m. leaving the fifth wheel ready to be towed to the pre-painting prepping shop.

Well, that's about it.  We're excited about the paint job and look forward to the final result.  We'll be showing it off at the Fall Rally and Mike might even join us for a short presentation.  We'll talk more about that when we get back.

Our next entry will be from somewhere in Ontario.  See you then and have a great day.  :)   

---