Week of July 19

Tuesday afternoon we arrived at the 1000 Islands Ivy Lea KOA. After getting set up, the trailer leveled, satellite working and dinner planned, we headed to the pool. Not a pool large enough for swimming and full of kids. So we used the 'adults only' hot tub, and chatted with a couple from Sarnia.

The next morning on our way to Brockville, we stopped at St. Lawrence National Park visitor centre. They have a display about the snakes and turtles in the area. Most of the park is only assessable by water. We then visited the Brockville museum. Brockville is Ontario's first incorporated town. It is also the site of Canada's first Railway Tunnel, which goes under their present day city hall. After spending time learning about Brockville, we wandered their main street, stopping for lunch at a local pub. While sitting on the deck of the pub the heavens opened and the rain came down. After some time the rain let up a bit and we headed for the truck. On the way back to the campground and after a quick grocery stop, we visited Eagle point Winery. They have only been open for business since early May. We bought one of the wines that tasted quite nice.

Thursday was housecleaning day. Joan did bathroom, shower, kitchen and John vacuumed. Joan also made bread. In the afternoon we headed to Rockport to take a 2 hour boat trip through some of the 1000 islands. What a beautiful part of Canada. There are actually more than 1800 islands. To qualify as an island, a chunk of rock has to have at least one tree growing on it. Here is one of the smaller ones,

some kids jumping off one of the islands into the water

and a cormorant (we think), balanced on a rock which wouldn't qualify as an island.

Friday, we packed up and headed for the Bruce Peninsula. The drive was uneventful, even going through Toronto on the 401. But we knew that would be the case as John drives in the afternoon, and he never seems to hit excess amounts of traffic or construction. The campground we stayed at Friday night was a beautiful campground, however we were parked in a very treed site, so no satellite TV.

Since that campground couldn't give us a spot for Saturday, we moved to a campground closer to the Manitoulin Island Ferry. We set up camp and then headed into Tobermory. We got our reservations for Monday's ferry then headed to Bruce Peninsula National Park. The place was packed, as it was Park's Day. We picked up a trail map , got some advice about the various hikes, and headed out on a hike from the visitor centre to the Georgian Bay shore. On our way out, we were passed by a couple of park wardens hurrying along. A while later, a fellow coming the other way asked if we had seen someone with a broken ankle. After enjoying the views along the lake shore, we started heading on the return part of the loop back to the visitor centre. We ran into a group of EMS and park wardens with a lady with a broken ankle on a stretcher. They had the stretcher balanced on one wheel, which made it possible to navigate the trail as it was quite rough, with lots of rocks and tree roots In all the hikes we have been on over the years we have never encountered someone with problem this serious. After a quick stop at the beer store we headed back to the campground. John is in his glory. There were three football games on, one right after the other. Of course, he couldn't manage to stay awake through them all.

Sunday morning we did a hike to the "Grotto" in the National Park.

Somewhere along the way, Joan lost her glasses, which she had hanging from the front of her top. After checking back along our route with no luck, Joan went into the park office to leave them our contact information in case someone turned in the glasses. The line-up of people was so long that it went out the door, but someone waiting in line was kind enough to volunteer to leave our information with them. Fortunately, Joan was smart enough to keep an old pair of glasses, so she can still see and can legally drive. After lunch back at the trailer, we watched the Nascar race. After it was over, we went to Singing sands beach. It was amazing. The water was very shallow for a few hundred yards, and incredibly warm, like a bathtub. Here is a picture of the patterns that the waves make in the water.

About 8:00 we got an email from the people at the parks office. Another hiker had found Joan's glasses and turned them in, a big relief.

Monday we took the ferry over to Manitoulin Island. Once we got set up, we thought we would go for a hike. However it started to rain, and would not let up, so after walking along the harbour boardwalk, buying a rhubarb pie, we stopped to pick up groceries and headed back to the campground.