NORTHERN ONTARIO

Now on to Ontario, the province with thousands of lakes.  Our day was spent at a tranquil place called Laughing Water Trailer Park which was about 60km south of Kenora.  Wow, what beautiful country so peaceful.  We went to sleep to the sound of loons and whippoorwills last night - truly magical.  We spent the day relaxing, fishing, swimming to the floating dock, and generally doing nothing but relaxing.  The girls had a lovely time making small boats out of bits of bark and twigs.  We had a campfire and watched the beautiful sunset.

 Girls on floating dock.

Katrina caught the only fish today.

Sunset in Lake of the Woods.

After a perfectly relaxing day we were on the road again this time hoping to make it to Thunder Bay.  We spent the night at the KOA campground where I was able to do laundry and the girls had a swim in the pool.  Sunday morning we went to Allan and Lynda James' for Sunday morning meeting and it was such a wonderful surprise to see Willa Ross there with her mother.  Following a short drive through the waterfront of the city we went out to the Terry Fox Memorial.  They have done a wonderful job of this memorial for a truly remarkable young man. 

Then we took the girls up a very treacherous road to an amethyst mine were the girls had the opportunity to dig for their own gem stone.  The girls got to search through the discard pile and take home whatever stones they wanted for $3 a pound.  The girls, especially Juanna, truly loved this excursion and came out with lots of treasures. 

Girls looking for gems.

We made it to Pukaskwa National Park for the night and could not leave as early as we planned because we were so bewitched by the beauty of the place.  The campsite was lovely, once again a campsite with lots of privacy and lots of lovely big trees.  We took a small walk along a boardwalk through the sand dunes to a beach covered with driftwood on Lake Superior.  Kent could not go any further on these trails so Juanna and Victoria went with him to explore else where and Katrina and I went on a small half hour hike through some lovely forest trails and another driftwood covered beach.  We had a picnic lunch down the the water then rented a canoe and I took the girls on a half hour canoe ride around a little cove.  I must say these last few days searching for precious stones and beaches full of driftwood I have often thought that I would love to have Anita here with us, she would love all these beauties of nature.  Once again this was very hard place to leave but if we don't we will not see everything else there is to see.

We went on down through Lake Superior Provincial Park to Sault Ste. Marie.  Wow, what beautiful country this is every time we see something new we are floored by the beauty we are surrounded by in this fair country we live in.  We stopped and ran down a breathtakingly beautiful bay called Old Woman Bay with beautiful sand beaches and steep cliffs coming down to the pristine waters of Lake Superior.

Again, another beautiful campsite at the KOA in the Soo.  This campsite is a true delight for the children with a dog walk, a dog grooming space, a dog agility course and a small dog agility course for beginner dogs, as well as a playground and pool for the children.  The only disappointment is that the K-9 agility course is only for professional dog handler, this is truly a disappointment for the girls and they hope the owners will allow Daisy to go in  because they have her doing a very good job of the small course. 


Daisy in the dog agility course.

Today, August 16th, we took the Agawa Canyon Train Tour.  This was a full day train ride up into the Agawa Canyon where we got off and enjoyed 1 1/2 hours hiking to some waterfalls and having a picnic lunch with a clear view of the Bridal Falls and then returning by train back to the Soo.  The train ride was fun with breakfast in the dining car and wonderful scenery past lakes and over trestles high above rivers.  Upon exiting the train we took a small stroll down by the water looking at the locks and the bridge linking Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.  As you can tell we are having a lovely time and our days are full.  We are all well and look forward to all that is yet to come.

 Agawa Canyon

Bridal Veil Falls