Here is the last blog for a bit.  We got home to Gores Landing with the boat this morning without incident, unloaded a LOT of stuff out of the boat, came home and unpacked, etc.  We have thoroughly enjoyed using the dinghy in the 1000 Islands, but have decided now to offer it and the motor for sale.  The motor is just too heavy for Paul to be lugging in and out of the boat - we must be getting old or something!  So they came home as well.

Marj has been doing a great job of watering our tomatoes, and she will soon be reaping a harvest.  There are a great many of them, but still green.

Tonight, we played with another toy!

 

 It's always nice to come home to Cobourg and the waterfront!

And of course I had to chase a few bees down at the park.

Boat Trip 2014 - July 25

Well, before we left Campbellford this morning, I made a trip to the Butter Tart Factory and to Dooher's Bakery.  :-)  We traveled through 5 locks with a big boat from Wilmington Delaware.  Nice people.  The boat is 48 feet long, and they are selling their home, planning to live on the boat, for awhile at least.  Planning to spend the winter in Ft. Lauderdale.  Sounds nice!

You never know what you might see on the streets of Campbellford!  This tractor had a fork thingy on the front with a couple more big bales, and it was motoring right through!

 
 I love this flower bed - there is a sign that says "Model T Parking only".

When I saw these kids playing under the bridge last night, I thought, that's what we would have been doing when we were kids - outside playing until nearly dark.  So nice to see!

 
 This is one of the kids under the bridge - she came to show me that she had found 2 pigeon eggs in a nest, and she was going to take them home to hatch them.  Poor pigeon. 

Most people probably know that the polar bear on the toonie was designed by Brent Townsend, a resident of Campbellford.  Hence the big toonie in the park.

 I found this lily floating on the river.

Waiting for a lock through, talking to the neighbours.

These osprey had their own built-in shade tree!

At the lock at Crow Bay, they always plant this cool flower bad - it's an old row boat, and the sign on the back says "Done Rowin'".  There are sweet peas which will eventually grow up the sail and cover it.

Paul, who was out on the bow in this lock, should have had a bar of soap with him!

So peaceful!

There is a lot of water bypassing the dam here in Hastings.

Here is a VERY avid young fisherman!

There are SO many geese on the Trent Severn, and they make SUCH a mess!  Paul is chasing them, but it didn't last long.

Here we are tucked in behind our American friends below the lock in Hastings.  Kind of puts things into perspective.  :-)

Boat Trip 2014 - July 24

Traveled through 6 more locks today, and are staying in Campbellford overnight.  We managed a trip to the chocolate factory this afternoon, and I tried to buy tarts at the Butter Tart Factory, but they were closed.  :-(  Guess I should have gone to Dooher's Bakery - I understand they're pretty good too.

This big water snake was sunning himself on one of the lock doors when we were locking through.  The lock master said that he has been doing that for 5 years.

I don't think I have ever seen a swan with 4 babies before.  We were not very close, and in an area with buoys on both sides, so didn't try to go closer, but it was nice to see.

In the 1000 Islands, they say that a rock that is big enough to sustain a tree is considered an island, so do you suppose that this very old channel marker is an island?  Bev, do you remember when we used to visit Aunt Norma and Uncle Mev in Trent River, we used to swim out to one of these and dive off it?  That would be at least 60 years ago!

I believe a little froggy just became lunch for this fellow.

 


I love turtles, and have seen very few this summer.

 

The Ranney Suspension Bridge in Campbellford.

When we arrived at the Campbellford Marina, we were only the second boat here.  Since I took this picture, there are a LOT more!  I think we counted 19 boats now, and 8 of them are from Quebec - very unusual to see so many of them on the Trent Severn.

 


This very old Catholic church sits up on a hill here in town, and is absolutely beautiful!

Boat Trip 2014 - July 23

There's a saying that if you are in a hurry, then boating is not for you.  We were planning to head up the Trent Severn this morning fairly early, when we got the message at the marina that there was not enough water to lift boats.  We would have to wait 2 or 3 hours.  So about 11 am, we decided to go and wait at the lock til they were ready.  There, we found out that the bottom log in the dam had given out in the night, and let all the water out.  They had to repair the dam, then fill up the area between lock one and two, which of course had a ripple effect for a long way up the system.  At about 1:30, we were finally let into the chamber - with 5 other boats.  Each lock was ready for us, and it went pretty well after that.  We stopped at lock 6, which is Frankford, and which is one of the two locks on the system that has power.  We were lucky to get a spot so late in the day.  One boat that wanted to stop wasn't so lucky.

Last summer, we went both directions all the way through both the Rideau and the Trent Severn Waterways, which represents a LOT of locks!  Each time we went through a lock, we put a loonie in our loonie bank.  This summer, it is being used to treat us to meals out during our trip.  :-)

The Trent River as it flows through Frankford - pretty impressive, isn't it?..........

........until you see these guys wading all the way across.  Guess that's why "Frank" "forded" the river here!

Just below the dam - not much water going through at the moment.  It's hard to believe that high water was such a problem here earlier in the summer.

 Dawg Daze at rest.

Boat Trip 2014 - July 22

It's been a hard day.....as hard days go in boating.  :-)  We left Aubrey Island - near Gananoque - this morning.  It's just too crowded down there now with all the Quebec boats!  We went in to Picton, thinking to stay there tonight, but were told of some very rough weather that's supposed to be coming tomorrow, so carried on to Trenton.  From Gan to Trenton is quite a long run in a boat!  The weather, though hot, was pretty much perfect, and now we are plugged in and enjoying AC.  And, having eaten at Tomasso's, we are also satiated!

 
  We enjoyed another gorgeous sunset last night on Aubrey Island.

We always stop for gas at a marina in Kingston. They build boats for many places in the world.  This one is going to Seattle, Washington.

The Lafarge company has a factory on the Bay of Quinte, right where there is a break onto the lake between Amherst Island and the mainland.  This big lake boat can come in off the lake, pick up its load, and go right back out onto the lake to make its delivery.

As we walked along the waterfront after dinner tonight, we saw some skulls being rowed - at least six of them.  There must be a rowing club here.  We also got accosted by some young Mormon men - I think they got more preached to than they did preaching!

Yep, it's the right way up!  That's the way it was growing.  Wild flower?? Hmmmm!

 
 And some would call this a weed.  I call it a beautiful flower!  And purple loosestrife makes for yummy honey too, eh Jeff and Kerry?

And how could anyone call this gorgeous "lacey" flower a weed?

Boat Trip 2014 - July 21

This will be the last blog from the 1000 Islands National Park, as tomorrow, we are heading west and north.  We plan to go up the Bay of Quinte to Trenton tomorrow, then start up the Trent Severn on Wednesday.  Today, we had 2 more rides in the dinghy, first one in to Gan for ice cream, then tonight, just a ride around the island, before putting it away.

This heron came to visit right by the dock this morning.

This young man and his Mom stopped for a visit today.  They live here in the summer - on Bostwick Island, where Half Moon Bay is, and in Calgary for the rest of the year.  They were at church on Sunday as well.

Gan Municipal Marina has grown substantially since last year!  What used to be break-water is now a LOT more docks.

Bev, does this ring any bells for you, where you and Shirley and I stayed one time?

We went up the Gananoque River today in the dinghy - just learned that there is a marina up there that serves gas.  This is a swing bridge, but I don't think it swings anymore.

Aubrey Island is a beautiful island.  It is absolutely covered in trees, has lots of paths, and it's like a canopy of leaves overhead, with birds singing joyfully.  Most of the trees are hardwood, like this shag-barked hickory, or maple or oak, though there are a few pines and cedars as well. 

I have been very thankful for my Keen shoes this summer.  If I had a quarter for every time I've tripped over a rock or tree root in these islands, I'd be a rich woman!  I'm thankful to have my toes covered!

From where we are docked, we can see the Bateau Chanel, which runs between the mainland and Hope Island all the way from here to Kingston.  There are 2 cable ferries, one at each end of Hope Island, to take cars and trucks over and back.  We've been watching this faithful little ferry go back and forth many times a day - it only hods about 2 or 3 cars at a time.

And finally, last night's sunset was just incredible!  The picture doesn't do it justice!