I know I've let everyone down and I'm sorry. Every time we managed to get electricity and Internet I was too pooped to sit down and write the blog. Now here it is August and I'm a month late with excerpts from our adventures . . .So, here goes....
We stayed in the USA for the 4th of July and headed north, once
again, on the 5th. Stopping at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (called the Soo) for a tour of the lock system. http://www.saultstemarie.com/soo-locks-46/ We took a boat tour which was very interesting, seeing first hand how the locks work and touring the harbor. While there we saw a big ship nam
ed "The Saginaw" that was unloading limestone at the steel manufacturing plant. Remember this, there will be a test. On the way back we passed a big brick building that was once a hydroelectric plant. I thought it was beautiful, the way the bricks were arranged to form lighthouses...After the tour, we went on into Canada. We were within 100 miles from the border when Les says, "I'm going to be pulled over!" And sure enough, an OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) Officer with his lights flashing. Les pulls over . . . well, I'll let Les tell this story . . . see below.
Without further problems we arrived on Manitoulin Island http://www.manitoulin-island.com/ and stayed the night in Little Current, which is the first city once you are on the island. We went grocery shopping for our Canadian coffee and the warm raisin bread that we had been anticipating. 
The coffee didn't live up to our memory of it, but the raisin bread did! Yum, Yum! We then drove another 3 hours and arrived at Mississagi Lighthouse...http://www.themississagilighthouse.com/index2.html. Another couple of hours passed before Joe and Beatrice returned to their campground and we were reunited. The fun began!We had an absolutely great time with our Canadian friends. We played Trains, Chicken Feet, (hey, Beatrice, we forgot to play Sugar!), Les and Joe went fishing, (Yum, Yum!) ate
Salmon dinners together, went shopping, found a garage sale, all four of us took a mini hike, Beatrice and I took daily walks with their dog, Tanner, and then Joe and Beatrice's son, Mark, and his daughters, Mary and Sarah, joined us for even more fun. A good dose of grand kids is what the Grandmas needed!Joe and Les went fishing every chance they got. One of the best places to fish was over by the limesone pits where they mine this rock and ship it out. Joe came back one day and was talking about this great big ship over by the quarry and I asked him if he knew the name of the ship . . . and he said, "The Saginaw". When we were on "The Soo Locks Tour" and we saw "The Saginaw" unloading the limestone we thought maybe we knew where it was coming from . . . and we were right! :-)
All too soon, our two weeks on Manitoulin Island was over and we began our traveling once again.
I didn't realize when we started out on this trip that we were going to get to stop at Niagara Falls! It is one of my most memorable experiences of this trip so far. I was so excited at the prospect! We heard the falls were prettier from the Canada side and since we were on that side first, that is the side we went to. It is truly awesome, a natural wonder of the world! The amount of water that flows over those falls is astounding! We were there on a overcast, windy day and the spray, generated by the falls, kept blowing over toward the Canadian side. 
We never were able to see from one side of Horseshoe Falls to the other as the spray was just like a cloud right in the middle of the falls - it was still terribly impressive! After wandering around all afternoon, we stopped and I went in to see "Niagara's Fury" which was a animated featu
re/rather wet "ride" about how the falls evolved. It was cool! We spent a long day watching the falls and then came back at night to see the lights on the falls, (the picture is of Bridal Veil Falls) http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_about_Niagara_Falls.htm then we headed on across New York. 
so to be able to stay as long as possible on Manitoulin Island, we had to put the pedal to the metal and hit the road. Leaving Niagara Falls on July 22nd we started our drive through New York and guess what! New York is not wall to wall city! We drove through upper New York State and it is a beautiful place. We took the route through Andirondacks, a break taking piece of wilderness that gave us a new respect for the state of New York. We passed by the Olympic Village in Lake Placid and saw the huge Olympic ski lift!We were thinking that if we played our cards right we would be able to breakfast in New York, lunch in Vermont and have dinner in New Hampshire but, the roads were winding, beautiful and LONG and we ran into this lake - just a little guy, separating New York and Vermont...
Lake Champlain and they had this great little seafood restaurant/bar overlooking the lake. We parked our camper on the ramp of the ferry (that ran every 30 - 45 minutes) and then went to have lunch. We sat and watched three ferry leave without us. It was a great day! The picture to the left was taken from the restaurant - you can see the camper on the dock, between the two boats in the foreground.
Vermont, when we finally got there, was beautiful as well. We drove through the state capital, Montpelier, and saw the capital building... We stayed at Little River State Park, where I found many different kinds mushrooms growing. 
I went on a picture taking spree, because my nephew goes wild mushroom hunting in Oregon and I thought he'd be interested...
We entered New Hampshire on July 24th. Another beautiful state, (I'm finding some adjective 
repetition here) but at the point we crossed it, it was less than forty miles wide, so we were not long in it. I kept thinking how gorgeous these state would be in the fall when the leaves turn. Les wants to stay, but we have to keep on task and get to PEI - Ann is waiting!
Maine, yes, I'm going to use the "b" word again, was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! We decided to cross the border at Calais, Maine, therefore, staying in the states as long as possible, one reason being that once we crossed into Canada, our phone coverage would essentially, go, as we were not interested in paying those exorbitant prices. We also were waiting for some mail from home. We found a campground and drove around the city, saw some beautiful houses, got some internet for a while, and made some phone calls. 
We decided that we would call everyone that we could before we entered into the Canadian realm of "Roger's Wireless". (insert scary sounds)
So we call our kids, our friends, a few acquaintances we'd met along the road (just kidding) and I called my sisters. One of said sister's, Gayla, was excited to hear we were in Maine and said she'd been to Maine, on her way up to PEI, one year and one year she'd come back to visit a gal she and her family had met on that trip. Her name is Brenda, and Gayla, husband, Tim, and daughter, Erin, had stopped to have a meal at a restaurant, and sometime during the meal Brenda realized they were from Louisville, Kentucky. Brenda, being a major horse fan, said she'd always wanted to come to the Derby. So, sweet Gayla "Jo" & family invited her down to the states to do just that and offered Brenda a room in their home for the duration. They exchanged phone numbers and plans to do just that. The next year, a couple of months before the Derby, Brenda started trying to locate the number. Within a few days, Gayla called Brenda asking her if she was coming down. Her trip down to Kentucky, and the yearly trips since then, is a story in itself. ANYWAY! (I do go on, don't I?) I asked Gayla where Brenda lived, and she said that it was just a little town in Maine. I said, where is it(?) as we'd passed through so m a n y little towns in Maine, and I was so-o familiar with the maps (I think I dream of them!) that it was possible I'd know where it was. She told me it was Alexander, a little town outside the little larger town called (you guessed it!) Calais, Maine. 
Then Gayla was excited and wanted to call Brenda and tell her I was in the town where Brenda worked. I said that Les and I were really tired and was leaving the next day and didn't really feel like socializing that night. We talked a little while longer and then I hung up and called my sweet daughter, Vala. Within a few minutes my phone beeped and lo and behold, guess who was on my phone! You guessed it! Brenda! We ended up having breakfast with her the next morning and having a great time. She offered for us to come and camp at her house as she lives in the country on a large tract of land, and we'd have all the space we needed. We didn't take her up on it, but you never know, some day we might! Brenda was a really nice gal and I'm glad Gayla hooked us up.
Take Care!
- Left Mackinaw area and headed for Sault Saint Marie.
- Joy and I rode a boat through the locks between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, both ways.
- Ontario Canada has a law against RADAR Detectors. So I met an OPP (Ontario Provencial Police) with a RADAR Detector---DETECTOR. He told me his RADAR Dector DETECTOR had detected I had a RADAR Detector! He was nice (Joy said he was hot) no money changed hands. Life is good.
- Met up with Joe and Beatrice on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. It is the largest freshwater island in the world.
- Ate salmon, fished for salmon, caught salmon, caught a lake trout, life is good.
- The Water pump on the Jeep went out, while on the end of the island. Joe drove me 8 miles to get phone coverage. Ordered new pump and fan belt from nearest parts house, 50 miles away. When the parts came in, Joe drove me the 50 miles to get the parts. I put the new belt and water pump on in the campground. The crank is cranking, the pump is pumping, and the pistons are—oops NEVERMIND.
- Left the Island and went to Niagara Falls, We went back in the evening and watched them turn the colored lights on. Way Cool.
- Took a Ferry across Lake Champlain going from New York to Vermont.
- Drove across Upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. We are at the Border between Maine and New Brunswick now. Calais, Maine. Vermont is my favorite.
- Headed for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and then Labrador.
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