We have been off the boat for awhile. Returned home for Mom's Birthday Dinner, and Michael and Leslie's Wedding. A 10 day whirlwind. And so much fun. We broke the trip up into 2 manageable driving days each way. There sure is some beautiful scenery when travelling by car also. It rivals the water scenery. We always like to take some day trips when travelling by boat, where we rent a car and travel around on the shoreline. Everything always looks so different from the shore side of things.Jim and Linda had rented a car while we were away and took a car trip also. While we still had our rental car we decided to take the local Thunder Bay tourist trip. What a busy day we had.
First we wanted to go see what the Ouimet Canyon was all about. Had seen the signs and it was time to go for a visit. It was well worth the trip. A mile walk in on a well maintained path and bridge. The canyon is 1000 feet below the viewing platform. It is one of those times where you cautiously approach the railing to peak over. What a view. The floor of the canyon has flora and fauna only found 1000 kilometres to the north. A very unique eco system for this area. Along the wall is an unusual rock formation called the Indian Head, because that is exactly what it looks like. Of course there is a delightful Indian love story that explains how this came to be.
Then we were off to the local fish hatchery (for lack of a better word.) Our tour guide Laykn was very well informed and explained everything so well. They raise lake trout, splake, brook/speckled trout, etc. They have huge metal trays where they raise the wee ones for a year before introducing them into the northern lake systems. We were surprised to learn that lake trout are 9 years old before they begin to reproduce; so they introduced the splake to the lakes to take the pressure off the premature fishing of trout. They also had several tanks of more mature trout that would be 9 years old and ready to reproduce. They are about 22 pounds by this stage. They use these fish for 3 seasons and then they are released into the lakes.
In all it was a one hour tour. Very Well done.
Now it was getting on to about 3 pm, and we were starving. Stopped at a Flying J for fuel for the car, and refuelled the travellers at the restaurant. 3 Pickerel Dinners and 1 Liver and Onions. All very good and as lunch was so late in the day, we decided on the larger meals and then Linda and I would not need to cook dinner tonight. We decided that dinner would be wine and snacks.
We returned back up the road to visit the world's largest Amethyst Mine. We were travelling on the private road into the mine, which was quite rough gravel and it became very steep. The signs along the road said to use low gear. Jim and Peter got to be the "good samaritans" for the day. A family travelling from Toronto to Victoria, B.C. with an overloaded trailer full of grandpa's woodworking tools was in trouble. Due to the steepness of the hill, and the overweight trailer putting weight on the back of the vehicle, his SUV did not have enough weight on the front of the vehicle. The man had been sitting there for half an hour and obviously did not know what to do in the situation. Peter got into the vehicle, and Jim guided him so that Peter was able to back the trailer and vehicle down the incline onto a flat area. We gave the man a ride up to the mine area where he was able to join his family who had walked the last mile or two to the mine.
There were some beautiful pieces of amethyst. Some of them were so huge. Peter got some smaller polished pieces. They explained that it took 3 weeks to polish them. The day was wearing on, so we did not take the 10 minute tour.
On the way back to the boats we stopped off at the Terry Fox Park that overlooks Lake Superior. The last time we were here it had been on the opposite side of the highway. They moved it and created a truly outstanding park and small interpretive centre. 
The adventures were not to be over. We were treated to the local sailboat race night and the spinnaker run was coming right towards our boats so we were able to get some good pictures of the boats. I am hoping to get these pictures to the local club so they can distribute them. It is always so rare to get pictures of your own boat.
And just when you we thought we were going to rest for awhile before snack time, this most unusual boat was coming into our marina area. We never did get the story behind what this was all about, but it was worth the photo opportunity. This morning they lifted the boat out of the water and put it on a dolly/trailer and took it away. Perhaps we will never know what this boat and crew were all about. They certainly handled it masterfully. They obviously were well trained.
It looks like the weather is going to hold us here for awhile. High winds and high seas are expected until Friday or Saturday. Friday looks like it could be a possibility, with Saturday looking even better. The plan is to make the 30 mile trip over to Isle Royale, and clear US customs. Then proceed on to the Keweenaw Penninsula.
So this morning we went to the grocery store and LCBO to reprovision the boat. Decided we no longer needed the rental car so Peter returned it. There are lots of boat projects to be done; now I will wait for the motivation and energy to do them. Hmmm, to read my book or do some work. Procrastination Rules....... there is always tomorrow for the work.
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