July 17

July 15, 16, & 17, 2004

DAYS 28, 29, & 30

 

 

Thursday ; Left Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, and continued driving west on Hwy.17 following the north shore of Lake Superior to Nipigon, where the highway turns south, following the west shore of Lake Superior to Thunder Bay. Saw a moose on the side of the road. Joanne didn't see it. Stopped at a mall coming into Thunder Bay to buy some groceries and supplies, then drove to the home of my cousin, Helen Petersen, and her family, husband Bruce, daughter Carey, and Carey's Golden Retriever, Skyler. Haven't seen the Petersen's since I flew myself to Winnipeg and back a few years ago. Joanne hasn't seen them in a very long time ; probably saw them last at my father's funeral. Spent a very pleasant afternoon and evening visiting with them. It's always a real pleasure to visit the Petersen's.

Friday ; A full day of relaxing, and visiting with Helen, Bruce, Carey, and Skyler. Introduced Skyler to Toby and Teddy. She had never been exposed to cats up close before. She did just fine. What else would you expect from a Golden ? Toby wasn't too thrilled about having his face licked by a big dog.

Saturday ; Had breakfast with the Petersen's, then departed late morning. Continued northwest from Thunder Bay on Hwy.17 , through Ignace and Dryden. Passed from the Eastern Time Zone to the Central Time Zone. Shortly after we left Thunder Bay, Joanne saw something fly off the roof of the trailer. When I checked it out late in the day, I discovered that one of the plumbing roof vents had become so brittle from exposure to sunlight, that it had cracked and broken completely off. Will try to replace it tomorrow, as I have already bought three replacement plumbing roof vents. I saw a couple of weeks ago that they were brittle and cracking, and required replacement.

Joanne saw a bear on the side of the road. I didn't see it. Moose beats bear. I win !

Was planning to park for the night at the Wal-Mart in Dryden, but Joanne wanted to continue on to Blue Lake Provincial Park, a beautiful park we have been to a few times, but not for over 16 years, at least. Only a few sites available in Blue Lake's campground. Assigned a site that was too tight a squeeze for a rig this size. Couldn't drive in forward, despite the fact that the site was a "pull through". Tried to "jackknife" it in backwards. While Joanne carefully watched the trailer,and my driver's side outside mirror was close to a tree, and hidden in leaves, I backed the rear corner of the truck into a tree. The corner of the bumper was scratched, and the sheet metal on the rear corner of the truck, under the tail light was scratched and dented ! I'm very unhappy about this incident, but trying hard to be philosophical about it. With all the tight spaces I'm trying to manoeuvre this huge rig in and out of, I'm sure that this won't be the last time that a tree or some other obstruction jumps out and "bites" the truck or trailer. Nonetheless ... grrrrrrrrr !

Fixed the scratches and dent as best as I could, made and ate supper, then walked with the cats to Blue Lake beach, just as the sun was setting on the water. Gorgeous ! What a beautiful place this is. Joanne remembered that in the early years of our married life, we once engaged in some shallow water “activity” in this calm water, sandy bottom lake’s swimming area after dark one hot summer night many, many years ago. Yes, yes ... I remember it well !

Walked along the beach to the amphitheatre to see tonight’s park movie about the history of the development of Ontario’s Provincial Park system. It’s been at least 2 decades since we’ve attended a Provincial Park’s amphitheatre presentation.

DSK