Category: Uncategorized

This morning we went to the Canadian Heritage Bushplane Museum in Sault Ste. Marie. They specialize in Bushplanes and fire fighting planes.

We saw some really cool videos, checked out the amazing display of airplanes and had fun playing in the cockpits.

It was a spectacular museum. We learned a lot about how the bombardier water planes were able to pick up water and then dump on the fires. The process has changed a lot but is now very efficient if near water.

 

 

We headed out near sunrise towards the USA. We only crossed over for a few hours. We took the ferry boat out to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw, silent C?). Some of the ferry boats went super fast. We had picked the more leisurely pace boat.

When on the island, we opted to take a private carriage ride around the island. We had a great, knowledgable guide who told us the history of the island as well as information about those people that call it their summer home.

We saw the Grand Hotel with it’s 600 foot front porch.

Skull Cave.

And views of the marina from the Eastern Cliffs.

After our carriage ride we walked Market Street and sampled enough fudge to make us all sick in the tummy. I bought a slab of mint chocolate for later.

We had a near private ferry back to the mainland. We enjoyed lunch out, a rare treat.

No problems getting back into Canada on the International Bridge. We got back and I swam for 2.5 hours while Mom did laundry. I worked on my handstands and was under water most of the time. Emmerson too a long nap and is finally feeling a bit better, thank goodness! He was super grumpy.

Today we got up early and drive up to Bachawana Bay Provincial Park in Ontario. We were excited to be on the shores of Lake Superior.

We had a great time playing at the beach and exploring along the crystal clear waters of Lake Superior. This makes 4 of the 5 Great Lakes we have seen. We will see our last, Huron, tomorrow hopefully.

E and I had a loving moment as we walked hand in brotherly hand down the beach.

When we got back E wasn’t feeling well so he played down in the motorhome. I went swimming and worked on my water handstands for a long time.

Tuesday we took the day off. We ran a few loads of much needed laundry and linens. While we washed the clothing we played outside and ran around. We loved playing this game where you toss balls attached to a rope around different levels. We made up our own rules and point system and had a great time.

The rest of the day was downtime before our long drive towards Ontario.

Yesterday we spent a little over 12 hours driving from Montreal, Quebec to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The drive was uneventful other than the fact that we saw a black bear run across the road about 1/4 mile in front of the motorhome. The sunset was beautiful. We arrived at the KOA Sault Ste. Marie after 9pm and found our site in the dark.

In the morning we headed out to Ft. Saint Joseph. The place was deserted except for one employee who spent a lot of time with us chatting and educating. We learned how to play a First Nations game of tossing a hoop with sticks. It was so much fun we asked Mom to make us our own!

We dressed as soldiers and learned more about the fur trade in the area.

Then we took a long walk down to the fort and explored around. We learned that the blockhouse also housed the soldiers and was a lot longer than most of the time period.

The giant chimney behind us is a mystery. It wasn’t in any plans they have discovered, it wasn’t a kitchen, bread oven or a house. Archeologists are baffled!

We cleaned up in the giftshop because everything with a Parks Canada logo was 50% off. We each got a hat and a few small trinkets.

Next, we headed to the Sault Ste. Marie Canal and the locks on the Canadian side. We worked on our explorer program. We saw a tour boat come through he locks. The water drops 21 feet between the lakes.

We walked down along the canal and saw the Emergency Swing Dam. It was used in 1909 when a ship accidentally hit the gates when in the lock and caused a massive rush of water. The swing dam was used to bring the flow to a trickle. There were only 9 ever made like this and this was the only ever used. It worked PERFECT.

We watched a flock of Canadian Geese swim along and into the locks. I think it would have been easier to fly! Silly geese.

 

 

We started our morning with a long drive out to Manor-Papineau NHS. Louis-Joseph Papineau was a 19th century Canadian politician. HIs house was amazing and restored to near likeness of then his family lived there. The house had some impractical designs like the family living quarters were on the ground floor and the visitors rooms were all upstairs facing the river.

The house even had a dumbwaiter! This was amazing for the time period. During this time the bottle would prepare the plates for Mr. and Mrs. Papineau and then Mr Papineau would serve all of his guests. He entertained regularly.

We explore the gardens and fields of the estate. In the storage house we did a puzzle and built towers out of paper.

Our hike around the property was about 3km. We were amazed by all the 200+ year old trees and the cool mushrooms we found growing all over.

Next we visited Coteau du Lac NHS. This NHS boasts the FIRST lock in North America. It was a rather short lock to avoid a section of rapids and was only used for a brief amount of time. During the war in 1812 Canada fortified the rivers in preparation for Americans  trying to take the land.

The blockhouse still stands and is currently being renovated. We were able to tour inside but no photos were allowed.

In the visitors center we got to play archeologist and also try our hands at steel and flintstone.

We built a model of the blockhouse with the help of a little girl.

We explored the old canal from above and below.

Our next and last site of the day was Battle of the Chateauguay NHS. This site was historical because of a battle that took place in 1813 when the Americans, with 3700 troops, tried to attack the Canadian’s, with 300 troops. The Americans gave up and were defeated. This was the last time that the American’s attempted to take Canadian land in the area. We learned how they made musket cartridges. We made ours from paper, string, a gumball and sour powder.

We had fun doing our Xplorer books and learning about the site.