CN Tower

The view from the top of the CN Tower is amazing!! We were also quite lucky as it has been rainy in the mornings, and this day was bright and sunny with great visibility!! This is the view to the west and Lake Ontario. You can see two of the major arteries, the Gardiner expressway and the QEW. The traffic in this town is unbelievable! Anytime, everywhere, there is tons of traffic. I don't think I could live here just because of that. On the day we came in with the trailer, we were going along the 401 and trying to change lanes (which is itself an amazing feat!). A car was leaving us a space, and we were half way into the lane, when this woman came zipping in from the other side. Her head was just out my window and it was only due to David's great driving that she was not smushed into the side of our truck! That was not a great beginning to our time here. It is so much easier driving around without the trailer, but still not very stress-free. Laura does not have a GPS in her rental car, so trying to drive around Toronto, in the dark, in a thunder storm, while trying to text directions to her with Taylor reading them in the back seat, as to exits and roads leaving downtown made for a few interesting drives!!

The group photo is on the outdoor observation

level which goes all the way around the tower. It would be good to have the point of interest map to look at so that those of us not familiar with the skyline could pick out landmarks. Again, it was very busy here, and we decided not to do the upper viewing pod as it was another hour wait just to get up to it.

The kids did the 3D ride at the bottom of the tower and said it was really good.

Toronto Touring

We did a fair bit of walking around Toronto, and with eight people, a wheelchair, and lots of bathroom stops is not so easy! David is definitely getting a workout as he has pushing duty most of the time. The kids felt that they "had" to help Auntie Laura on this hill up to the CN Tower, though!

We spent about four hours today at the Ontario Science Centre. Since it was a rainy morning, a lot of other people had the same idea. The line up to get in was quite long, but the centre is so huge that even with tons of people it wasn't too bad. There were really good exhibits and hands on activities. Everybody learned something new today, and that is always a good thing!!

Hockey Hall of Fame

We are staying in a campground in Missisagua, as there are not really camp grounds in the city of Toronto. It is only about 40 minutes to downtown, so that is not too bad. We had a couple of nights/mornings of rain, so there was lots of extra humidity! Temperatures were between 25 and 30 degrees most days - a little draining for those of us not used to it.

At the top of our list of Toronto sights (well, maybe not for all of us, but the majority) was the Hockey Hall of Fame. There was tons of memorabilia and exhibits, and even games the kids, big and small, could do. Shooting practice and goalie practice with an interactive computer screen were big hits. The main hall that holds all the cups, Stanley, Lady Byng, etc, is an impressive room, housed in an old bank, with a Cathedral ceiling and a rose window. If you were so inclined, you could spend many hours reading tons of history and info all about hockey through the ages. We were amused to see a pair of skates exactly like David's in a display - we keep telling him he needs to buy a new pair, and now we have proof!

Last day in Gananoque

This is the beach at Gananaque, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River. It runs past Montreal and Quebec City, and completes the end of the important water transportation route through central Canada into the Atlantic. We have now travelled most of this waterway, through Sioux Narrows in Lake of the Woods, past Lake Superior and the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, along the Northern Part of Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, and Lake Ontario, and into the St. Lawrence. So much of Canada's history, early development, and trade comes from this area - pretty amazing to experience it all!

The kids play a lot of Jackpot – Sean loves to throw and this is relatively safe for his knee. I have a good, hinged brace that I use for playing soccer, and so he has been able to swim with this one in the water. Luckily, he hasn’t missed out on too much because of his knee, but there is a jumping pillow at our campground in Niagara Falls that he will not be able to go on. We booked that campground especially so Sean and Rianna could show Cale and Taylor how much fun they are, but it won’t be happening for Sean!

Hey Greg, do you like this one?

Here is a little boat envy for those of you who are interested! There is definitely enough water around here to accommodate this type of machine!

Boldt Castle, Heart Island, Alexandria Bay, New York

The background info for Boldt Castle is on the next blog... I messed up the order on this one!

The castle itself is six stories high with 120 rooms and a swimming pool! In the first picture, I am standing in the Italian style gardens looking up at the front of the house. You can see Nana sitting on the right corner in a blue shirt!

The small building at the very back of the island that looks like it's own little castle is actually the power house. There were turbines and engines back here so the sound and smell of the gas would not disturb anyone. It is connected to the island by a bridge, and allowed for fuel to be delivered right into the back of the powerhouse. There is also a gazebo and a hennery on the island. The roof of the powerhouse had to be rebuilt when 4th of July fireworks from a celebration in Alexandria Bay hit the roof and lit it on fire!

As part of our five -hour tour through the Thousand Islands, we had a two hour stop over at Heart Island, the site of Historic Boldt Castle. George Boldt was a Prussian immigrant who worked his way up from the very bottom of the hotel industry, to eventually become partners with the Waldorf and Aster families who created and ran many famous hotels. In order to ensure the best quality of foods to sell in his restaurants, he started farms to raise cattle and grow produce. Many of these were situated in Northern New York, and the 1000 Islands region.

The Castle was begun as a summer home, and testament of George’s love for his wife, Louise. The finest artists, craftsmen, and materials were sought to complete the work. Unfortunately, about four years into the project, Louise suddenly died. All the workers were told to put down their tools and stop, and they never went back to work. The family never returned to Heart Island.

This picture shows the Norman style arch (on the left) where their guests could sail into a sheltered lagoon when they arrived. The tower on the right is the Children's Playhouse

Over the years it fell into a state of disrepair, and was vandalized by both humans and weather. In 1977, it came into the hands of the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, and they began to restore and repair it. There is still much work to be done, but the grounds, the exterior of the building, first floor rooms and some other areas have already been restored. It is an awe inspiring sight to see as you come through the islands, and well worth the boat ride to get to it!

Gananoque and the Thousand Islands

Halfway between Toronto and Montreal along the shores of the St. Lawrence lies the town of Gananoque. It is not a very big town, but it is the starting point for one of the main Boat Tour lines for the 1000 Islands. There are actually 1 865 islands dotting this part of the river between Ontario and New York. Most of the islands have houses on them. One of the biggest has a school, businesses and a post office. Wellesley Island has a bridge to the mainland, though, where most of them do not.

Some of the islands are very small and still have houses on them (like the first photo). Many of them have their own boat houses and even guest houses.

This area provides summer homes for some very wealthy, and well connected families, with beautifully manicured lawns, gardens, and impressive water craft. Some of the homes have been in the familes for five generations. People started to build here in the 1800's, and the brick work on some of the

houses, docks and breakwater is amazing!

During prohibition, rum runners would use these waters to transport bottles in burlap sacks, dragging behind their boats in the water. If they were going to be caught, they simply cut the rope and the evidence was gone. Apparently, they still find 50 year old bottles once in a while.

We chose to do a five hour tour with a stop over at Boldt Castle. The trip starts through the American side, and after the castle visit, returns through Canadian waters. We had to take our Passports because Boldt Castle is actually in the US and we had to go through customs. More info will follow on the castle with the next blog.

This area is very impressive, both because of it's natural beauty, and the way that humans have created beautiful homes amongst the rocks, trees and water.

The MacGregor Trio

Just a quick note to say thank you for the birthday and anniversary wishes (and Karen, it is only our 20th, don't jump the gun on that one, this trip might be the one that stops us from reaching 21!!)

Cindy - thanks for the update on the house, glad to hear everything is good on the home front!!

Just thought I would throw in this photo of the MacGregor Trio while they still are all speaking to one another!!

S'mores yesterday and tours today!

Today we went to explore the Parliament Buildings. Laura and the boys did a tour, but were disappointed as they were not able to go up the Peace Tower as the elevator was broken.

We also went to seen the Grounds at Rideau Hall, which is the Governor General’s Residence. There is also a large guesthouse where visiting dignitaries and head of state stay when they come to Canada. This is a huge estate, somewhere around 93 acres. It has been a tradition for many years for these visitors to plant a tree on the estate. Each one has a plaque to show who planted it. We saw trees planted by King Edward the VI, the Queen Mom, Queen, Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and many others. It was really quite interesting! We took the boys back to the trailer for supper and had the last of the Pulled Pork that I froze and brought from home! Then we went to watch the sound and light show, Musaik, on Parliament Hill. The kids really enjoyed it, even though it meant no campfire that night. The dogs actually got to come with us, so they were pretty happy, too!

Tonight, on the Bachelorette ......

Laura has become a camping convert! ….maybe not right at the beginning, but when she found out she could watch the bachelorette … she was sold!!

She thought she would have to be content to read about last week’s episode on the internet, and miss this week's show, but David managed to pick it up on regular TV with our antennae. She was ecstatic!

The family in the trailer next to us was having some issues with their slide, and David was trying to help. I was chatting with the mom, who was also quite excited to hear that we could get the Bachelorette. Now Laura was even happier, as she had someone to talk to about all the gossip and drama involved with the show (as I have absolutely no idea about anything related to the show.) Only Laura can sit and talk with a stranger for 2 hours while watching television!!!

But I guess she is not a total camping convert because at the end of the night, she still left the boys with us and went back to the comforts of her hotel!

Flying the Skies over Ottawa

Today we visited David's Great Aunt Bea, who is 93! She may have been a bit overwhelmed to open her door at her care facility and find 8 relatives!!! We had a very good visit, and she was pleased to have guests.

We then went on to the Aeronautics and Space Centre, where they just happened to be offering vintage biplane rides over the city. Being the wonderful parents of such appreciative children, we decided to let them go flying!!! The flight took them over the Parliament Buildings, the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River. The kids were very excited, and said it was an awesome experience!

After visiting the rest of the Centre, we returned to the camper for supper. We are staying at the Ottawa Municipal Campground this time, which is pretty close to downtown. The campground is beautiful, with tons of trees. We had just made supper, and sat down to eat when this huge gust of wind came up and blew all the trees sideways. Instantly, there were leaves swirling everywhere!! It was pretty wild! We moved inside for dinner. After dinner we sent all the boys to clean up in the bathrooms, which are about a three-minute walk from the trailer. All of a sudden there was a huge boom of thunder, the lightning lit up the entire sky, and a torrential rainstorm started. Needless to say, the boys were a little freaked out and soaking wet by the time they got back to the trailer. I guess it ended up being quite a bad storm, we saw tons of broken branches and downed trees in the city today. Cheap Trick was playing at BluesFest, and the stage actually collapsed while they were playing. There were a few injuries, but the stage collapsed away from the crowd, so most people were ok. We are happy that we were not driving in those winds!!

Michigan Mayhem

We headed south after leaving Sioux Falls and Lake of the Woods. Lake Superior is unbelievably huge - here is your educational trivia for the day – it has more water than all the other Great Lakes combined, and has an average temperature of only four degrees. For this trip we are going the Southern route, under L. Superior. This will take us from Ontario, through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and into Northern Michigan. This means one province and three states in a day!!! The terrain is very similar to the route above the lake, though, lots of trees, bogs, and rock. We were trying to cover a lot of territory in one day, and so ended up driving into the evening, which we usually try to avoid. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes out of Marquette, our stop for the night, a deer decided run out of the ditch at us. I saw it as it ran towards us, and managed to warn "Deer!" moments before it hit the driver’s side of the truck’s box, and then went into the front left corner of the trailer. David stayed very calm and did not lose control, but we could not stop right away as there was traffic behind us. We were all fine, but a bit shaken. The deer, unfortunately did not have a chance. The trailer has some damage, mostly cosmetic. We called in to the State Troopers right away to get them to make sure the deer was cleaned up, and then we had to stop to file an accident report with the Highway Patrol. Luckily the Troopers were in a town further down the highway. It was close to midnight when we were finished and we didn’t feel much like setting up for camping that night, so we stayed in a hotel.

We took the trailer into an RV place the next day to make sure there was no structural damage, which was a big relief. After a trip to Ace Hardware for some expanding foam and Gorilla Tape, we spent about 2 ½ hours filling and taping up the big dent and holes. (Guess who got to clean up the mess first, though?) It actually doesn’t look that bad, we just hope we don’t encounter a lot of wet weather, as we don’t need another mold problem like on our first trip.

As we continued on our journey the next day, we stopped on the shores of Lake Michigan to touch that Great Lake, and we stayed the next night at a campground past Sault Ste. Marie, on the shores of Lake Huron. That’s three Great Lakes in two days!

Today we are headed to Ottawa, about a 9 & ½ hour drive. We have to make up a bit of driving time because of our delays. We will be meeting up with Nana, Auntie Laura, Cale and Taylor who flew to Toronto last night, and are driving to Ottawa to meet us.

Thanks to Andrew & Leslie!

We had such an awesome time here - I think I want to build a retirement cabin on the Lake of the Woods now, too! This is the view from their living room. Nothing beats a campfire and a full moon! We even got to see Fireflies which are so, so cool!! I saw them once as a kid, and they are just as neat as I remember.

Sean's Big Fish

Sean managed to reel in both of the two biggest fish today! This lovely Pike was about 33 inches long. They have such strong jaws that if we have to use special fish jaw spreaders to retrieve lures that are too far in! Their teeth are razor sharp, too, just for fun! Makes the bass and carp that we usually catch look like minnows.

I am not sure if the fishing or the scenery were more spectacular - both were awesome!

The MacGregors are on the road again!

We have set off on our next adventure, probably the last with our trailer. L After a quick journey across Saskatchewan and Manitoba we arrived in the beautiful Lake of the Woods, in Northern Ontario. Our friends, Andrew and Leslie have invited us out to do some fishing, seeking after the elusive and famous (to a fisherman) Muskie! They have built a lovely retirement house on a beautiful bay. What an amazing way to wake up every day!

We had several successful fishing expeditions, and everyone caught something!! Rianna was the only one of us to bring in a Walleye, which we kept and ate. The rest of us all caught Pike of various sizes. Sean’s were the biggest at 30 and 33 inches!

The Lake of the Woods is a true Canadian Shield lake, with islands covered in granite and trees. It is so easy to imagine the voyageurs and natives exploring these shores. Andrew tells us that the area of Sioux Narrows where all the furs came through during the Fur Trade, on their way to Montreal.