Saturday, July 15 - New Friends and
Canadian History
This was an
exciting day! We walked into Bobcaygeon to eat breakfast, mail some
cards, and buy butter tarts.
Back at the boat,
we waited for Gil and Debbie to come through the lock. Again there were
LOTS of boats so it took a while. Meanwhile, boats were stacking up around
us waiting to go up into the lock. It was chaotic! We had one guy
standing on the swim platform on the back of out boat, one holding on up
front. It was so exciting!
Bobcaygeon had a
swimming area that they called a beach. All the little kids around us
were so excited, hope their excitement kept them warm!
Now into Kawartha
Lakes. Here are some pictures.
My favorite
Adirondack chairs - red and black! They didn’t match the house, but at
least they matched each other.
We went through a
section of the Trent Canal to Fenelon Falls Lock. It was almost as crazy
as Bobcaygeon. There was no place for us to tie up, so Danny had to keep
the boat steady with all the traffic and current. People had gathered above
and below the lock to watch the fun.
Balsam Lake was not
far below the lock and we decided to anchor out there for the night.
Danny caught a
fish! A two-pound small mouth bass. It could have had something to
do with the size of the worms. (He only caught fish when he was using
live bait, Stephanie.)
A catamaran greeted
us as it sailed past, the gentleman on board called back to us asking if we
liked history. We replied yes, and he said he would be back to get us.
Sure enough, he
came back in a ski boat, introduced himself as Doug, and said he would be back
in 10 minutes to take us to his cabin.
We had a fantastic
time visiting with Doug’s family and finding out about the history of the land.
Doug’s great,
great, great (repeat) grandfather George Laidlaw (1828-1889) bought the land to
raise sheep and cattle after a successful career in railroad
construction. He commissioned a Scottish stonemason to build more than
10,000 feet of dry stone walls on his property. Doug and his
brother-in-law have learned the art and have repaired the walls. They are
amazing as you can see.
Doug and his wife
Donna are also restoring and adding on to an 1860’s structure on the
property. What an amazing history! The time spent with them will
definitely be a highlight of our Loop adventure.
Back at the boat,
Danny caught two more bass, but threw them back. We gave the first one to
Doug so at least one of them was put to good use.
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