Monday June 16: Coboconk

There were just a few more things we wanted to do before leaving Fenelon Falls – one of which was to get the bikes tuned up. Steve spent part of Saturday getting everything greased up and working again. Without bikes, it wouldn't be nearly as easy to enjoy the places we stop.

Even with these smaller fold up bikes, it's very enjoyable riding and the exercise of course is great.

After the work was done we took a walk down to the falls. Seemed like the thing to do since we'd been here four days and had yet to see the falls after which this town is named!

 Looks pretty much like it did last year :-)

Every trip back here bring pleasant memories. It's been over 55 years since I first saw and passed through this lock as a kid traveling with my family. 

 

The picture (left) on the historical board shows the lock the way it was when we came through: it was a double lock – now replaced by a single large lock. The picture on the right is a view from now. You can see the same very steep granite steps are still in place! The original lock walls from both the upper and the lower lock are still visible as well.

Of course Steve had to show that he could still climb the steep steps the same way we did as kids!

I'm quite certain that the sign right was not there when we were kids or we would have been banned from climbing up the railings :-)

Sunday it was finally time to move on. We made it all of four miles before we decided it must be time to stop for lunch. Rosedale lock is a really pretty area with minimal road traffic but because it's so close to Fenelon Falls we never have stayed – might as well stop for the day! 

And then the lockmaster off hand mentioned that the Kawartha Voyager (small cruise boat) would be tying up on the blue line for the night – right across from where we were tied. No problem – except we know by  experience that it runs generators all night. Mmmm … no thank you ...we'll continue the eight miles to Coboconk!

This morning? Really? Cold enough for jeans, long sleeve shirt and jacket? It felt like the first day of fall. Once the rain quit we headed out for breakfast, the junk store, the hardware and the library. By the time we were back from running errands, the sun was out and it ended up being a sunny but cool day.

Guppy finally got a bath – no small task. Steve indicated I'm not allowed to call this our “small” boat anymore! Small is relative, right? And 28 ft (Guppy) is smaller than 36 ft (Yesterday's Dream) so I stand vindicated :-)

Meanwhile, I installed a 12 volt fan in our bunk area. We know it really will eventually get hot up here even though so far the nights have been cool enough for us to run the small heater.

Steve is always entertained by the variety of dragonflies around and of course we both enjoy the baby ducks that are clearly being fed by the boaters. It's a beeline for us when they see us on the boat!

We're staying here again tonight as we continue to experiment with the solar panel and our energy needs. Initial thoughts? Better than expected!