Sunday July 28: Rain and Thunderstorms

Some nights it's really nice to be tied to a dock and last night was one of those nights – really hard rain and lots of it. Along with much thunder and lightening with one lightening bolt being the widest Steve has ever seen. Fortunately we were able to move to the dock at Bay Villa Lodge (with a much nicer view!) as we definitely weren't interesting in moving anywhere today as the dark rain clouds seemed to just continue to roll in.

I spent part of the day in the main lodge building here as I was able to use Steve's ipad but not my computer for the internet – very odd. Very fun fireplace though – and almost cold enough to wish there was a fire burning in it!

The lodge is owned by a guy (and his wife) who used to come up here from Chicago with his dad to fish. Interesting enough he used to work at Republic Steel in Cleveland for a time. He and his wife came back here to stay for a night, ended up staying 4 nights and then ended up buying the place! Funny how things turn out.

It was definitely entertaining to watch all of the fisherpeople in small boats zipping back to the river when the rains blew in early in the afternoon. It's actually turned out to be a decent day now about 6 pm with mixed sun and clouds. More rain predicted for tonight though.

 Steve spent his time finding red raspberries and blueberries as he walked up to the small falls here. No kayaking though – too windy and too rainy. He also stumbled upon a lone gravesite right next to the main road through this area. Makes one wonder about the person buried there ….

The evidence of the glaciers in this area is unmistakable though. These glacial groves rival the ones on Kelly's island and they are just sitting around in this area as though no big deal – which they weren't as we saw many of the grooves along this river.

Many of them were along the riverbank by the falls (hence the name "Whitefish Falls") so it was fun to see.

Steve also found  a small park along the way to the falls.

Steve spotted our dock pet: the small turtle sitting on a board near the dock. Shy little guy as he jumps in as soon as you take very many steps onto the dock!

Tomorrow (Monday 7/29). Steve asked Don (the owner here at Bay Villas) where to fish. The 3 foot pike being cleaned at the fish table has definitely peaked his interest! So we'll head back the way we came in, make a turn at the junction with the other channel, follow this around and then weave our way through any rocks to head into Jumbo Bay. The fishing area is circled! After fishing and hopefully pulling up something for dinner, we'll find a place on the west shoreline as the winds are forecast to be out of the west tomorrow night.