June 28: Peterborough for the Holiday Weekend

We left Lovesick and proceeded to Lakefield. On the way we traveled through Stony Lake which is very pretty.

We stayed at the Lakefield Marina which is a very nice place located on the river headed to Peterborough. We had a favorite breakfast place just a short walk from the dock. When I rode past it on my bike on the way to the grocery store, I discovered it was gone! Very disappointing.

Linda got on the internet and discovered there was a new place just as close. So of course we tried it. Turned out it was quite good. I got an avocado, cucumber, roasted red pepper mayonnaise fried egg sandwich on rye bread. Sounded like a California sandwich! It was excellent.





While at Lakefield, Linda decided it was time to get back on her bike after her knuckle surgeries. It went very well!







I went for a bike ride through a nice park that I always enjoy. There is a great protected wetland area that is pretty and has a lot of wildlife. Linda and I enjoy looking for turtles when we kayak. Surprisingly, as I was riding along the trail, I came across a turtle. Pretty unusual. Perhaps she was going out to lay her eggs. She would not come out to give me a better picture and I got tired of waiting so this is the best picture I could get. Fun to see.






This trail also gives me a good view of Guppy across the river at the Lakefield Marina. Nice to see Guppy safely tucked in for the night as thunderstorms were predicted. Guppy is in the corner, right in front of the marina building.

After a great stay in Lakefield, we headed down the river to the Lakefield lock. It's a fun ride because we go past the dam, under a bridge and through a narrow channel to get to the lock. We arrived for the first lock of the day to beat the predicted heat for the day.




There are five regular locks, the lift lock and one last lock on the way to Peterborough. It can get pretty hot waiting for the locks to go down. Linda captain's the boat and I keep her supplied with water and food. On the trawler we have the great Challenged Athlete Foundation insulated water bottle, which we got from Matt, that I use to provide Linda ice water. I decided to improvise until I can find something better, but it kept Linda going for the 3 hour trip. By the way, 3 hours was a record short time for the trip. Every lock was open and waiting for us on the way. It made the trip easy and fun.

We passed the Trent University on the way to the Lift Lock. It has grown considerably over the last forty years we have traveled the Trent. They have built some very nice buildings the last few years.




We arrived at the Peterborough Lift Lock and as usual enjoyed the view and the incredible ride to the bottom. Learn more about the Lift Lock

We planned to stay at the Peterborough Lock Thursday night. It is a short bike ride to Peterborough and a very enjoyable place to stay. No power, but no problem. I always move the generator as far away as possible to minimize the noise. I fired up the generator to cook and next thing we know, a fellow boater came over and asked, "Is that your generator?" We looked and there was smoke pouring out of it! Not good. After some inspection we decided the rings were shot. Checking on the internet, I had a hard time finding a replacement.  Peterborough is the largest city we would be in for a while so we really wanted to find a replacement.  Fortunately, Linda got on the internet and found an Energizer Generator, the Energizer Bunny brand, a short bike ride away, at a Tractor Supply. The generator is fairly heavy so I put it on the back of the bike and walked it back to the boat. Fired it up and it works great.

June 24: On our way to Peterborough

We had a beautiful day to cruise the 16 miles to Bobcaygeon, one of our favorite towns, which is typically very busy on the weekends. We were able to get the last spot on the wall that had power. Because this lock is so popular, boaters can stay only two days. We decided to stay Friday and Saturday. Guppy is right behind the houseboat in this picture. (We let the boat next to us tie on to us while they ran into town.)

We were informed that there was going to be a Bikefest Sunday, the day we were leaving. Checkout time is 11:00 am so I went up to check out the Bikefest at 9:00 am. We thought it would be bicycles, but I quickly discovered it was motorcycles. By 11:00 am there were motorcycles parked everywhere.

The main street was closed to allow space for over 200 vendors and to provide space for the motorcycles to park and be displayed. The street was lined with hundreds of motorcycles by 10:00 am. There was a lot of leather biker garb being worn. I don't think my Tilley's hat fit in very well.

I liked a really old, perhaps hand made motorcycle. The owner was not around and there was nothing giving the history. One side shows the engine and the other the "saddlebag".

We left at 11:00 am and there were many bikers still arriving.

We traveled on to Buckhorn. Once again we got the last spot with power. (We don't have to have power but it is nice.) Buckhorn has a nice lock with the Cody Inn, a great Chinese restaurant, next to it. We enjoyed a very good dinner.

The following morning we went to The Olde Ice house for breakfast. The restaurant is in an old house. You feel like you are sitting in someone's dining room. A surprise was "Pickle Soup" on the menu. We had never heard of Pickle Soup until Cindy made it for us in Marathon. It sounded strange but Cindy's was great. We told the waitress the story and she brought out a little bowl for us to try. Very close to Cindy's in looks and taste (but definitely not as good :-) )
.

When we left Buckhorn and headed to Lovesick, it was quite overcast and the typical pretty colors of the rocks and trees all looked gray. At least it wasn't raining.

We arrived shortly at Lovesick Lock. It is another one of our favorites because it is very scenic and there are no roads to the lock. The lock people travel to and from the lock in a small boat. Lovesick is my favorite fishing spot on the middle of the Trent. I can sit on top of the dam and fish in the rapids below. It's fun to catch a fish and try to bring it in with the strong current. But before fishing, I needed to set up the solar panels. No shore power here.




I had stopped at Trudy's Bait shop and picked up some leeches to fish with. When the kids were younger we had fun playing with the leeches. They stick to your skin but don't penetrate at all.
The bass love them.



So...., well prepared I went to the dam. Unfortunately, it was a day of fishing and no catching. There was a tremendous amount of water coming through the dam and I suspect it was just too much. It has been a very rainy spring up here so there is a much higher volume of water than is typical in the lakes and rivers. Fortunately, the Trent was built to control flooding and provide a navigable waterway so other than no fish, no problem. I'll try again on the way back.


We still enjoyed staying at Lovesick. A couple cute ground squirrels showed up and were scrounging some peanuts someone had left.


It rained a lot over night. Just the way we like it. It was a beautiful morning. I decided to cook breakfast on the picnic table. Linda as usual was agreeable to cleaning up. All in all it was a good return to Lovesick. After breakfast we headed out once again.



Below is a visual of our trip from Fenelon Falls so far. You can see Peterborough is not too far away.

June 23: Back on Guppy

Sunday June 16th we drove to Lindsay Ontario, about twenty minutes from Fenelon Falls, where Guppy was waiting for us, and spent the night in a nice motel. Monday morning we were at the marina and ready to have Guppy launched. Before launching a boat they always start the engine and make sure all is well. Turned out not so good. Guppy wouldn't run in slow idle. We trust the mechanic at Fenelon Falls Marina who said the carburetor needed to be rebuilt. :-(  It would take three days to get the parts and do the repair. The launch was delayed, but Ian the mechanic played with the carburetor and determined we could go the short distance to the Fenelon Falls Lock, which is a nice place to stay. The boat was launched, parts were ordered and the repairs were scheduled for Thursday.

Fenelon Falls Lock

We made it to the lock and enjoyed the three days in Fenelon Falls, especially our favorite Chinese restaurant.

Murphy's Waterfront Restaurant

There is a new Fenelon sign at the locks. It is definitely "Retro". Not sure how it ended up there but it does get your attention at night. We were treated to live music from a very close restaurant that featured a very good Country and Western couple. The weather was great, so we just sat on the fly bridge and enjoyed the music.






I love the beautiful trees that are around the locks. Don't know what kind this is but it is huge and very pretty.

New battery charger

There was still plenty to do to get Guppy ready. We installed a new battery charger because our old one had died. (One of the many packages we ordered sent to Julie and Jim so we could bring it with us.) The installation went quite well with no glitches.

New water pump

Next was a new water pump. The old one used too much battery power and was very noisy. Again, we brought the water pump with us from Julie and Jim's. The water pump installation had a few glitches. First we discovered the pump would not turn off when all the faucets were closed. Not good! Discovered a leak in a hose in the engine compartment. Not a  big deal. Rode my bike to the hardware store and they had exactly what I needed. Fixed the leak and tried again. Pump still wouldn't turn off. Checked everything for more leaks. Could not find any. Hmmmm! This is a new pump. Fortunately, Linda called tech support of the pump manufacturer. The tech said he knew what the problem was. The pressure switch needed to be adjusted. Linda said, "But this is a brand new pump." He said, "Well it happens". Told us how to adjust it and it worked great.



We planned to leave the lock at 8:30 am Thursday, so we could get to the marina for repairs at 9:00 am. Engine wouldn't start. :(  I decided we needed to pour some gas in the carburetor to get it going, which is what the mechanic did. Of course we had no gas, but I have a gas jug and a gas station was not too far away. I returned with the gas and before messing with the carburetor thought I'd try one more time. It started! Away we went. We got almost into a slip at the marina and the engine stalled. Fortunately, the wind was blowing in the right direction and with a little effort pushing off a dock, we were able to drift into a slip.

We arrived before 9:00 am, so we of course went to breakfast. There is a nice little restaurant overlooking the docks. I ordered mint tea and it came in a very cool tea pot. The breakfast was very good.

Carburetor installation

We no sooner ordered and we saw Nick the carburetor mechanic heading to our boat. He did a great job rebuilding and replacing the carburetor. We decided to spend the night at the marina since it was supposed to rain all afternoon, which it did. We woke up to a beautiful day Friday and headed to Bobcaygeon.






The Fenelon Falls lock, on the way to Bobcaygeon, is one of the deepest on the system and is always impressive. We dropped  to the bottom and were on our way to Bobcaygeon.

May 31: Back to Cleveland and the Farm

Having left Florida, we went to Cleveland on our way to Canada and Guppy. We spent most of the time at the Drouhard farm. We planned the timing so we could be there when Linda's brother Tom (he's the brother who gave Linda a kidney in 1985!) from Arizona, was also there. We always enjoy his company and hospitality. Not sure who was the biggest bad influence but it was Tom and/or Linda that decided we needed to go to the Perrysville  Dairy for a Coney Dog and ice cream. Although I'm not in the picture, I too succumbed to temptation. We just kept saying it was our 'last hurrah!!"

It's always interesting to see what wildlife we see at the farm. There was a robin nest with three chicks on the patio and a pair of chimney swifts flying around. In the barn was a buzzard nest with chicks also. In particular, we tried not to disturb the buzzards, they are pretty big birds to disturb! There are of course always deer, groundhogs, and lots of birds. We've seen turkeys before out in the fields but this was the first time we saw a wild turkey walking through the back yard. (Picture is a little fuzzy because it was far away by the time the picture was taken.) 

While we were home, Linda's oldest brother Warren organized a farm planting for Tom, Steve, Elin, Mandy and of course Warren. We planted two milkweed patches (128 plants) in the lower field for Monarch butterflies. Tom explained that Monarch butterflies deposit eggs exclusively on milkweed plants on their trip from Canada to Mexico. The caterpillars eat the normally poisonous milkweed plant but are immune to the poison. Once they eat the milkweed they become poisonous so nothing eats them.

Given we were in Cleveland for Doctor visits we of course found time to hit the great chinese restaurants.

Cleveland Chinatown has an annual Chinese "Year of the pig,monkey, ox, bull, etc." sculpture decorating contest. 2019 is the year  of the pig. For more info click here.  This restaurant has many of the previous year's sculptures on display outside the restaurant. Very fun to see them all together. (The pig must have been on the side by the door.)

One of the things we love at the farm is the great fireplace. Warren, arranged to have the chimney repaired so we could continue to build wood fires. Many thanks to Warren.

We also had an opportunity get together with Wendy who happened to be in Ohio. She showed us pictures of her latest knitting talent.

She actually knitted these cute little dragons! (Linda is thinking an internet marketing business might be in her future, but of course Wendy would have to do all the work!)

We have had fun seeing Rebecca's name on TV. She is a co-producer of Izombie, a popular television series, and her name shows up at the start of the show as a Co-Producer.

We asked Rebecca to send some pictures of her two dogs, London (tan) and Trevi (brindle). Both are miniature golden doodles.


They are super cute and very friendly. We're looking forward to our trip to California in September where we'll get to play with the dogs and see Wendy, Matt and Rebecca. Bonus this trip, Tom will ride the train down from Arizona and join us.

As our Ohio visit drew to a close we met Julie, her husband Jim for a chinese lunch. Our cousin Marialice drove up from Fredricktown to join us. It's always enjoyable to spend time with Julie and Jim to catch up on what is going on in Ohio. Marialice keeps us informed about central Ohio and all the New York relatives. After lunch we stopped at Julie and Jim's to pick up numerous packages we had shipped to their house. They graciously accept and keep the packages and equipment we need to take to Canada. They have been collecting and storing things for several months! Many thanks to Julie and Jim!

Friday June 21:Ten Years!

After ten years, Linda has decided to turn the blog over to me, Steve, her husband. Here are some of the beginning blogs she posted almost ten years ago. Time really does fly when we're having fun!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Retirement is Near!

I have one more cabinet to clean out, 1 more student to meet and graduation to go to and then it's that great feeling of "Free at Last" !! The boat is not quite ready to leave yet - and we will be going to Boise to cheer Matt on as he runs his 70.3 Ironman. Return on June 14th and then will be leaving Cleveland for the west end of Lake Erie.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Fireworks - Ready to Go :-)

The thought was to ride down to the mouth of the Cuyhoga River to watch the fireworks from the lake but after spending most of the day preparing to leave tomorrow morning, I don't think that is going to happen! The bikes are put away - dingy motor has a new home on the aft deck (lazerette storage idea was thrown out) and all is ready.

So the adventure at long last begins. We will head directly for Kelly's Island - about an 8 hour run (remember we only travel at 8 miles per hour!).

Friday, July 10, 2009

Friday 7/10: 38th Anniversary

After traveling from Leamington to the Detroit River, we celebrated our 38th anniversary a day early by having a lobster dinner! Steve managed to find and backpack them to the boat. Anchoring in Crystal Bay (the water is as clear as the name implies) was great. We are learning how often the generator has to run to keep the freezer stuff frozen.

The first use of the dingy (for breakfast across the river) was very successful - we continue to learn how this living aboard is going to work. And of course there is the 'job of the day' - in this case the work continues in recaulking the walkaround deck. Progress is measured by the foot in this case!

And even though all you see is Steve working, trust that I have a part in all of this as well. What a way to spend an anniversary -- but then who would have thought 38 years ago that this is what we would be doing!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Wed August 19th: Tonawanda, NY

WE MADE IT AND DIDN'T GO OVER THE FALLS!!! My recurring nightmare lately has been that we miss the opening to the canal that runs alongside the Niagara River - and over the Falls we go :( The current in the Niagara River runs 15-17 mph flowing north. Our boat goes a max speed of 10 mph so if we missed the turn and had to turn around and go against the current to get where we needed to be ....... do the math :-) The Peace Bridge is the one we usually took when going into Canada. It was very strange to be going under it instead.

Once around Buffalo (so we are going North - the direction the Niagara River flows) we found the Tonawanda Creek and the entrance to the Erie Canal. Only problem was that we still had the mast up and couldn't fit under either of the two bridges that we had to go under! Not the plan but we ended up quickly dropping the mast as we sat in the middle of a small open area outside the Creek. Quickly is relative of course as dropping the mast means removing the boom, undoing two of the four cables holding it up, pulling the pin that holds the mast to the deck and finally laying it down (Steve slowly lowering it down by holding the ropes and me holding the end until we can move it to the flybridge deck). Once we were docked, Steve packed it up and it is now cozily laying on the flybridge and out of the way.

We found a carrousel museum in town. Very fun - learned all about the making of the figures as well as the music that is played and how it all works. Amazing technology for the 1920's. Adults were warned not to waste their $.02 on the ride and besides it was "evil" to ride on these things!

The price of admission included a ride on the #1 carrousel made by this company in 1916! (My horse won by the way :-) )

I'll try to measure up to the great job Linda did. I'm starting out slowly by just copying her work. A new post is under construction and will be completed soon.