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 :-) )
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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.