July 10th: Happy 48th Anniversary at Buckhorn

Linda and Steve's Wedding, July 10, 1971

July 10th is our wedding anniversary. Hard to believe 48 years have gone by. I guess the old saying is true, "Time flies when you're having fun!" We have certainly had a lot of fun on our anniversaries. Almost every one has been spent here in Canada.

We even spent our honeymoon travelling and sleeping in an 18 foot boat on the Trent Canal. We remembered splurging when we got to Buckhorn and stayed one night at the Cody Inn. It was not fancy (our room didn't even have a personal bathroom!!) but felt like paradise after being on the boat several days. It is nice to see that the Cody Inn is still in good shape and serves excellent chinese food. We just happened to be here on our anniversary and of course enjoyed a great meal.

The Cody Inn

Chelsea Bun

As you know from the previous blog we were disappointed to not get any Chelsea buns at Young's Point. I rode my bike to the grocery store and was looking for an anniversary treat for us. Across the street I noticed the general store and bakery across the street had changed owners.

The previous bakery did not ever have Chelsea Buns, but I thought just maybe. Sure enough, they had them, only two left! I bought one for us to share. They looked a little different in shape but tasted wonderful.

While at Buckhorn Lock we decided to change the spark plugs. We do a lot of slow travelling and that tends to foul the spark plugs. Because we stayed for two nights the engine had a good chance to cool off. Seems like nothing is ever easy. The job is not much fun because it is difficult to get to the spark plugs. It requires a lot of bending over and working in a very confined space. I replaced the four on the port side of the engine and it went pretty well. The second spark plug on the starboard side was so tight I couldn't get it loose. The ratchet I have is not heavy duty and it ended up bending plus I broke the top of the spark plug off!

Broken spark plug

We purposely avoid mechanical work unless there is a hardware store or auto parts store nearby. This was one of the times it paid off. I was on my way to the hardware store to get some penetrating oil and a bigger ratchet when I crossed paths with the boater in front of us. He was doing the great Loop so I believed he would have tools. He had just what I needed and was happy to loan the tools to me. Boaters are always great about helping each other out. I bought and used the penetrating oil and that worked. All the spark plugs were replaced.

In a prime example of it's a small world, Steve had given this couple one of our boat cards. Paula (they are from Arizona) keeps a spreadsheet of boaters they have met and when she started to enter our name - we were already in her spreadsheet! Turns out we met them in Fenelon Falls in 2016 as we were in the middle of completing our second Great Loop! Steve had recommended the trail along the lake to them and they had really enjoyed it - so much that they were going to ride it again when they were there (in a couple of days). Funny how stuff like that happens :-)

We planned to get up early Friday so we could get a spot with power at Bobcaygeon.


 Previous Blog's wild flower - The Bladder Campion

Bladder Campion

The Bladder Campion perennial may grow to half a metre. The white taproot and numerous deep penetrating woody branching roots make this a particularly hardy wild flower. The stems and leaves are light green to whitish with a waxy bloom. The bladder-like calyx has green to purplish veins and 5 short triangular teeth. This plant derived its name from early settlers who likened its flower's shape to the bladders of livestock. The flower is particularly rampant and pretty early on in its flowering stage.

This week's wildflower