July 18th: On to Orillia and the Scottish Festival.

We left Bolsover Lock and proceeded to Lake Simcoe. The park system is doing an extensive renovation of  the entire Trent Canal. This section leading to Lake Simcoe is having the side wall on the port side rebuilt. It is a massive project. If you look closely you can see a small crane which is placing new rock along the Canal. We appreciate the work being done to keep the canal in good shape.

We made it through the five locks with no delays. Just as we were about to head out of the canal and on to the lake, we suddenly developed a bad vibration. Were we in mud? Did we hit a log? We were already going slow, and the canal really has no place to stop, so we slowly continued until we could pull over.

Happily, when we pulled up the out drive, I found a very tough plastic bag wrapped around the prop. I was able to pull it off and away we went.

Lake Simcoe

Lake Simcoe was next. We picked a great day to cross. The lake was very calm. Two days ago, someone tried to cross and turned back after encountering 4 foot waves.





We arrived in Orillia in early Wednesday afternoon and just relaxed the rest of the day. I picked up Chinese food take out for lunch and all was good. Going through five locks, crossing the lake and getting docked is enough to wear us out, especially because it was very hot!

As we were sitting in the boat Linda, noticed that there were two docks that would be in the shade in the afternoon. I checked at the office and we were able to move. Really good news since we were going to be in Orillia for six days. It made a big difference. We hardly needed to run the air conditioner and could sit comfortably on the fly bridge.

Cheryl's mother, Lois

We were looking forward to meeting Peter, Cheryl and Cheryl's mother, Lois for lunch Thursday. We were fortunate to meet Cheryl's mother, Lois, on one of our Canadian boat trips. She has a great dry sense of humor and doesn't let Peter get away with anything! Well..... almost! :)

We met Peter and Cheryl while doing the loop in 2010 and have been boating on and off with them ever since, both in Florida and Canada. I found this picture from November 3, 2010.

We always enjoy travelling with them. The Chinese lunch and catching up with our friends made for a wonderful day. We even talked Peter and Cheryl into coming Saturday for the Scottish Festival.



Friday we rode our bikes to the Community Center where they serve breakfast. There is a great view overlooking the lake but the food was disappointing.


After breakfast, I rode through Tudhope Park. It is a beautiful park that features the Golden Leaves Sculpture, a tribute to Gordon Lightfoot (he's originally from Orillia). The sculpture is quite interesting. For more information and pictures click here. Gordon Lightfoot Golden Leaves Sculpture



Along the park trail there are quite a few written descriptions of historical facts about Orillia. I included this one about the Ice Industry. I am amazed that in the past, the Ice Houses along the shore could hold 50,000 tons of ice! A great industry for Orillia until refrigeration came along.





There were also several displays describing the fish weirs constructed by the Ojibway 5,000 years ago. It took a while after reading the sign for 5,000 years to sink in. Truly amazing. How do they even find this information?










I continued on the path that runs along the lake. A beautiful ride.

On the West end of the park is a great play area. It has a lot of fun equipment for kids to play on, a nice splash pond and especially a large inflated playground out in the water. The largest I've ever seen. It was great to see it was getting a lot of use. Everything is free, no admission fee.


Last blog's wildflower: Pasture Rose

Pasture Rose

Pasture Rose, Rosa carolina

A somewhat prickly shrub that has upright form but spreads out well. Beautiful pink flower gives way to rose hips that provide food for wildlife. Does well in numerous growing conditions but prefers average moisture in well-drained soil. Attracts pollinators.

This blog's wildflower: (Ignore the Daisies)