Saturday, August 18, 2012

Lake Superior to Kenora, Ontario


Wednesday we drove across most of the rest of Ontario to Sleeping Giant National Park.  Eric took Kai out for an early morning walk along Mary Louise Lake.  They came across a small herd of deer and then flushed a bald eagle out of a tree near the shore.  Later, when I went for a run, I flushed the same eagle off its perch on a tree next to the beach, and it flew off in disgust.    

On our way out of the Park we drove out to Thunder Bay Lookout.  Some park administrator dude approved the construction of a lookout point ten feet out from the edge of the cliff overhanging Thunder Bay.  Hapless tourists like ourselves walk out to the end and find themselves standing on spaced slats of thin steel an eternity above the water.  Here are Liam and Kai, clinging to the railing and each other and baring their teeth, driven to the very edge by their parents' desire for a photo as their parents wave and smile from the safety of solid ground.   

      

Notice that the dog is absent from the photo - he took one look down and beat a hasty retreat.  

These give a sense of the view. Poor doomed tree.





The moose is very important to Canada’s tourist industry and the Canadians are very protective of the moose here.  Along most of the roadways outside of the cities are signs asking drivers to watch for the moose.  There are pictures of the moose in various poses – standing, smirking, charging.  You’d think these signs were geared toward safety, toward warning people that they might crash into a moose inconveniently located in their lane.  But we’ve been in Canada long enough now to discern the real reason for these signs.  Aside from the Moose in the back of our car, we have seen neither hide nor hair of the Canadian moose.  I’m beginning to suspect they’ve lost it, and they’ve put up these signs in the hope that someone will find it.  That’s what we would do if we lost ours. 

Speaking of road signs, there are lots, providing tons of useful information.  Some provide information you might not have been aware of, like the name of each one of the thousands of lakes we’ve driven by (they’re starting to repeat themselves – Dogtooth Lake #3, Link Lake #2, Blue Lake #4514.  The GPS, in a fit of electronic pique, has taken to identifying them as “Lake”).  Some signs provide information you might already have.  My favorite of those: “Large Vehicles Need More Room.”  Ah.  So they do.  Thanks very much.   

Thursday …. camping in Lake Blue Provincial Park, near Kenora, Ontario.

1 comment:

  1. I just caught up with your trip progress and am still snickering. It sounds amazing. Hi to JELKM from CLAMS

    ReplyDelete