To Campbellsford

We left Trenton at 8:30 AM and after going through 12 locks! in 31 miles we arrived at Campbellsford ON around 5:00 PM.  Needless to say it was a long tiring day.  Mike and Jennifer on their boat Nova went through the locks with us. It's always fun to talk with the lockmasters who are helpful and interesting and who take a lot of pride in their work.
Campbellford is one of a collection of three towns called Trent Hills.  The town is known for it's good fishing.  It is home to the  Worlds Finest Chocolate Factory Outlet.  The city park contains a 20 foot high 2 dollar coin.   The designer of the  original "doonie" is a town resident.
The scenery on the way is very much north woods with some very fishy looking lakes.


Hard worker




They're everywhere!!

 Scenes along the way



Where we ate




The super Looney!

 Tonight we are staying on a city dock, tomorrow we will stay in Hastings on a lock wall (also with electricity and water). We will travel only 17 miles but go through 6 more locks!

Glen Isl. Anchorage to Trenton

We have had a couple of good travel weather days.  After leaving Kingston we stopped for a night on the Bay of Quinte at an anchorage behind Glen Island.  Two sailboats joined us. 
Jayne and I  had a little extra time so I broke out the fishing rods and we did a little fishing from our dingy. (I said fishing not catching!).  We watched some TV  and went to bed to arise early the next morning for Trenton.  
Trenton is the beginning of the Trent-Severn waterway which we will be traveling on through Georgian Bay, eventually entering lake Huron and then Lake Michigan.We understand it to be wild, relatively unpopulated and great fishing.

This is a  decent size town with all of the types of stores and services you would expect..  We walked around the downtown area, had a nice dinner and took a few pictures.





Reflections



more reflections on a calm lake



A tree growing in the water?




Sail boat matching our colors




Mural




Park next to marina




We are always made to feel welcome!




Libraries in  US, Canada and many other countries have free internet to all 

 We were going to stay 2 days to do a little more site seeing but learned of the big July 1st Canada Day celebration (similar to our 4th of July celebrations ) to take place Friday in Peterborough.  We don't like to miss parties so we are staying in Trenton only one day so we may arrive in Peterborough on Thursday the day before the big celebration!

Kingston.ON

We continued our trip trough the beautiful 1000 islands on the canadian side to Kingston Ontario.  Along the way the scenary was amazing; every little island seemed to have some kind of a home on it;  The mansions were abundant, original, hugh and lavish.  We had learned of one that was for sale for 19 million dollars - we didn't buy it.
Kingston is a rather large city with quite a few high rises.  It dates back to the early 1800s and actually was the capital of Canada before Ottowa.
Jayne and I got around by bus( it took a while to learn the how tos) going to the grocery store, West Marine and to Canadian Tire company for our fishing licenses.
The marina is at the center of downtown and a lot of restuarants and bars.
This weekend was their jazz festival; we heard a couple of really great and innovative groups in the park.


Coming into Kingston




City Hall




Tour Boats



Kingston from the Royal Military College



One of three fortifications to keep the americans out in 1812




Royal Military College




Fantastic!




Crazy and fun!

 We enjoyed Kingston but the loop is calling.
Tomorrow we leave Kingston for an anchorage 30 miles away in the wilderness on our way to the town of Trenton the start of the Trent-Severn Waterway.

To Gannanoque Ontario

 Some scenes from George Boldt's castle on Heart Island

We traveled 11 miles to to the Heart Island the home of the Boldt Castle.
George Boldt was an american success story entering the US at age 13 to became an extremely wealthy at a fairly young age.
In the late 1990s he decided to build a castle on one of the many islands he had purchased on the St Lawrence River.  The castle was to be a valentine gift for his beloved wife.  The 20 million dollar project was close to being finished in 1904 when his wife died suddenly.  
Boldt stopped the work on the castle suddenly; the 300 workers left the jobsite; Boldt never returned to the castle again.  The property was sold eventually to Mr. Noble,owner of the lifesaver candy corporation.  He recieved the castle, all of the other islands and acreage plus the 60 boats owned by George Boldt.
 After a series of owners the neglected castle eventually became the responsibility of the New York Bridge authority which renovated the castle and grounds and are continuing their fine work.

Long story, short -  Touring the castle, outbuildings and grounds was one of the greatest travel experiences that Jayne and I ever experienced, and certainly one of the finest experiences of our great Loop trip.
We then went on to the town of Gannonoque, Ontario which is a nice litle town where we reported to the Canadian customs department before exploring the area.


Tomorrow we head out to Kingston Ontario.

To Gannanoque Ontario Canada

We had a great time at the fantastic Antique Boat Museum; learned a lot about historic boats, racing boats and saw a lot of boating stuff that we remember from the old old days.  We enjoyed the 1000 island Museum which contained lots of duck decoys carved by real outdoor artisans; the other main exhibit was about the musky.   The world record musky was caught here in the St Laurence River in 1954, 69 inches long; weighing 65 pounds.  The record still holds.
Clayton was a fine place to stay 2 nights; laid back with good people  - towns people and tourists as well.

Tomorrow we will visit the Boldt Castle on Heart Island which is quite a love story and a sad one. Below are just a few of the many pictures we took of his 2 story houseboat of 4000 sq ft.  After visiting the castle for a few hours we will then move on to the town of Gannanoque on the Canadian side.



Visiting for a few days (from Rhode Island and then to Charleston)




1000 Islands museum




Being restored




and the motor too




 2 gold rings in the basins! (House Boat)




Genuine Steinway (house boat)




Living room (House Boat)




Kitchen (House boat)



Da Boat! (house boat)

Our posts will become rather irregular starting tomorrow for one month because our internet access will not function in Canada.  We will write every time we are in a marina that provides Wi Fi.