The Travels of the Agnew Family

Yesterday afternoon we repacked our bags and drove to Sauble Beach and Rob and Ellen's cottage with our ATVs. Today Ed and Rob went off for a ride while Ellen and I went for a long walk along the beach. It was nice to extend our mini vacation.

Ed and Chris spent a bit of time working on Chris's old boat. Happily they found the problem and the boat is now running smoother.


To celebrate fixing the old boat we took the new boat out for a drive.


It's easy to relax sitting in the back the boat watching the scenery go by.


Chris told us that the water is high in the lake this year. The high water and ice in the spring damaged his docks. So far he has managed to replace one of them, obviously the new one is on the left.

Chris and Tina's cottage is one of five cottages on a island about a five minute boat ride from the marina.


It's very relaxing to sit on the new dock and watch the water and the occasional boat go by.

Midland is a cute little town with a nice harbour about a 20 minute drive by car from the marina. Tina had heard that there was a Tugboat Festival this weekend so we decided to go and check it out.


I liked the name of this boat.


About 10 tugboats of various sizes and descriptions were there. They left the dock and headed into the harbour to get ready for the tugboat races. We watched a couple of heats but did't really understand what was going on. Different size boats were in the heats, so very unmatched competition and there didn't seem to be a start line. When the whistle blew the boats started to gain speed from wherever they were.


I thought this was the cutest tugboat.

On the drive back to the cottage we stopped at Port McNicoll to look at the S.S. Keewatin. SS Keewatin is a passenger liner that once sailed between Port Arthur / Fort William (now Thunder Bay) on Lake Superior and Port McNicoll on Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) in Ontario, Canada. She retired in 1966 and was acquired by RJ Peterson of Douglas Michigan for historic preservation. In June of 2012 she was sold to Canadian developer SKYLINE INVESTMENTS and sailed back to the Port that had been her home since 1912, Port McNicoll Ontario and run by a volunteer organization is again open to the public as an Historic Destination.


The front half of the S.S. Keewatin.


The rest of the S.S. Keewatin.

Our friends Chris and Tina own a cottage on Six Mile Lake which is north of Barrie just off of highway 400.

Guess who thought we should take a few breaks in during the 2 hour drive? Yeah, Ed decided to stop and find a few geocaches that were placed along the road we were driving.

Weather and life has made our kayaking trek from Walkerton to Southampten stretch over the entire summer. Two sections left do --- only one after today.

It was sunny but cool. Swim shorts and a jacket did the trick.


We started just south of the town of Paisley and paddled north.


Today we passed a private camping that offers sites to paddlers and a conservation area with campground that also offers campsites to paddlers.

The day started with fog and cloud but ended in beautiful sunshine though it never really warmed up.

We drove into Port Elgin today to meet up with other members of the PROBUS cycling group.


Along the way we saw this field of sunflowers. Ed couldn't resist taking a few photos.



We enjoyed are bike ride though were disappointed that only a few of us showed up. After the ride we to stopped at Betty and Gary's cottage in Port Elgin for a cold drink. When we were about to leave, Ed realized that it was almost time for the eclipse to start. He was prepared --- he had brought a welding helmet and his camera with him. We sat by the lake and watched the 70% eclipse. A few people walked by so we let them have a look through the helmet.


A shot of the harbour. It was a little hazy but you can see the sun.


The eclipse. Good thing we stayed in Port Elgin. Ed was told that Walkerton was cloudy during the eclipse.

Paula and Kathy hosted the annual block party this. Due to Paula's perseverance and hounding 62 people attended the party .... I think this is a record. It's a great way meet people who have recently moved into the neighbourhood and catch up with others that you only see once a year or in passing.


Good thing Paula has a TV in her garage .... the die hard baseball fans didn't have to miss the game.

To make the event extra special some fireworks were purchased. Dan (one of the neighbours) set the fireworks up on the side of the road.


We're ready for the show to begin.




For home fireworks it was a great show. We all enjoyed it. Thanks Paula and Kathy .... job well done.

Not sure why but Ed didn't take any pictures today. It was good to see people that we don't see often and to help celebrate such a joyous occasion.

On facebook we saw a post that said another cousin Charmaine and her husband Doug were also celebrating their anniversary. Happy Anniversay Charmaine and Doug.

My cousin Joan and her husband are celebrating their 50th anniversary tomorrow. Their daughter is throwing a party for them at the church in the village of Kendal where they were married. Kendal is also where my cousin lives and also where my father grew up. It's a 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive so Ed and I decided to turn the trip into a mini vacation. We stayed in Lindsay, a town about 30 minutes from Kendal.


An interesting carving.


I didn't realize or I had forgotten that the Trent Severen Waterway went through Lindsay and that there is a lock in town. There are beautiful walkways following the river.


There's a park in town that has a plaque and this sign thanking Canada for helping to free Holland during the WWII. My dad was a soldier in the Canadian army and he met my mother in Holland after the Canadians freed Holland.


Thought this was an interesting mailbox. And yes, Ed did talk me into geocaching while we were visiting Lindsay. This mini timbit box is a cache.

Back out on the river again. I really enjoy kayaking and I think Ed does as well.
Also I'm determined to kayak the Saugeen River from Walkerton to Lake Huron (in Southampton) this summer.







We should be able to finish the river in two more trips out.

A long long time ago in a place far away six adults, two children, one dog sometimes two and some cats would get together monthly to visit, play games and have a good time. It's hard to believe but those children now have children of their own and one of the original children lives in a place far far far away. This child, his wife and two children got on an airplane and flew home to visit his family and we got to visit too!


John's daughter Katrina.


John's son James.


Mom's and babes. Sue with her son Jason and Alyssa (John's wife) with James.


James just goofing around. Greg (Sue's husband), Sue and Jason.


Katrina saying good-bye to her cousin Jason.


John and Katrina. Katrina eating her first s'more. I think she enjoyed it.


I found this on the garden fence in the backyard. Ed's pretty sure that it's a cicada that recently emerged from it's shell.

Tonight is the annual "airport party". It's held in one guy's hanger, another guy brings a portable commercial deep fryer (he makes the best fries) and a barbecue, others bring items for the pot luck and a few more bring their musical instruments.

Ed stopped by the airport this morning to pick up Victor. While he was there he saw this interesting plane.


It's a crop duster.

On Sunday Ed and I went to the airport for breakfast and noticed that the crop duster was still there. Turned out wind on Friday and Saturday prevented him from dusting all the fields that he need to dust so he was finishing up Sunday morning.


The pilot did a little demo of crop dusting over the runway. I

It's a beautiful day today, so off to the river we went. We decided to try what was described as a 6 hour trip ---- river is still moving fast, we made it in 3 hours.


We stopped at a park for lunch. The park is a great spot for lunch as well as a great camping spot. The interesting thing about this park is the only way to can get to it is by the river (unless of course you work for the conservation area and have permission from the farmer to drive across his field).

Today we saw several deer having a drink from the river, saw the usual kingfishers and we saw a bald eagle soar above us. We also saw these guys


---- cows. First we heard some interesting grunts, then some rattling of bushes and finally the cows appeared.


One of the old bridges along the river.

We made it to the town of Paisley today ---- I don't know if it is the half way point to Southampton and the end of the river but I think of it as half way.

Clifford is a small town about 25 kilometers south of Walkerton and this year was their home coming celebration. A fellow (Bill) we know told us the fireworks show would be really good ---- and he should know as he is involved in putting the show together.

Anne and Victor came down and helped us to devour some of Ed's smoked ribs then the four us drove down to Clifford to see the fireworks.

Well Bill was correct, the fireworks were amazing.


Light sticks worn as necklaces makes for an interesting photo of the crowd.

The fireworks were amazing. There were 4, 5 and 6 inch mortars as well 8 and 12 inch shells. The 8 and 12 inch shells were put in and launched from barrels. When a 12 inch shell went off the entire sky lit up. It was also a lot of fun listening to the comments made by several children sitting near by. According to the kids we saw the "biggest", "the highest", "the loudest" .... I'm sure you get the picture.

Amy's mom and dad arrived home today. Ed and I decided to save them some driving time and took Amy home. She was really happy to see them but I don't think it would have taken much coaxing to get her back into our car. She's such a sweetie, we'll miss her but I am happy to be carefree once again.

A few more Amy photos.