The Optimistic Ontarian

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Derek's Fireworks over the Lake

Alisha's fiancé Derek loves fireworks, and he has become quite an accomplished pyrotechnist. His firework shows have become very popular among his family, and he always puts on a spectacular Canada Day show at the family cottage outside Thunder Bay. Since we were visiting, we received an invite to the event this year. In fact although we had intended to head home sooner, we were told in no uncertain terms that we HAD to stay for the Canada Day show.

The weather has been pretty good for the entire trip, and although there has been some rainy days, they really haven't spoiled our vacation. However, the weather forecast for the Canada Day weekend did not look promising, with rain predicted for most of the weekend. Determined to have a good fireworks show, Derek decided he would set them off on Saturday if it was a good day rather then waiting for Sunday and hoping for a break in the forecast rain.

Arriving at the cottage with a car full of fireworks and a table built especially to safely mount the various rockets, cherry bombs and massive firework cakes on a floating dock out in the lake, Derek was informed that the show was scheduled for Sunday, because guests had been invited and could not come on Saturday. When he expressed concern about the rain, his father assured Derek that the forecast called for rain all afternoon, but clearing by 5:00 pm. Now coming from Nova Scotia where even Cindy Day rarely gets the forecast that accurate, I had to share Derek's concern, but his dad was confident.

Sunday dawned with cloud and dark skies on the horizon, and by noon it was raining; “See, just like the forecast said.” was Derek's dad, David's optimistic response.

The Fireworks Table

By 2:00 pm, it was no longer raining, it was pouring, but David checked his phone and reassured us that it was still supposed to clear by 6:00 pm.

At 4:00 pm, the driveway was washing away, the downspouts could not longer handle the deluge of rain, and you needed both a raincoat and an umbrella to go outside. “Don't worry”, David assured us, “The weather forecast is saying it will clear by 7:00 pm.”

It was still raining at 6:00 pm, but not so hard, and perhaps the skies to the west might be a bit brighter. “Yup, we're good, clearing is expected by 8:00 pm” David claimed when everyone pointed out the continuing rain.

Well, David was right. By 8:00 pm, the rain had stopped, and Derek hurried outside to quickly get everything organized and set up. By 9:00 pm, there was actually some blue skies, and they towed the now almost prepared floating dock out into the lake for Derek to complete final preparations.

At precisely 10:00 pm, under a beautiful darkening blue sky, Derek set off an amazing 20 minute firework show. Everyone agreed that it was his best show ever, and David's optimism proved as accurate as the weather forecast.

Ready to go - rain stopped

Where is Lake Superior?

Aguasabon River Gorge (And fog)

Canada has the famous Great Lakes, and the most spectacular is Lake Superior. I am not sure of the exact statistic, but I believe it is the biggest lake in the world in some aspect, total size, area, volume . . .something? Years ago we drove all the way around Lake Superior on a trip to BC and it was a boring, nerve-rattling trip with two young children on terrible roads filled with one large logging truck after another. We swore never to do that route again, and on subsequent trips we took a route through United States. Then just to spite us one of those children grew up and moved to Northern Ontario, giving us no choice but to make the trip again. This year's “Road Trip” takes us once more around Lake Superior.

Well, you can sort of see a lake . . .

The roads are better, we drove on a Saturday so there were no logging trucks, and it was just the two of us. However, we did not get to see Lake Superior. The trip started in Sault Ste Marie in a rainstorm, and the rain continued off and on all day, some times raining so hard you could not see; complete torrential downpour. When it was not raining the fog rolled in, sometimes so thick I had to slow down to see the road ahead. It is a seven hour drive and most of the day we were not far from the shoreline of Lake Superior, but the famous lake eluded us, we caught very few glimpses of the huge body of water. I stopped at one designated “Lookoff”, and could not see anything of the lake. Coming into Thunder Bay there is a beautiful memorial to Terry Fox that is supposed to provide a lovely view out over Lake Superior – still no luck. There was, I am sure a big lake somewhere out there, but all we could see was fog and rain.

Fog but no lake

Fortunately, we have to take the same route on the way home in a few weeks, so I am hoping for better weather.

Rain, Rain, Rain

Ready for the rain

It did not always rain

Typical . . Blue skies followed by rain clouds

Rain on the bus

Rain on the lens.

If you have been following my Blog during this trip to the UK, you might have noticed that it has rained quite a lot. In fact, I believe it rained every day. The interesting thing is that the rain did not really affect us negatively so much. While on the boat, when it rains, someone is going to get wet. If you are driving the boat, you are standing outside on the stern, and if you are the lock crew, you are walking alongside the canal in the rain. Everyone was prepared for this with full rain gear, so no one really minded the rain.

Once we were off the boat and touring Scotland, the rain was very cooperative. It still rained every single day, but somehow it seemed to work around our schedule. It poured rain in the morning while we were eating breakfast, but stopped by the time we were heading out. Or, the day started out sunny, clouded over and suddenly the clouds opened once we got back to the apartment. Or, we stopped at a pub for a pint, and while relaxing with a good Scottish beer, a downpour happened out on the street. It was occasionally 'damp', but we never actually got rained on.
Then on the last day in Paisley, we got wet.  We arrived early, and got settled in before going out for dinner. The girl at the desk had given us a couple of interesting sounding options for dinner, but when we set out it was raining. It was actually pouring, a steady heavy rain. After weighing the choices we had decided on an interesting pub a short walk into town.

In a strange new town, in the rain, in the dark, with rain jackets zipped to the neck and hoods up it was difficult to navigate, and we were getting wetter and wetter as we looked for the pub. Were we supposed to go past the Cathedral, behind the Cathedral, or beside the Cathedral?

Then, through the rain, across from the Cathedral appeared one of the restaurants the hotel clerk had suggested. Not the pub we were looking for, but a modern, quite fancy restaurant called the "Pendulum". Wet and a bit frustrated I agreed to forgo my "pub" preference, and give this place a try.
Best dining decision of the trip! This place had an "Early Evening Menu" of three courses for £13. We had an amazing meal, probably one of the best of the trip, all because the Scottish weather finally decided not to co-ordinate it's downpour with our outings.

The meal was worth it.

Welcome To Oban

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Loch Lubnaig on the way to Oban

When Regis suggested we spend a week in Oban after the narrowboat adventure, I did some internet research on the town and then I found an author, Peter May who wrote mystery novels about the area. After reading one, I had my concerns. His descriptions of the area was quite simple; COLD and RAINY. This did not significantly deter Regis however as she was focusing on the “Quaint” and the “Picturesque” aspect of the town, and said it can’t really be that bad. As well, we had both friends and relatives who had visited and loved the town.

Getting up early to leave Edinburgh prior to rush-hour traffic got us out of the big city and on our way to Oban. The first half of the trip was on “M” series highways, the “M” standing for “Motorway” which refers to their “Interstate” level highways which are divided and multi-lane with according to the big M/B and BMW passing me, seemingly no speed limit. Then about half way there we had to switch to an “A” level road. Now “A” level might lead you to think this was a pretty good highway. After all it is the main road into Oban from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ok, think of the narrowest windiest road in Canada or the US . . . . this road was narrower. There were signs warning me that “Oncoming Vehicles may be in the middle of the road”, and when the big 18 wheelers met on some corners one of them had to come to a complete stop inches from the stone walls to allow the other to squeeze by.

The view from the apartment

On the plus side, the weather was lovely, with a day finally with no “Scotch Mist” and lots of bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures. We stopped at a couple of the Scottish famous lochs to take pictures. All together it turned out to be a pleasant drive with amazing scenery.

Looking out to sea from the window

Arriving at Oban we were greeted by exactly what was advertised; a quaint seaside town on the western coast of Scotland. No parking issues here, I found a spot right across from the apartment against the seawall to unpack the luggage, and then moved the car to a free spot a couple of blocks away. The apartment was everything advertised, large, airy, and right on the waterfront with amazing views out across the harbour to the islands beyond.

Then it started to rain, a gentle drizzle as we went for supper groceries, increasing to a steady rain walking back, and then working up to a windy, violent downpour that obliterated the view of the off-shore islands by evening. Welcome to Oban.

Oh No Its Raining!

Sailing Into Doubtful Sound

After we left Milford Sound, we were back in rough seas for a while before turning into Doubtful Sound. The gentle showers in Milford turned into a downpour in Doubtful. My initial reaction was concern that this would ruin the view as we went through this attraction, but in actual fact although it made the views different, it added and improved them as well.

With the rain pouring down, I couldn’t go out on deck, but my balcony provided shelter from the rain and wind and provided a spectacular viewpoint.

Black & White

The rain turned the normal green scenery into black and white, and anything any distance away faded into the rainy haze, and the mountain tops disappeared into the clouds. My photos showed gray-green in the foreground, dark blue next, and then various shades of gray as the more distant peeks and cliff faded into the rain.

When the rain slackened off, and the ship moved closer to the edges of the Sound, the rich green of the trees clinging impossibly to almost sheer cliffs came back into view only to fade away as the rain increased again. Looking up, the tops of the peeks clung to tendrils of low clouds and disappeared in the mist.

Rain Has Decreased

The rain, instead of ruining the view, added to it.

Back to Plan A

 

Well, after completely changing our plans and developing a completely different route, we arrived today to pick up the boat and discovered that the broken lock would be fixed and navigable once again.

Leaving the Marina

We were a little concerned with Plan B as it took us right through Manchester and one section required us to do 27 locks in one day, as it is not recommended to moor the boat along the canal in Manchester. Although the city’s reputation has improved in recent years, it was not unheard for boaters to be treated rather violently by local gangs of teenagers when they tried to stay overnight in Manchester. The decision therefore was not difficult, and we decided to go back to our original plan and do the Four Counties Ring.  

Our boat was ready to go on time, and the fellow giving us instructions on the boat was very happy that we had done this before and knew most of the information. There were a number of other boats coming and going , but we were the first out of the Marina. Finally on the boat and underway. Yay!

On the Canal at Last

The day started out miserably, and we woke at the B & B to a downpour of rain, so resigned ourselves to the first day on the boat a wet one . . . but, by the time we picked up our groceries and celebratory libation, the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing, and we motored out of the marina under blue skies.

Traveling on the canals on a narrowboat is not at all like touring in a car. England is a very densely populated country, and you rarely drive without seeing houses, stores and industry, but on the canals you mostly motor slowly through the countryside, surrounded by fields and trees. Our boat is named “The Great Blue Heron”, and soon after leaving the marina, a blue heron lifted off from the side of the canal and flew over the boat – a good omen if there ever was one.

Making Friends Along the Way

We did pass by a rusting very shabby looking industrial complex, but quickly were surrounded by gently waving cat-tails, fields of corn, and huge trees with branches we had to duck to avoid as we glided by. The canals are narrow and we are often less than two feet from the sides so the purple flowers on the bank could have been picked as we went by, and we saw another boater who  had discovered a plum tree growing beside the canal and had stopped to pick a basket.

The first day was an easy one with only three hours and one lock to do, so we arrived at a pleasant mooring spot just outside Middlewich, and after a delicious dinner of English meat pies purchased at the street market before we left, we are relaxing in the boat.

Now tomorrow is a six hour day with 17 locks to navigate, so  . . . . .

White Christmas

To cold to hang out the wash.

No Problem Getting Around Here?

I’m sure there are WAY colder or snowier places, but for someone used to Halifax’s milder, mostly snow-free winters, Christmas in Ottawa is way more wintery than I am used to.

White Christmas? Not really a question here in Ottawa. Winter made it very clear that snow and Christmas definitely go together - it started to snow on the drive up from the East Coast as we got to Montreal, and some sort of cold wintery precipitation, be it snow, freezing rain, or cold nasty winter rain has been falling ever since. It snowed over 30 cm one day, and school wasn’t even cancelled - what’s with that? fifteen centimeters would have paralyzed the school busses back home.

But to be fair I do recall an hour or so of sun one day . . .

Are they kidding?

Good Idea.

While it is certainly Christmasy it takes a bit of getting used to. The sidewalks are perpetually icy,  and many street corners have huge slushy puddles to negotiate. Suddenly those Sorel  -25 rated boots are actually useful. I guess the Ottawa natives get used to it, but it isn’t even Christmas yet and I’ve had enough snow.

Now although I am complaining about the snow, spending Christmas up here in Ottawa with the children and their friends is really wonderful. 

Sunny Skies

Sunny Skies in the desert

I wrote a blog about the weather in Spain, because it was so different from the March weather back home in Nova Scotia, but I did not expect to be able to do the same thing on this trip. E-mails from home however, reveal that our home province is not having an exactly stellar summer.

By the time we get home we will have been on the road for almost sixty days, and we have literally not had one say “ruined” by rain. There has not been one day of solid rain. Most have been sunny - we have even looked on a cloudy day as a rarity.

Our first day of rain was in St. Louis, when we took Regis out for her birthday. The day driving was mostly sunny, but it clouded over late afternoon ,and when we were getting ready to walk downtown it started to sprinkle. It was enough to make me break out the umbrella, and although it was not needed on the walk down to the riverfront, it was pouring when we left the restaurant. As I said in the blog about this it was a pleasant warm rain and we enjoyed the walk back even with the rain. We had one other night with thunder storms overnight, but it was dry again when we got up in the morning.

The next part of the trip was through the dry part of the US, so we did not expect rain - “it’s a dry heat”. Through Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona you do not expect to see much rain, and we enjoyed hot sunny days every day; got sort of used to it actually.

Through California is was all sunny days as expected, but when we headed north to Oregon and Washington we expected rain, but it remained nice. Even Seattle, known for it’s damp, foggy “vampire-friendly” weather gave us sunshine.

Sunny Skies in the Mountains

When we arrived in BC, we were told by our friends that they were happy to see us, because we had brought the sunshine with us. BC was having a terrible summer up to this point, but we were rewarded with mostly sunny days for our visit to Vancouver.

The wedding on Vancouver Island was our next bit of rain, but it did nothing but cool the day off a bit, and provide some water to clean the chairs before the guests sat for the service. The showers stopped as the wedding began, and the sun was shining when the vows were spoken - a good sign I hope.

While parked at my sisters, one of the trees that Pete left standing deposited a bunch of very sticky sap on the truck. It looked like water, but when I turned the wipers on not only did it not wipe off, it tore a little piece off one wiper blade. No problem, as we did not have to use the wipers, and I did not find a convenient Toyota Dealer until we parked across from one in Minot, North Dakota.

Even Sunny in BC

Yesterday it showered a little while we were eating lunch on Mackinac Island, but it had stopped in time for Regis and I to take a bike ride around the island. There are dark clouds overhead today driving down I75 towards Flint and the border crossing back into Canada but no rain yet.

I’m still waiting to see how that new windshield wiper works. I’m hoping that I have hooked the nice weather onto the back of the trailer, and I’m willing to give up a bit in gas mileage to tow the sunshine home with us.

As I sit in the KOA in London Ontario - It is raining, actually raining hard. It rained a bit on the way here, but let up when we arrived allowing us to get set up without getting wet, only starting to rain as we were making supper.  Can't win them all I guess!