Iceland Spring break FitzGerald

Our Spring break trip this year was picked by Ian because he is a senior and it is "his trip" according to him. Funny, Iceland is the last place I would have picked for a Spring Break trip, but, that being said, I have been surprised by the Late March early April trip in the North Country before—specifically Scotland and Ireland. Stay tuned.

2014 July 

Rideau Canal

We left Helena Montana in our camper van bound for the Rideau canal some 2200 miles away. Our first stop was Jordan, Montana for a quick overnight with the Grandparents and the an early morning departure. First stop after Jordan was Walker Minnesota, one of the many homes of Paul Bunyan--we even found a portable Minnesota restaurant.

Our campsite near Remer, MN at Balsam Bay Resort, offered some great swimming and paddle boating. Mosquitos and Black flies were a central theme to the Minnesota camping experience but the people make up for this minor inconvenience.

Another early morning departure--bound for somewhere near Sault Ste Marie Michigan but first a stop in Duluth, MN where Lori and I lived for 3 years. We gave the boys a tour of the city and then found an exceptional breakfast at Amazing Grace Cafe in the basement of the DeWitt-Sietz building. I've always found that hippies make the best breakfast.

Rollin through Superior, WI

Nice little dip in ice cold lake Superior to instill a mini panic session into the boys and a frenzy to get back to the beach some 20 feet away.

We were rewarded with the prettiest sunset on our trip. Why does the sun flatten when it goes over the horizon? Our campsite at Bay View on Lake Superior--this was a mosquito haven.

Up in the morning and over the bridge at Sault Set Marie. This is an industrial area that looks like it had it's heyday in the past. Cool bridge though…

Onward to sweet Canada……..Anyone who thinks the world is overpopulated needs to drive the northern route from Helena to Ottawa….it will change you mind.

The campsite at Bonnechere Provincial park was the best on our trip--it was complete with showers and a little store for the basics. The water temp was about 80 degrees and the beach was excellent.

These bites are from the night on lake Superior

We rented our house boat from Big Rideau Lake boat rental in Portland Ontario--just a husband and wife running a summer business out of their lake house.

Big Rideau lake is pimpled with little islands that usually have a cottage on them. This on has, what looks like, a guard house on it. 

Diving off the top of our rented boat became a competition with Aidan Fitz easily taking the blue ribbon.

The first locks heading south from Big Rideau lake is the Narrows--the approach is flatter than most of the other locks we encountered.

The lock workers are very friendly. We shouted to them that this was our first locks and they responded with, "come on in and we'll catch you". After the first lock the rest seemed easy.

The Narrows lock has a bridge that needs to be rotated out of the way. This is done with a large handlebar-like device that fits in a slot in the top of the bridge. It is gear driven and the bridge is counterbalance so when the operator goes round and round the bridge swivels out of the way. Just plain cool.

Once we made our way through the Narrows we headed straight to Westport on Upper Rideau Lake. Westport is a great little historic town with a museum packed with artifacts from the area. It is a donation type admission system. Our interest in Westport was to find a place to watch the World Cup soccer game US vs Netherlands--we ended up at a pub called The Cove and they tuned a TV to the game and we hooted along with another Yank family, from Pennsylvania, to a US win.

We rented a couple kayaks from Big Rideau boat rental and put them on top of our house boat. This turned out to be fun and gave the boys a way to get away from us.

We left Westport about 8AM bound for Newboro lock 36. This lock has a really cool narrow canal starting from the Southern end of Upper Rideau lake that snakes around before you come the the lock. The upper end of the lock has a great overnight area and a large grassy area that is perfect for throwing a Frisbee or playing Bocci Ball. The town of Newboro has a pub called Stirling pub and this would be the spot for viewing the next game in the world cup--the food is typical pub affair. Also, about 1/2 mile up the road there is a interesting store called, Kilborn's on the Rideau. This store has some very basic food supplies but about everything else you can think of for a kitchen or house. The lock house can supply ice and also has restrooms but no showers. Great stop.

Kilborn's on the Rideau

One of the many things we liked about the lock was the ability to overnight at the locks--for free, if you have a pass that, in our case, comes with the charter boat. anyway, the US beats the Netherlands and we are off for Chaffeys lock. I especially like the lake part of this section of the Rideau.  Newboro lake and Clear indian lake are very convoluted and have lots of islands, channels and bays that make it interesting to travel through. It feels and looks like a big boundary waters in Northern, Minnesota.

The museum at Chaffey's is a donation type museum and houses artifacts and photos from life on the Rideau, including several photos of Irish boxing matches. It seems that everywhere the Irish worked they recreated by fighting. Also, many photos of the fish they caught on the Rideau but unlike today they just hold their catch up side by side and don't try to make them look bigger than they really are.

A short walk from the locks brings you to Chaffey's lock cemetery and memory wall. We read the tombstones and the various writings on Memory wall and found a name of a person who was born in Missoula, Montana. He obviously didn't work on the original locks but lived at Chaffey's lock when he died.

I want to talk about the mechanism for flooding, opening and closing the locks. The below hand crank winches seem to the the standard issue for lifting and pulling. I have seen the exact same style of crank winches in a museum at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota for lower supplies and men over the edge of the cliff when they carved the Big Heads. I also have used one of these to help and old friend of mine move his docks in the out and to lift heavy parts and pieces and even boats. I had a chance to buy one of these at his estate sale and passed due to the price but now I want one again.

Notice the jam stop that just hangs on a crude chain. I don't think this would be allowed in the States but it has been working in Canada since the 1830's. Where's the key pad or touch screen?

Looks like Montana State workers--two working and 1 watching. Aidan wit hands in pockets, standing a proper distance away so his brother can't punch him, giving orders to his brother--Good job Aidan!

Chaffey's across Opinicon Lake to Davis locks. Davis locks is a quick little single lock that seems well run. It appears to be a favorite stop over due to the many docks in a small bay that you can use-- free if you have your pass.

You can see the boats docked in the bay

One boat deserves a separate photo. This is the way to travel on the Rideau--her name? "Gadabout"

Davis lock spills out into Sand Lake and the canal continues through a beautiful area of intermittent lakes and narrows that ends at Jones Falls, our favorite lock system on our trip. What makes Jones Falls our favorite?-many things. First it had the largest drop through a series of 4 locks (57 feet) and the area for exploration is bigger than the other locks. There is a turning pool below the upper locks that had the best swimming spot on our trip--A large grassy area to get a run and a short stone wall for doing flips--the water temp was about 80 degrees. The dam that forms the turning pool is quite remarkable, dating back to the 1830s and the wooden flumes that run to the hydro plant have quite a few leaks but are still being used.

All this work in ancient time so the Fitz's would have a cool wall to do flips off of.

The hotel at Jones Falls felt like the hotel from the movie, The Shining. When we walked in we yelled, "Is there anybody here." and a young lady yelled back from somewhere within that she would be right there. Anyway, we asked if we could get a drink at the hotel bar to which the young lady said, sure, "come right this way." She turned the lights on and took her position behind the bar. "What would you like", she asked--"how about a couple martinis", we said. The woman said, "I have never made a Martini would you tell me how." Anyway, Lori and I made our own Martinis. During our drink we didn't see one person walk in or out of the old lodge. Kind of creepy but cool at the same time. I kept looking at the old photos for the 1920s on the wall to see if she was in any of them.

This is the view from inside the lodge to the lower locks. You can see a boat floating high waiting for the water to be let out so he can be on his way.

This is a good sequence to see the boat before and after.

From Jones Falls we meandered down across Whitefish Lake to Seeley's Bay, a small port, that was set back off the main canal in a small weedy bay. We walked to town and checked out an ice-cream shop where we talked with the local about how nobody ever comes to stay overnight at Seeley's Bay. I think it is the weeds that keep them out. We decided to go back to Jones Falls to stay at the lower locks for a while and ultimately tied up above the upper locks so we could get a early start for Newboro where the world cup game, US vs Belgium, was being broadcast in the Stirling Lodge Pub.

After leaving Jones Falls we decided to go all the way back to Portland where we could watch the Costa Rica vs Netherlands game at the Galley pub. We also wanted to get an early start for Ottawa so we could take in the sites there but not before a dive session off the top of the boat.

This Boston Terrier took a liking to Aidan Fitz and he was alway around our feet as we were unloading the boat.

The morning drive to Ottawa was beautiful and not very busy, as it was Sunday. We pulled up to our hotel, the Chateau St. Laurier at about 9am, and went to the desk to see when we could check in and desk clerk said, how about right now! What a cool place. 

Ottawa feels like Europe and has an old feel to it. The government buildings give the city an English feel. Below is a picture of the locks in downtown Ottawa--you can see how high the lift is to go into the next canal.

The canal ran right next to our hotel--what a cool place.

The road home was the same as the road to get here, however, we did mix it up with some new camp sites and a real dandy State Park in Michigan. The central theme for this day was who is the fastest. Looks to me like Aidan has the edge--is that Lori way back there?

 and to Northern Minnesota--the only place we could find without mosquitos was the end of the dock-- where a slight breeze was blowing.

and finally back to good old Montana to drink a beer with the Bro at the lake.