Ontario's Bruce Peninsula By the Numbers

We recently bought a new-to-us RV
and last week
we took it on a shake-down cruise
to Ontario's Bruce Peninsula.
The Bruce is a maritimey place
similar to the New England shore;
there are many sea gulls
and sea captains
but less people
and the water is fresh.
We were introduced to the Bruce,
a botanical wonderland similar to Wisconsin's Door Peninsula,
decades ago
by Houghton College professors
Arnold and Betty Cook.

One of these men is not a sea captain

880 miles there and back again

We towed a jeep that carried bicycles,
an arrangement that precludes backing up.
We only made that mistake once...
Between gallons
and liters and
Canadian exchange rates
in addition to my I-don't-want-to-know-how-much-it-costs frugality,
we may never figure out the RV's gas mileage.

Our jeep carried bikes

24 snakes on Flowerpot Island

It had been over thirty years
since we last walked the trails of Flowerpot,
named for geologic formations on the shoreline.
We found leaves and seedpods of spring orchids,
took a brief swim at a secluded beach,
and counted twenty-four snakes,
fourteen of them at one campsite--
Indiana Jones would never camp there.
The lighthouse bulletin board
had pushpins with countless snake skins;
I mentally filed that idea away
for my classroom science center
and wished we had kept
all the snake skins we had found
over the years.

One of the flowerpots on Flowerpot Island

 

Two of the fourteen ribbon snakes visible from my rock at campsite #3

At 10 AM
we got the last parking space to visit the grotto
where crazy against-the-rules cliff jumpers
plunge into the frigid waters of the Georgian Bay.
We sat in relative safety on the rocks
amused by a seagull trying to devour an enormous crayfish.

This seagull gagged on the giant crayfish

Den often serves as voluntary photographer for strangers' non-selfies

9 scoops of ice cream
were purchased on our sunset trips to Tobermory,
the town at the northern tip of the peninsula.
The rail seats of Crow's Nest Pub look down on Little Tub Harbor
and the town of Tobermory.
Each night, we talked with whomever was beside us
about menu suggestions
(Poutine! Fries and cheese curds covered with brown gravy!)
or the wardrobe choices of the passers-by below us.
We clapped when enormous trucks successfully parked in tiny spaces,
waved to bicyclists,
and took bets on which color vehicle would come by next.

The Crow's Nest Pub. Our traditional seat was beside the post

The view of Little Tub Harbor from the Crow's Nest

8+ interesting species of plants re-emerged from memories
and the pages of old botanical journals.
Pitcher plants.
Spatulate-leaved sundews.
Rose pogonias.
Butterworts.
Yellow ladies slippers.
Dwarf irises.
Indian paintbrush.
Maidenhair spleenworts...

Insectivorous pitcher plant in flower on left,
Indian paintbrush on right
growing in the Dorcas Bay fen

7 days at our home base, Tobermory

We ventured out each day to explore--
Cabot Head Lighthouse
Lion's Head
Tobermory History Museum
Tom Thomson Art Museum
Halfway Log Dump beach
Big Tub Harbor lighthouse
Fathom Five National Park viewing tower

Cormorants on the swimming raft at Lion's Head

Biking at Lion's Head

Tom Thomson, one of Den's favorite artists,  painted Canadian wilderness pictures

Lighthouse at Big Tub Harbor, the deepest natural harbor in the Great Lakes

View from Fathom Five tower

6 essential parts to an inuksuk:
Two legs
Hip rock
Stomach rock(s)
Shoulder/arm rock
Head

A true inuksuk,
one of the symbols of Canada,
always has a purpose--
to mark a food cache,
to help herd caribou,
to mark a trail.
We met a Tobermory artist,
Kent,
who had built an inuksuk that sited Mount Sinai!
We brought home rocks
for an inuksuk
in our yard
that now marks the site
of Paul and Kate's wedding.

Properly built inuksuk marks the 2006 wedding site

5 dollars at the Owen Sound Police Department parking lot
will get you a hamburger,
chips,
pop,
two Hershey kisses,
and interesting conversation with the locals.
All proceeds benefit local charities.
We were impressed with their ongoing community outreach;
the Dallas police shooting had happened only hours before.



4 shipwrecks on a 4 hour snorkel tour

Because of shallow water over the Niagara Escarpment
and the fierce Great Lakes storms
and the types of boats used,
there were SO many shipwrecks
that Canada created Fathom Five National Park.
I unsuccessfully concentrated
on keeping water out of my mask and snorkel
but managed to see three out of four ships;
Den would see some interesting mechanism,
swim back to talk to the captain about its function,
then jump in again.
We were both sore the next day
but it was Totally Worth It.

Ready to snorkel the frigid waters

View of the Sweepstakes shipwreck

3 verses of Muhlenberg County sung by Sue

At the All You Can Eat Fish and Chips restaurant,
piratey servers occasionally belted out parts of sea chanteys.
When the background music became "Muhlenberg County",
I enthusiastically sang along
(there weren't many customers)
and earned a high five
from a pirate
with a styrofoam parrot on his shoulder.
No alcohol was involved.

"Daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,
down by the Green River where Paradise lay..."

2 sandhill cranes added to Denny's life list
and 2 forgotten compasses

When returning through customs,
we were asked
"Have you been to the doctor recently?"
"No sir."
"Are you SURE?"
"Yes sir."
"We have a gamma alert on a motorhome..."
We were pulled over
and inspected by three officers
looking for a source of radiation.
"Do you have a fish finder?
A compass?"
"No sir."
Turns out we had TWO compasses
in the jeep's console,
forgotten.
The officer called Washington
and removed us from the Watch List.
We would not be the source of a dirty bomb.
Our border patrol is impressive.

Sandhill cranes in the Dorcas Bay fen

Compasses, sources of infinitesimal radiation

1 night of Northern Lights
We were sitting at our campfire with neighbors
when I looked up
and recognized a streak of green smearing through the stars.
Our friends had never seen northern lights before
and we stood in awe until they faded.
What a gift!

...and 1 snakeskin under the front door upon arriving home.
Be careful what you wish for...

Our "welcome home" present has started our snakeskin collection

Zero regrets.

When speaking seagullese, "Awwwwk" can mean many things:
"Come here and I'll give you peanuts"
or "What happened to your leg?"
or, in this case, "Happy trails!"

You're Welcome, Sweetie Pie!

 I had three goals for this summer.
1. Learn to ride a motorcycle.
I burned my leg 
and broke Den's brake handle 
on my first lesson.
2. Get my Movement Learning website working.
Sadly, 
when I had knowledgeable people here, 
the internet was down 
and/or the website wouldn't let me on. 
3. Be flexible.
This is the only goal that has been mostly successful.
Flexibility was especially important
as we wanted to be available
for whatever our son Paul
and his wife Kate
and the grandgirls,
Anna and Lucy,
needed to facilitate this summer's move to Taiwan.

Flexibility allowed us to make more memories with the grandgirls:
Drip sandcastles at Parker Dam.
Baby swallows named Wendy, John, Michael, and Peter...

Wendy, John, Michael, and Peter

guess who's into Peter Pan?
Bike shows with no training wheels
and scooters
and spinning tricycles.
(Advice:
Any time a used Razor bike product is for sale,
buy it.)
Woods walks that allow us to find puffballs
and blueberries
and round leaves
and sticks that look like the letter F.
On walks,
the grandgirls liked to pretend
that they were the girls in The Boxcar Children books.
I was always the little brother Benny.
Benny lisps
and they found that hilarious
even when the lisp sounded like Lucy.
Treks to the swimming hole
to float the current
and make mermaid pools
and rock stacks.
Daily trips to the raspberries,
abundant this year.
Lucy liked to be in charge of the bucket
and then put the berries in ziplock bags,
squish them up,
and take them to the freezer...
Anna liked to eat them.
Mountain backroad jeep rides
that allowed girls to have their heads above the windshield
with a kite flying behind.

Lucy and the jeep

On one jeep ride
a red fox,
Lucy's favorite animal,
crossed in front of us
and then stood in the woods,
peering out.
That night
as I prayed with her,
"Thank you, God,
for letting Lucy see a real fox,"
she piped up
"Thank you, God,
for letting me see a real fox!"
and then immediately became the voice of God:
"WELL, YOU'RE WELCOME, SWEETIE PIE!"

This morning at 12:30 AM
we left for the Pittsburgh Airport
to begin what Den called
The Big Jump.
Waiting at baggage check-in,
Anna and I put googly eye stickers on their luggage.
(Full disclosure:
I barely resisted putting them on airport signs.)
Goodbye hugs occurred at 4:00
with big-and-little tears
from six Shaffners
and Shelby-the-amazing-driver/friend.
For the many people
who have prayed for our adjustment
to our family's Great Adventure,
thank you.
Thank you.
THANK you.
Bless you.
We are at peace.
We confidently hand them off to their Asian family,
to grandparents Victor and Joy,
and to the hand of God.

Last night,
Paul and Kate decided to let the girls stay up
so they would sleep more on the plane.
Ten o'clock found us in the garage
painting our pinkie nails
to remind us of each other.

Polished pinkies except for Foxy

Anna soon disappeared
into the house
to resume
her new-found friendship
with Calvin and Hobbes,
but Lucy hopped on the Razor trike
and spun around the driveway
in the dark,
admiring the stars.
I began to sing
the simple children's song
"God made the stars..."
when she took over
and bellowed
"Thank you God
for the stars
and the MOOOON
and Grammy
and BO-O-OP..."
I raised my hands
to the One who made the moon
and joined her in thankfulness
imagining God's response:
"Well, you're welcome,
Sweetie Pie!"

When someone else is driving
and you have no control,
be thankful for the company.
Throw your hands in the air
and enjoy the ride.
There is joy in the journey.

Paul, Kate, Anna, and Lucy  now live in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

May you find joy in your journey.

Denny and Sue

Roadside Liberal Arts

Last Saturday was full blown summer.
Hot.
Humid.
Smell of chipmunk-abandoned tomatoes.
Afternoon spent inside, reading.

The very next morning, fall had come.
Cool.
Dry.
Smell of burning pine.
Afternoon spent in a jeep, exploring the Quehanna.

With the doors off, the roadside views were fantastic.
We watched deer skipperty-hop up roadsides,
elk in velvet munching on apples,
and many fall plants:
goldenrod, Queen Anne's Lace, Joe Pye weed,
maidenhair ferns, Christmas ferns, bracken ferns,
knotweed, ragweed, smartweed....

One of the many things we've gained from a Houghton liberal arts education
is familiarity with our surroundings.
Denny learned geology from Mr. Paine.
Sue learned botany from Mrs. Cook.
Though these skills aren't necessary for education majors,
they've certainly enriched the way we observe the world.

The Cooks have taught us many other things:
*how to make plans, and then to be flexible,
* to choose restaurants that have the most local cars,
* to find the humor in everything (it's punny!),
* to pass food around the table in one direction,
* to treasure Gene Stratton Porter books,
* to be calm when you remove a potential rattlesnake from the back of a stove,
* to journal,
* to appreciate the seasons,
* to identify birds and appreciate their Latin names,
Did you know that a robin's Latin name is Turdus migratorius? True.
* to go off-the-beaten-path when travelling,
* and to be content in whatever situations we find ourselves.

Thank you, Cooks, for the lives you've modelled for so many students.
Thank you, Houghton, for hiring profs like the Cooks who make the liberal arts come alive.
Thank you, God, for places like Houghton College,
the Quehanna Wild Area,
and this mountain.

Sue