Port Huron - Pokagon-Home Again

We stopped in Port Huron at a KOA.  Pull through.  No unhooking the car tonight.
We have driven through Toronto with 11 lanes of traffic going through each way on The 401.  Very smooth trip.
We then crossed through London on the way to Sarnia to return to the US.  The bridge across the lakes was impressive.  We had a good view Lake Huron while we were waiting in line for customs.
It was good to hear, "Welcome Home!"

Wednesday morning we left Port Huron, MI and headed for Goldwater, MI area.
We met Carol and Jack Stroh at Kinderhook and spent the afternoon enjoying a tour of their area.
We stopped at their son's orchard.  Carol was boxing up some peaches as Jack looks on.

We got to see a buffalo farm in the area as well as a winery.  We bought a bottle of the apple wine the winery made with 15 varieties of Stroh apples.
We had it the after arriving home along with a raw apple cake prepared with apples from the orchard.
Delish!!!!!!

From Jack and Carol's back porch.  Very relaxing.

I am standing near the water looking back at the folks on the porch.

Our hosts for the afternoon.  Love you guys!  Enjoyed being with you for the afternoon.  Appreciated the offer to park in your driveway but we really wanted to visit Pokagon again.  

And our last campsite for this trip...Pokagon State Park.  A pull-through.
Even though the gate attendant said it was for a 26 ft unit...we fit!
Beautiful park.  Someday we'll get there and take the trails and ride a horse.
Jerry keeps telling me we are going in the winter to ride the big slide!  NOT!!!!!

Thanks for following along.
29 days
about one hundred miles short of 3000 miles

May God Bless!
We were sure blessed with Friends and Family along the way on this beautiful drive.
Jerry finished off the lower 48 states and lower provinces of Canada.
Thank you Alan, Chris, Lois, Donna, Jim, Mel, Jane, Cliff, and Sue you each made this trip so much more than just miles!

And many thanks to Selena, Mike, Ron, Nancy, Tim, Larry, and Karen for taking care of the house and especially watching and feeding Felica and Kit.

Last day in Peterborough with Sue, Jane and Cliff.

A walk in the Park from the McGrath residence.  Gizzy thought it was time for a drink.  He loves to take walks.

Sue and Jane.  Can you tell they are sisters?  Loved our time with them.  They love to big on their "brother" Jerry.  

Sue, Jerry, Jane, and Cliff.

As we are pulling out of Jane and Cliff's.  Cliff might take as many pictures as I do.  

The Dam on Lovesick Lake from our camper's back window.  You can almost see the water today.

Lovesick Lake Camping

Vegetation in the local pond

Look closely blue herron watching for his lunch.

Now how is that working>  Two boards holding up a big slab....

Hugo being really great at lunch on the patio.

Sunglasses and a life vest on the doggie in the middle.

Beautiful.  Our last evening on Lovesick Lake.

Such a beautiful old boat and boathouse and ancient dish.  

Tree starting to turn?  Fall????

View from waters edge near our campsite.

Another view.

Campsite  Steve Martin camped here during the filming of Cheaper by the Dozen II, which was filmed at the campground.

A shopping trip with Jane to a sidewalk sale and another Kayak ride for Jerry

Cute moving figure

Hugo - 4 1/2 months old and such a sweet boy.  He loves Jerry!

Hugo and Gizzy after a walk in the campground.

Here he goes again.

Back again and still dry!

Jane got back earlier than Jerry and had time to take pictures.

Beautiful sunset.

Pilot Jerry

Beautiful sky.

Jerry, Cliff, Jane, and Hugo.

Built on the rock!  Or around the rock!  Cliff's deck.

Here are the kitties just waiting on us to return.

Lift Lock Trip - an amazing lift at Peterborough, Ontario

Approaching the small lock.

Our boat, started out it's life on the 1000 Island tours.  Interesting since we have just taken a tour their. on a much larger vessel though.

The lock gate being closed.

Manually cranking the gate closed.  

turn-turn-turn---

We are going through the lock..the traffic is stopped.

Notice the dark pillar.  We are being loaded into the other side of the lift.  There is a boat on top of the pillar.
This is the second lift we went through.  There are no manual turners on this one.
It is an amazing engineering feat.  The water weight is what moves the boat up and down.  

The pictures just don't even begin to show the size of these lifts.  Our boat and three or four other boats were on our side as we went up the canal.  

Our side of the lift.  the hole in the center is large enough to fit a city bus.  Our boat and others will be in front of this dark area.   

We are on the boat and we are going up at least 65 ft in the air. Notice how small the camper and boat in the picture are.

see the little boat....not!  We are just way above it.

Almost at the top of the lift.

See the little boat now.  We are at the top.  The gate behind us is all that is keeping the water in as we are lifted 65 feet above the canal below.    Can you hear the change in pitch in my voice??  Is there ever a failure of that gate?  

Cliff and Jerry.

Cliff, Jerry, and Jane.

At the top.

Okay, here we come back down the lift.  I am now getting scary....This is from the top heading back down to the lower level.  Pulling in was more of a challenge for me than when we came up and the gate was behind us.  But the boat had no problems!  Yes, lack of control issues combined with height issues....but we made it fine.

Control house.

Tower on Times Square. A different time on each side of West Clock's building in Peterborough, ON.
I think this is the one that all four sides show different times because the designer failed to take into account the wind effects on the hands.

Lift Lock Golf Course
Taken from the lift.  The billboard in the foreground is really a full size billboard.  We are still up at the top of the lift.

These platforms are the base of the lift that is holding the water and the boats on the opposite lift.

Our lift is nearly down to canal level now.  You can see the other lift in this picture.

Fountain at Peterborough.