The Weiner Brothers Blog + Ainsley!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 4: Sault Ste Marie

We stopped briefly on the Canadian side of Sault Ste Marie before heading over to the US side to see the locks. They were neat, but there weren't any freighters due for another several hours. Bummer.

Love,

Ainsley, Ben and Cameron

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: Batchawana Bay

We stayed at a hotel right on Batchawana Bay that night. It was a small room, but the hotel restaurant (actually, a cookhouse) was good and it was right across the street from the bay itself. What do you do at the end of a long day of travel? Enjoy the view and collect rocks.

Almost done with the top part of the semi-circle.

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: Wawa and the Goose

We read a lot about Wawa because we really wanted to stay there. Unfortunately, there isn't a quality hotel in the entire town that had a vacancy the night we needed. But, we kept reading about the famous goose, so we thought we should stop for a photo.

Moving steadily down the map that day!

Love,
Ainsley, Ben and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: White River and Winnie the Pooh

If you are familiar with the story of how Winnie the bear cub became Winnie the Pooh, then you'll not be surprised that we stopped in White River, Ontario ("where it all started") for these photos.

Been here, done that.

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: The Many Overlooks of Lake Superior

The folks who designed the Trans-Canadian Highway must have really loved Lake Superior, as they put a large number of scenic overlooks and turnouts along the road. We took advantage of many of them throughout the day.

This overlook was not far from Nipigon. This photo is looking back toward Nipigon.

The second lookout had a great view of a train that ran along the lake.

Dad tried out the panoramic mode on the camera with this shot.

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: Paddle To The Sea Park in Nipigon

Cameron and Daddy read Paddle to the Sea earlier this year. If you haven't read it, you should go buy a copy right now. It is a very moving book, especially if you have ever lived near the Great Lakes or simply have put your trust in strangers to help achieve your dreams.

In the planning of this trip, we talked about stopping in Nipigon just because of the book. We didn't know that there was a really neat park dedicated to the book there until we saw a billboard on our way to Thunder Bay. Naturally, there weren't any signs in Nipigon about it, so we drove past the entire town and had to make the decision to turn around.

We were really glad we did.

Cameron was so excited to be there.

The hill that Paddle sat had a waterfall on the back, just like the one he rode down as the snow started to melt.

There were a lot of stations to play on that were designed to present a chapter from the book.

One of our favorites was the Marsh.

Self timer!

There were two other parts of the park scattered throughout Nipigon. The Forest Fire was another really neat part.

At last, Paddle makes it to the sea.

The Nipigon Marina was beautiful.

We are here!

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Friday, July 27, 2012

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Still Day 2: Grand Portage National Historic Site

Our last stop of the day, besides our hotel in Canada, was Grand Portage National Historic Site. It was the spot where fur traders would come off of Lake Superior and carry their canoes for a few hours to the Boundary Waters and other waterways. It was a lot of fun and we all became Junior Rangers here. We bet you didn't know that you need bear fat to make a good birch bark canoe or that the Three Sisters are corn, beans, and squash and that they compliment each other in how they grow in a garden?!?!

Playing lacrosse the original way!