I'm In Love--It Took 6000 Miles to Get There!

Georgian Bay has enchanted me. Think of the Maine coast only packed more densely: island after island after island; long, glacially striated fingers stretching a half mile into

the water from shore; amazing granite outcrops along with enormous glacial erratics; bony rock and ledge infested water with surprising depth in other places; white pines,

white birch, poplar, occasional maple; charming, still working light houses of various shapes and sizes; homey cottages, camps and second homes amidst miles of

completely undeveloped waterfront; a real wilderness feel in places and pleasingly quaint in others. But: fresh water at 75 degrees instead of salt at less than 60; No tide and therefore no current. If I were 45 instead of 75, I'd be in the market for a property on an island here in a heartbeat. And yes, I know, winter does come. Of course, when I was 45, I was working toward putting three kids through college along with paying the mortgage and couldn't have afforded it. Sigh.

We've had two great days since my last blog. Wednesday, we cruised from Sans Souci Island to Big Sound Marina at the head of Parry Sound and Thursday we traveled onward to Wright's Marina at Britt Station well up the Magnetawan River. Both days caught us holding our breaths as we wound through narrow, twisting rockbound channels though both days also provided at least some open running through large sounds and offshore. I wish I had better pics of both but in the narrow channels I am 110% focused on my navigation (and the Admiral would court martial me if I raised my

camera) and the feel of the wide opens spaces takes an Ansel Adams to capture effectively. Another sigh.

Parry Sound, a rural town if ever there were one, surprised us on several counts. First of all, Bobby Orr was born and grew up there and it is home to the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame.

Orr started playing organized hockey in Parry Sound at eight years old and one of his childhood coaches moved him to defense and taught him how to control the puck. Orr signed with the Boston Bruins at 12, began playing for a Bruins minor leage team in Ontario at 14, and moved up to the Bruins team when eligible at 18. Sadly, we were not in town during hours that the Hall of Fame was open.

Second, Parry Sound is home to a high railroad trestle, the longest east of the Rockies which was immortalized in 1914 by Tom Thompson, Canada's foremost painter.

And, at Di Salvo's Bella Cucina we enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner of Ceasar salad, beef bordelaise, and chianti.

Sometime today, our adventure crossed another milestone--6000 miles. When we docked, our trip odometer aka NEBO clocked us at a total of 6044.25 statute miles. We've got a ways to go but I'm not sure we'll reach 7000 on our Great Loop journey.