Tuesday July 10th -Saturday July 14th
Tuesday July 10th -Saturday July 14th
Tuesday we went through our first 6 locks on the Trent Severn. These locks are different than the Rideau. These locks are run mostly by hydraulics. When we got to the first lock Ian, the lock master, played the song ‘Taking Care Of Business’ over the loud speaker as we entered the lock. We had met Ian at the Looper seminar almost two weeks earlier. It was a fun welcome to the T/S.
We ended up doing 6 locks our first day.
The first night we stayed on the wall at Frankford. They had electricity for $9.70 CD a night. We had purchased mooring and lock passes earlier in the spring when they had an early bird special, so we had already payed for staying on the wall and locking. There were about 8 other boats that stayed at Frankford. It is always fun meeting new loopers and catching up with others that you have met before.
We left Frankford and went through 1 lock and stayed at the wall below Percy’s Reach (Lock 7). This was a quiet park like wall. Nice quiet evening.
We tried our luck at fishing but had no success. Pam had an OLD fishing pole of her fathers and the line was so old that the only fish that we did catch broke the line. Tom and John put new line on the pole. Better luck next time.
The next morning (Thursday) we caught the first lock at 9AM and cruised through 6 locks. We got to Campbellford around 11:45 AM. We only traveled all of 5.6 miles. Campbellford is a town divided by the waterway.
We decided to park on the side that had the washrooms so that we don’t have to use our heads so often (actually – Tom had an engine overheat and it was easier for him to get to the wall on the opposite of the river). Pumping the black water tanks out in Canada is expensive. We payed $25 Canadian in Trenton. We bought a slip on the city wall with electricity. They have a deal where you pay for 2 days and get the 3rd day free. The main part of town is over a bridge. The first afternoon that we got there we walked across the bridge to explore the town. We are always looking for cute unique shops for Pam and Colletta, local hardware stores for the guys and thrift stores just to see what is there. Campbellford didn’t disappoint any of us. John even found a store that had a good priced Tilley hat that he had been looking for.
The next day we rode our bikes to a suspension bridge. On our way we stopped to check out the local library.
We came across a piano in the woods. Colletta had to play it…
Click the link below for the video.
After we explored the bridge and the park we rode over to an outlet store for World’s Finest chocolates. Pam had sold these candies for band fundraisers when she was in middle and high school. It brought back good memories of tasty chocolates.
That evening we went to Antonia’s for Pam’s 65th Birthday dinner. One day early but we knew we would be busy on her real birthday on Saturday, so we went out on Friday night. This restaurant had been recommended by lots of people and it didn’t disappoint. They even gave Pam a delicious piece of chocolate cake with a candle for dessert that she shared with the table.
Saturday was a big day in Campbellford. They had a small farmers market and an Incredible Edibles festival. Oh, by the way it was Pam’s actual birthday and she woke up to this from Tom and Colletta.
That evening they had a street dance with the popular Canadian band call Freddie Vette and the Flames.
All of these were right across the river from where our boat was moored. John had to keep reminding Pam that this wasn’t just for her because it was her birthday. Right next to the boats was a giant statue of the 2$ Canadian coin called a toonie. A guy that use to live in Campbellford had designed it so they had a statue put up in his honor.
This was our home for 3 nights with lots of other boats coming and going.
