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[Saturday, August 7, 1999: Seeing and chipping the shield.]
We woke up early to make the first Fort William tour. As the place we were staying at had a free continental breakfast, we tried it out. Well, let's just say that we won't be going back there again. The muffins were stale, the cereal was also.. gross, and although they had milk (in bags), they didn't have a milk bag holder, nor scissors to open them up with. Goody.
I went there with Laz and some guy was there already ("Have you got a cigarette?"). I was a little hesitant on actually trying any of the food, so I put the blame on the fact that the milk was unusable. So the guy finds a butter knife and rips open one of the bags. Since there was no holder, he used his hands to pour out the milk into the Styrofoam bowls that we used to eat the cereal. What could I do? I ate the food.
We filled up with a pseudo real breakfast at a nearby McDonald's and headed to Fort William. It was raining pretty badly and the probability of a tour was slowly fading to nothing. Still, we made it to the reception center (a couple of minutes late) and got our tickets. The girl at the counter asked us if we would wait for the next tour, and seeing as we were a little pressed for time, we declined (we wanted our tour.. now!). So they rang up the tour guide and we got a ride down to the site.
Still raining heavily, we made it to the Sioux encampment where we met the guide. She looked.. awfully familiar, but I kept that to myself. After a little introduction, she asked where we were from. I told her where I was from and she said "Really? That's where I'm from too!". So I said "Really?" and I proceeded to ask my twenty questions (okay, three). I eventually figured out that it was one of my sister's friend's sister. What a coincidence! (Well, it was a coincidence for me who didn't expect to meet anyone at all on this trip!)
![[Day 3: Fort William.]](../Pictures/1999-07-21/1999-07-23a.jpg)
Our first stop was at Fort William, which was just on the outskirts of Thunder Bay. The weather wasn't very cooperative, and it rained heavily when we got there. Fortunately, before we went into the fort, the rain let up and skies cleared, heralding a warm and sunny day. Our tour guide just happened to my one of my sister's friend's sister. Quelle coincidence! Anyway, the tour was very good, and the fort was well preserved, definitely worth the time and money.
Guarding the door are MJO (the left guard), me (the center guard), and BSB (wearing right guard).
The rain stopped coming down just before we left the encampment, making it a little easier to go and tour the fort itself. The site for the fort was well chosen, as the river and forest (and all of the dressed up folks) made the place look very authentic (unlike old fort York where you could see the CN tower). Quite well done. The tour was good, and although I didn't notice, the rest of the guys (well, maybe just BSB) laughed at the fact that one of the girls ended off her description of one of the houses with
"It's all good."
I still can't figure out why.
By the time we left the fort, the sun was out and the skies had cleared up, heralding a great day ahead. The forecast had predicted showers, but I guess the worst came by at night while we were sleeping.
At the reception center, I saw someone who looked amazingly like ShadowWhyspr. Freaky. Ah well, I was just happy to get a few post cards from there.
BSB then proceeded to drive us to Ouimet Canyon (a little ways back) and check it out. After a little hike, we were awarded with an amazing view of the canyon. It was quite an interesting construction. I have some pictures of the thing, but it's much larger and deeper than the pictures would ever show. We even saw a couple of bugs mating, but we have no pictures of that (that came out).
![[Day 3: Ouimet Canyon.]](../Pictures/1999-07-21/1999-07-23b.jpg)
Backtracking a bit (around 100km), we headed to Ouimet Canyon and took advantage of the good weather that day (a far cry from the bleak morning we had to wake up to). The hiking around the canyon wasn't particularly interesting, but the view from the two observation decks was superb. The pictures we took don't do it any justice, but at least you'll be able to see what it looks like. I never thought that we had anything like this in Canada, much less Ontario, but this was a pleasant surprise and I would recommend anyone to see it for themselves.
After picking up a postcard, we proceeded to Kakabeka falls which was just west of Thunder Bay. Also a nice view, and a more popular tourist place. We took a number of pictures, but I was a little disappointed that they had no postcards at the TIC.
![[Day 3: Kakabecka Falls.]](../Pictures/1999-07-21/1999-07-23c.jpg)
Our last major sightseeing thing on this day was Kakabecka Falls. Located an hour or so from Thunder Bay, it is probably one of the more popular tourist attractions in the area. The fact that there is a town (also named Kakabecka Falls) and camping ground right around the falls will attest to this fact. Although not as majestic as Niagara Falls, they were still quite large, and had a good view looking down the mouth of the canyon.
Starting from the left of the three right-most people are MJO, me, and BSB.
The Trans-Canada Highway was littered with construction zones that slowed down our progress through most of northern Ontario. Most of the work was to widen the highway, probably to add a passing lane of some sort, since there are some long stretches of road where passing is near impossible without the extra lane.
Our next major stop was in Dryden where we got some gas, a few post cards, and took a look at Max the Moose. That was a big moose, and MJO and I were able to convince Laz to take a picture of it. Ha! Despite the warnings that weirDo gave me, the smell of the air in Dryden wasn't that bad. It was quite nice and clean actually. After coming back to Waterloo, I mentioned it to him and he suggested that the paper mills probably don't work the entire year, so he was probably unlucky when he passed by the city.
![[Day 3: Max the Moose.]](../Pictures/1999-07-21/1999-07-23d.jpg)
One of the things that I just had to do during this trip was to stop by Dryden. I just wanted to get a post card to send off to Squishy to show her that I finally visited this quaint little town and tell myself.. boy, this place is small! She did tell me about the giant moose in the town, and I just had to go and check it out (so did MJO, but BSB and Laz didn't share our enthusiasm). With a little help from some guy at the gas station, we were able to find Max without a hitch.
Staring into the sun in front of Max the Moose are MJO, me, and BSB.
In one of the construction zones not far from Kenora, were were assaulted by a number of pebble sized rocks from the truck in front of us. One of them must have been rather large since it put a nice chip *crack* on the left hand side of the windshield. Crap. Things like that are hard to hide, and need to be fixed right away. Ah well, it was already too late that day, so we put it on the back burner till later.
Our last stop of the day was at Kenora where we stayed at the Best Western Inn. The building looked rather.. well, has anyone seen Tron? Well, it reminded me of the MCP. Ugh. The interior was nice though, had an indoor pool, and diner, and bar thing, and was filled with a couple of tour groups. I guess Kenora is a touristy place huh?
The girl at the counter suggested that we go to the Hap's Bar and Grill for food and drink, which we did, despite how full the place seemed. Much like Thunder Bay, Kenora was infested with mosquitoes, making dinner a little less than enjoyable. The food was good tho, so no complaints there. The waitress, although cute, wasn't around much and another waiter basically took over for her for most of the night. While BSB was paying, she apologized to him for neglecting us. This took a few minutes, and by the time we made it back, it was to late to go swimming (which we were thinking of doing.. dang.)
Tuesday, June 13, 2000 at 22:01:11 (UTC)
One thing I never mentioned about the "Got a cigarette?" place was that when I got out of the shower, there was this wierd little bug sitting on the middle of my white (hotel-provided) towel - further investigation revealed it to be a louse. I used my t-shirt instead of the towel.
Max was superb! Did that picture survive?
Mister Man Mikeo
Thursday, June 15, 2000 at 22:18:10 (UTC)
Gee thanks mike.. a louse huh? *shivers* curse you!!
Hwanilicious
Saturday, June 17, 2000 at 11:41:51 (UTC)
Oh admit it - you're glad I shared that life-enriching experience with you all.
Besides, I think I was the last one in the shower that day, so there was no point in my freaking everyone out by mentioning it..
Mister Man Mikeo