St. Catharines to Sault Ste. Marie

We had a great visit with Stan and Eileen in St. Catharines. We were able to spend some time with Eileens mom Sally who is in residential care in the Tabor complex. She is 90 and is doing relatively well.

We went for a drive and had to wait at the Welland Canal because the bridge was up to allow a freighter to pass. We only waited about 5 minutes but could have been as long as 30.

One of the thousands of vineyards on the Niagara Peninsula. 

We took a tour of the Peller Estates winery to see their wine making process and the skill involved.

New vines just planted.

The oak barrel aging room.  Temperature and humidity precisely controlled. 

Gearing up to go into the -10C room. Everyone put on these very warm jackets.

Everything in the -10 room was made of ice. The floor, walls, benches, counter and decorations. These are ice sculpture wind chimes.

The walls had engraving giving some of details taken to produce an ice wine.

 We left St. Catharines at 6:30 this morning because we wanted to catch the Chi cheemaun ferry just north of Owen Sound to take us to the north side of lake Huron. We stopped to take a picture of this church which stood all by itself in the greenery.

This was part of the Grotto Garden behind the church.

Lucy was ready for some coffee and a snack.

We didn't know that Wiarton was on the way but drove right through it. The home of Canada's Groundhog Wiarton Willy.

We were pressed for time so we didn't stop to see him.

Not sure if these were Amish farms or not but they sure were large. There were horse and buggy's on the road as well.

The ferry goes from Tobermory north to near Sudbury.

Waiting for his ship to come in.

 Another very large ship. As it approached the loading dock the nose of the ship lifts up to expose the loading decks.

Some fancy artwork on this ship.

Enjoyed the deck chairs in the warm sun all the way across. The crossing is about 1 3/4 hours and cost $38.oo for car and 2 passengers.

Shortly after driving off of the ferry we drove across this single lane swinging bridge. The traffic was controlled by lights.

A very different landscape on this side. Mostly rock. If you can't dig into the ground you have to come up with a way to support poles. This one is the crate type filled with rocks.

Very different landscape on this side.

The day kept getting warmer and we neared Sault Ste. Marie and when we arrived here this eveing it was 28C.



We will spend the night here and then head out for Thunder Bay tomorrow.