Day 135 to Buckhorn, Ontario

      We pulled away from our spot on the wall at 9:15 am.  Our trip today is 16.9 miles to Buckhorn, Ontario.  We our planning on staying on the lock wall, and once again we hope to be able to get a spot with hydro.  Since the hydro is on the approach side of the lock, we won't be going through the lock so today is unusual since we will have no locks or swing bridges to possibly delay our trip. As we departed we went by several houses that each had (exactly) 12 of the new, brightly colored, recycled plastic, lawn chairs (photo at right). Somebody must have had a good deal on a purchase of a dozen. I chose the photograph of this house since they also bought a "fun" oversized version as well.

       Otherwise, our trip to Buckhorn was pretty uneventful if beautiful scenery can ever be describe as "unremarkable". We had no trouble getting a spot on the wall with two 30 amp circuits so we were in excellent shape. The photo at the left shows Lucky Us looking very good on the wall with a park behind. As the day went on, the wall on both sides got a lot more boats, but for now it was very quiet, except for the boats locking through.

       For lunch we walked across the lock to check out the three restaurants right on the other side. This sign in the photo at the right got our attention as (walleyed) pikerel has not been that common on restaurant menus on the Trent-Severn. Sure enough, the pan seared pickerel was excellent! I was actually pleasantly surprised since the restaurant was an unlikely looking conversion of an old house, but I left already determined to go back for more... Just to wet your appetite, I have included a photo of the

$11.99 luncheon special (photo at left). What a bargain!
      After lunch we walked to the church next door for an art show and sale featuring local artists. After our shopping successes yesterday, I was not overly optimistic, but the Admiral found two paintings that she just had to have... Well, after all of that excitement, I just had to take a nap to recover.

      For Lucky there was a nice park along the lock wall between the lock and the dam. There was no beach, but there were several places where she could scramble out onto some big rocks and get a drink. She is still baffled by the clear water, and in the photo at the right it looks like she might try to step off onto some rocks that are way too deep for her.

      The Admiral is standing with a Century 21 Realty moose. Maybe they did not understand that a male moose is a bull not a buck. The name Buckhorn came from a 19th century lumber mill where the owner would nail up deer (i.e. bucks) horns to the outside wall of the mill. People in the surrounding area began referring to the town by the buck horns. Eventually, the name finally stuck and the town changed its name to Buckhorn.

      The town got the deer versus moose issue correct when it came to this statue (photo at the right) on the edge of town. In the western US I have seen piles of antlers used as decoration in yards as well as one arched walkway made out of antlers so I guess that I was expecting to see something similar here... Deer antlers are easy to find in the woods so it would not take a huge effort to make a large piece of "art" out of them.

       On one of our walks we went out on a walkway below the spillway on the dam. The photo at the left shows the rather smooth flow out of one of the gates on the dam. Lucky did not care for the loud noise, but we enjoyed the pretty scene for a few seconds before she pulled us back to shore.

      Also, on our walk after dinner we passed a Hobie kayak out for a ride along the channel to the lock. The rider was using the peddles to power the craft rather than a paddle. Hobie offers a drop in peddle unit that powers a flapper under the kayak for power. We have made an effort to learn proper paddling style, which uses the whole body, including a bit of leg motion. However, it still is mainly exercise from the waist up, which is better than just the arms, which is how many people seem to (incorrectly) paddle a kayak. We have looked at these Hobie kayaks in several stores, but this was the first time that we had seen one in use close up. We asked a couple of questions, and the next thing I knew, the Admiral was putting on her inflatable vest and heading out for a trial spin. For several months I have been pretty sure that she was going to want one, and I guess that the jury has now decided in her favor... Of course, the peddles work well for the lower body, but one would still need to split their time with a paddle for an all around work out.

      For dinner we went to a Chinese-Canadian restaurant on the other side of the dam. It is in an old mansion that had also been used as a hotel in the past. Now the huge first floor and surrounding decks are used as a popular local restaurant.
      The sunset tonight was very colorful (photo at left). We did not travel far today, but we were pretty busy. By the time I took this picture it was all that I could do to stay awake.... A good nights sleep was definitely in order.

      On Day 136 we delayed our departure so that we could go to an early lunch here in Buckhorn. This is a Monday, and it seems that quite a few of the rental houseboats were due to be returned about Noon. These houseboats stopped at the restaurant for breakfast before heading across the small lake to turn the boats back in. There were about a dozen more that came through the lock and headed directly to the check-in.