Doug was down last week to celebrate my 50th birthday. We put in quite a few miles. To see some scenic photos check out the following…
Doug flew into Hamilton & we spent the night at Niagara Falls. We got in by mid-afternoon & so we had an early supper & went for a walk. The falls truly are impressive. And to be able to be so close. We had thought about doing the Maid of the Mist trip & other touristy things the next day, but it was pouring rain, so we headed off to Sarnia. For photos of Niagara Falls, click here.
When Doug was attending Queen’s University, 38 years ago, he was on scholarship from Esso Canada. This meant they hired him in the summertime. One summer he lived at Sarnia (at a cottage on Lake Huron), and worked in ‘Chemical Valley.’ If you didn’t know, oil was first discovered in Sarnia, which lead to it becoming a refinery giant. For photos of in and around Sarnia, click here.
We drove north from Sarnia along Lake Huron. We came through Goderich. I begged Doug to turn around because there was this beautiful spot where I could see a port. It turned out there was also a hiking trail as well (spectacular colours & fishermen in hip waders), which starts on a reclaimed train bridge. Goderich has a large salt mine right on Lake Huron. There is also a huge grain handling facility. I was quite impressed to see a coast guard vessel, although quite small. For photos, click here.
I’m quite obsessed with open bodies of water, where I cannot see land beyond the horizon. I can hardly believe the waves on this windy day. Doug & I continued north and we came upon the Point Clark Lighthouse National Historic Site. Although it was closed for the season, I took a number of photos. On this windy, bleak day, it was easy to imagine the need for a lighthouse. For photos, click here.
We saw a number of wind turbines that dot the landscape for many miles along the coast. I suppose the windmills were about 5 km from the shore, but the prevailing winds off the coast must be constant enough to warrant such numbers of turbines.
Our last tourist stop was at the Bruce Nuclear information centre. I was quite disappointed. I was expecting these huge silo like I see on TV and I was expecting billowing steam. Doug tells me that Canada has a different nuclear process so the facilities don’t look anything my memory of Five Mile Island or the TV series “24″ adventures with nuclear plants. Doug explained that Lake Huron is an abundant source of ‘heavy water’ (the other Great Lakes don’t have this particular chemical consistency – I don’t really know what Doug meant, but he did explain it to me!) I did take a few photos, click here.