Day 26, part 2

The pictures from our adventure have been received!  Here is my first paddler in my boat!

And Grammie is not so sure about this adventure.

After about an hour paddle we were up on the rocks ready to search for the cave!

Found it!  We crawled just past our guide up there and were able to see the water.  If we were brave enough we could have jumped in and swam under to reach a wide-open, huge cave. 

Here's the view outside and why they call it "Keyhole Cave".

Here is my next paddler!

And after a crazy triple-switch on the water, here is my third paddler!

We had such a blast!  All three kids are still talking about this adventure and are anxious to figure out how to get kayaks now!

Day 27

Hearing we were visiting the area just about everyone we talked to asked if we'd been to The Grotto yet.  That was the photo on my first post this year and was definitely one of the hikes I was most excited about on the trip.  The basic advice from everyone was to get there early as the parking lots fill up very quickly.  The park opens at 8am so we parked just after and were one of a handful of cars there already.  This also meant time to quietly explore the area and maybe hike further after we saw Grotto. And photos without a bunch of strangers in them!

This part of the Bruce Trail was easy (the kids favorite!) and quiet (my favorite!).  We talked about all the things we were seeing and hearing along the way and before we knew it we were there.  Pictures can't even begin to do this place justice!  This was the view from the top.

I knew once I saw it we had to climb down inside to get a closer look.  This would involve climbing around the face of the rock about 60 feet above the water and down into the grotto. Of course the kids were up for it but I'm not sure Grammie was!  That is, until once she was inside!






I couldn't back up far enough to get a good picture, but just take my word for it that it was spectacular.  The kids wanted to get in the water so bad to the rock in the center!  And they wanted to climb around the edge to the opening in the back. I of course vetoed all those plans and after enjoying the view and making sure to say "Don't ever forget this!" we all climbed back out.  Ryan grabbed a rock she thought was perfect and asked to sneak it out so she could paint something on it with Dad.  How can I say no to that?  Once she heard of course, Laney wanted to do the same.

We kept hiking, enjoying several lookout points and another grotto along the way. I can't get over how crystal clear the water is!

 

Our next stop was Boulder Beach. It was, as you would guess a beach made of boulders!  This made my kids ecstatic and sitting down for a snack for about 8.3 seconds they were off rock hopping for as long as we'd let them.

While I ate breakfast, Grammie and I enjoyed the view and tried to soak it all in.  After clear instructions not to get wet, they all three came back dripping a little and amazed by a water snake they'd seen.  We hiked on to Overhanging Point, our halfway stop and tried to find a way to get down and enjoy it.  We saw a narrow tunnel down through the rocks with a rope that I vetoed.  I'm sure Grammie was relieved about that!  I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like we would need at least another hour to get down through a trail.  The kids seemed to be getting tired and we still needed to hike back so I took a quick picture from the top and we hopped back on the trail.

The kids were excited to go back by boulder beach and Ryan took a few minutes to make a mini inukshuk on the lake trail back.  This trail was quite a bit more difficult all on rocks, so the kids were happy to make it to the intersection of the Bruce Trail where we started.  On our way out, I spotted this baby Nuthatch clinging to a tree.  Mom and Dad birds weren't too happy about us stopping but he was too cute not to get a picture!  Ryan wanted to help him bad, thinking he was hurt, but once we stepped back a ways and watched she realized they were just teaching him how to fly.

We were all amazed by the crowds of people making their way in as we were leaving.  We were all so happy we'd gotten up early to make it out there early!

Next we stopped by a beach on the other side of the peninsula that locals suggested as a place the kids might want to swim as it was supposed to be quite a bit warmer.  I wasn't up for the kids swimming since we had a boat tour in a couple hours so I didn't bring bathing suits, but of course they found a way to have a blast!

At one point I took Brayden to go to the bathroom and when we got back the water had completely changed. Grammie and the girls had to move about 20 feet back as the water rushed in and covered all their castles and made islands out of the higher parts of the beach they were just playing on!  Are there tides in lakes or is this just from the wind? The kids kept playing and within about 15 minutes most of the water had receeded back to the original spot.  We are used to wakes from boats and tides twice a day, but I'm so confused by this!

Once we had mostly cleaned everyone's feet, we drove back into the small town and ate a little while waiting for our boat.  We were going on a glass-bottom boat tour of some shipwrecks then on to an island nearby called Flowerpot Island.  This glass-bottom was much smaller than ours in Florida, but the shipwrecks were still very neat to look at. First we went by the lighthouse in Big Tub Harbor.

One of the boats had wrecked at another island and they towed it into the harbor to try to repair it. Once they realized it couldn't be fixed, they just pushed it back out into Big Tub Harbor and it sank. The other boat caught fire in Little Tub Harbor further in so they pushed it out here and it sank.  Both wrecks had happened more than 100 years ago yet were very preserved because of the cold water. This would be a fun place to snorkel!  With my 4 wetsuits on.

Flowerpot Island was another much-anticipated spot with rock formations from 12,000 years ago from glacial activity.  The view from the water was nice, but we were excited to get the up close views from shore!

Our hike to Little Flower Pot was quick on a nice trail.  The kids of course loved climbing out on the rocks.  And the view was just beautiful!  It was very difficult for Grammie to get us in a picture without a bunch of other people.

We hopped back on the trail toward the Big Flower Pot enjoying a few views along the way.  The size of this formation is especially deceiving until you're really up close to it.  At the observation area we read exactly how scientists believe they were formed so long ago.  What a unique formation!

We continued on the trail in search of the island cave just off the trail.  The amount of people were dwindling as the trail was getting tougher.  Just before the stairs leading up we could feel the 15 degree temperature difference flowing out of the cave.  Once we scaled the 55 steps us we were rewarded with a huge cave to enjoy!

Grammie checked the time to see if we would be able to continue on to the lighthouse and museum.  We still had 2 hours so Laney was very excited to hear we would be heading that way.  The portion to the museum was all on large rocks downhill but just before we got there Brayden made the executive decision to head uphill to the actual island light.  It was a pretty straight uphill hike to a steel tower with a light on top.  The original lighthouse was set on fire and pushed off the cliff many years before and replaced with this fully automated version inevitably putting the keepers out of work after 32 years.  The view from this point was breathtaking.

We went down and visited the lighthouse museum next.  I love reading about how the keepers raised families while tending to the lighthouse in such remote, lonely locations.  One of the keepers raised 8 children there and were able to have food from their garden and cold storage in a nearby cave.

We hiked back the way we came to make sure we would make our boat back.  This time we'd be back super quick on the jet boat!  While we waited Laney, Grammie and I taught the other two how to play "My Ship Has Sailed".  After at least 8 hands I STILL haven't won!

The jet boat ride was super windy and quick!  The captain did a couple fun little turns that had the girls smiling.  As we were heading into the harbor Brayden noticed a new restaurant we hadn't seen so we decided to try it for dinner.  We'd been snacking all day and everyone needed some real food and quick!

After a confusing walk to find it, we finally made it to the restaurant and had an okay meal.  The beer was delicious but everything else just seemed premade or from a frozen box.  You can't win them all I guess!  We were starving so we ate it all up no problem!

Grammie drove us back to the campsite and were quick to head back to their cottage after our exhausting day.  The girls played at the playground for a little bit while I made a fire and wrote a little bit.  They roasted a marshmallow before we read a little around the fire then went to bed.  I stayed up a little while to finish editing pictures and enjoy the fire.  By the time I finished the campground was dark and everyone was in asleep!  The sky was so wonderfully dark and filled with what looked like thousands of stars all over.

Quote of the Day: "My ship has set! My ship has done!" says Ryan trying to beat everyone playing cards since she could remember she was supposed to say "My ship has sailed!".

Day 26

We weren't to meet our kayak guide until 10am so we had time for a nice southern meal of cheese grits and toast with Laney and Grammie to get us ready to paddle.  The kids took a few minutes to play at the park before we headed to Dunks Bay to get on the water.

We got there a little early so the kids ate their bananas in the sand while we waited. The kids had to put on their Canadian maple leaf tattoos they'd gotten from the welcome center today!

This trip was mostly to (a) convince Grammie that kayaking is fun and (b) give each of the kids some experience paddling as they have had very limited time in a kayak or canoe.  We found out once Zane got there that we would be going to a secret cave that he'd just found in the last few months!

As we all got our life jackets on and extra clothes in dry storage, he handed me his wife's waterproof camera so I didn't feel the need to take mine.  After about 30 minutes of chatting and figuring out who would go where we were on the slick morning Georgian Bay.  Grammie ended up in the single kayak, Brayden was leading my tandem and the girls were leading Zane's kayak. For zero experience paddling everyone was doing great!  In fact, within a few minutes and several times throughout the trip, the girls would trade places to be in front or sitting in the middle. These kids are fearless!

The trip to the cave was just beautiful.  We started out in a small bay then headed around a point for a view of where the Georgian Bay opened up quite a bit and some of the smaller islands.  The paddle to the cave took us about an hour so we had plenty of time to talk about all kinds of things.  Zane talked about much of the history and geology of the island, where he and his wife grew up, and their guiding adventures while I talked about homeschooling and our adventures. I guess since this is my fourth trip I'm pretty used to the idea but most people are still amazed that I do this.  And everyone in Canada is pretty amazed we drove all the way from Florida!

Before we knew it we were hopping out to go explore the rocks and find the cave. We did a lot of twists and turns just below the Bruce Trail, an almost 900km hiking trail that runs from Niagra Falls to the tip of the Peninsula where we are staying.  He'd given me the safety veto power if I ever felt things weren't ok for us to do, but the kids were scaling the faces of rocks like they were are stairs at home!

Once we reached the cave we realized no wonder it is so tricky to find!  It's basically hidden from just about every angle except from the water just north of the cave.  The view was spectaular and the cave was even cooler!  Unfortunately I can't publish our pictures of the view because of the secret-ness of the cave, but he did get a good one of us inside.

The girls and I crawled back just a little ways and you could see quite a bit of water and the cave turn a corner.  He hadn't tried yet, but he said if you went under the water and just around the corner, the cave would open up to a large room.  If I'd had on 4 wetsuits maybe!  This water is COLD! Brayden found some courage and crawled back there briefly with Grammie too.  We made sure to say for the 15th time on the trip, "Don't EVER forget this!"

We headed back down to the rocks and snacked for a little few minutes while Zane got the boats ready to launch.  The triple tandem was especially tricky - it was HUGE!  This time I was paddling with Ryan and Brayden was with Laney and Zane.  Poor Grammie never had any help paddling!

Once we all were on the water, the race was on. Ryan has to be the most competitive person I know!  She created a team with Grammie, me and her and we were going to beat that other boat!  That was all great until Zane started paddling hard!  At least it kept their attention off how much longer it would be until we got back to the beach!

About halfway back Laney mentioned she hadn't had a turn to paddle with me so Zane convinced me to do a triple switch with Ryan moving to the middle of his boat, Brayden moving to the front, and Laney moving to mine. I'm not sure how they are so balanced and brave, but they did it without a problem.  And then I could breathe again.

With this big switch Ryan switched teams and we were against her now.  I would like to officially declare a mis-race as they had an incredible unfair advantage.  Luckily, Zane threw the race and it was officially a three-boat tie!

Once we all reached shore each of the kids took Grammie's kayak out for a quick paddle instruction out a little ways into the bay. Ryan of course barely needed any instruction. That girl is a natural at just about anything she tries!  It was quite annoying growing up with one of those as a brother, now I have to raise one too?!  Laney loved being out on the water and she picked it up really quickly as well. We had to talk Brayden into it and once we did a few circles he enjoyed it too.  All three of them want a kayak now!  I will have to do a second post for Day 26 once I receive the pictures back from our kayak guide.  Hopefully I got some good ones!

We were all starving by now so we headed back into town to find some lunch.  We stopped by the brewery but they weren't open for dinner quite yet so we went next door for pizza.  The kids spotted "Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer" and just had to have some.  Unfortunately there were only two left so Brayden opted for Ginger Ale instead.  Sometimes he can be awfully nice to those girls.

We took our pizza out to the picnic tables and enjoyed the view of the harbor while we ate.  The kids of course invented another game while we finished. It can be tricky managing these games as a parent of three as often they leave one of the kids out or make them the villian. This one didn't seem too bad until I looked over and Ryan was using two of the pizza boxes as shields and then jumping off the picnic table onto them.  Time to go!

The kids had been wanting to hit the visitor's center exhibits so we headed there next. The girls were anxious to go through the exhibits and complete their activity books as they would get a souvenir!  But our first stop of course was the movie about the area.  It was a great introduction about the formation of the rocks and history of the peninsula.

I do have to say this visitor center had probably the best exhibits I've ever seen in all our travels.  We learned about everything from beavers and shipwrecks to scuba diving and orchids!  I was learning so much I completely forgot to take any pictures!  Grammie and I kept asking each other, "Wow, did you read this?" and "This is so neat, did you see this?".  The kids were hopping through learning quite a bit as well especially when they happened to be with us for a few minutes.  After about an hour we walked out and the girls turned in their books. They smiled big as the park guide congratulated them on their hard work and gave them some dogtag type necklaces with the park on them.

Once we made it back to our campsite Grammie and I started a fire and the kids played soccer again.  There were some monster saves!  We walked up to enjoy the fire and roast a few marshmallows before saying goodbye to Brayden and Grammie.

The girls and I read a little by the fire and went to bed.  We were wiped out!  Seems everyone else at the campground was too as it was exceptionally quiet!

Quote of the Day: Ryan - "Pretty please with a chicken butt and cherry on top?" as she was asking me and Laney to stop paddling so they could win.