May 30 -T rees, Rocks, and Lakes,
Algonquin Park, ON
We were up and out fairly early this morning.
We headed into Huntsville for breaky then
out to Hwy 60 towards Algonquin Park and
our tentative stop for a few days in Deacon, ON at a lakeside RV park.
Decades ago when I was a kid, our summer holiday was a 2-week "cottage" vacation on Peninsula (Pen) lake east of Huntsville. Huntsville used to have a gateway like Gravenhurst does today but we didn't see one on the way into town yesterday. But here is its counterpart on the north side of town.
Highway 60 threads its way across northern Ontario, passing through a small part of Algonquin Park. There are lots of areas to visit, hike, camp, etc. in the Park, but driving through it is pretty much like any other highway – there are lots of trees, rocks, and lakes.
We didn't see the western gate into Algonquin Park; we think it was hidden off the highway – you need to check in there if you want to use any of Algonquin Park's facilities. But here is the eastern one.
A short while later we came into the small town of Barry's Bay. We were pleasantly surprised at what we found. Actually Jen saw this memorial first. Yes, that is a model of the Avro Arrow!
Zurakowski Park was opened in July 2003 to honour long-time citizen of Barry's Bay - Jan Zurakowski. Zurakowski was the chief test pilot on the Avro CF105 Arrow project in the late 1950s.
My dad worked at Orenda Engines on the Iroquois engine, the engine that was to power the Arrow (RL205).
In February 1958, thanks to the Diefenbaker conservative government, both the Iroquois engine and the Avro Arrow were cancelled in favour of the Bomarc missile. See Black Friday.
Put your hand up if you remember the Arrow. Okay now put your hand up if you remember the Bomarc missile. Uh, didn't think so!
Who knows where Canada would be today in the aviation industry if Diefenbaker had the guts to stand up to the Americans. Okay, rant over.
As we walked around the park, Jen noticed an old caboose across and down the street. I just had to go check it out and its companion, an old water tower.
East of Barry's Bay, in the small town of Wilno, we noticed St Mary's Church. "Canada’s Historic First Polish Parish was founded in 1875 by Polish Kashub Settlers."
A short while later, we arrived at Golden Lake and checked into a lovely site close to all amenities. It's so nice we decided to stay 3 days. We'll head out to the Ottawa area Thursday morning.
See you there!
