Planning for the Great Loop

 July 21^st,

On July 12^th, we headed for Kingston, ON and our entry into Canada. It was a nice cruise across the northern end of Lake Ontario and our interaction with Customs was via a phone call and was efficient and pleasant. Kingston is a great little city with many restaurants right outside the marina. On our second day there, we took a water taxi across the river and toured the Military Academy and Fort Henry which is a War of 1812 era fort that was built to protect the naval dock yards and the Rideau Canal which connects Kingston to Ottawa.

On July 14^th, we headed towards the Trent Severn Waterway with a stop in a small marina in Picton to break up the distance. After one night in Picton, we headed to Trent Port Marina which sits right at the entry to the Trent Severn Waterway. It is by far the nicest marina we have stayed in. It was a beautiful facility with shower rooms that you would find at the nicest hotels and a laundry room with all new machines that were clean and FREE!!. Needless to say, the bar for my expectations for travel accommodations has been lowered considerably over the past months. We had dinner at a wonderful waterfront restaurant, Tomasso’s, that had been recommended by friends who are now weeks ahead of us. On our second night Jack’s son, John, arrived to join us for our cruise across the Trent Severn Waterway. John, who lives in China, teaching soccer, had already been to Dallas and Nashville to visits his sisters.

On July 18^th we officially entered the Trent Severn Waterway and the beginning of the lock system which has a total of 44 locks. Our first stop was in the town of Campbellford after going through 12 locks that collectively lifted us up 237 ft. The moment we tied up to the wall we were greeted by other Loopers who told us about the 3 major, must-do attractions. The first was to visit Dooher’s bakery for the “best” donuts, second, “The World’s Best Chocolate Factory and third to purchase the local Empire cheese. We are proud to say that we achieved all three goals. Our next stop was in Hastings, 6 locks and 133 ft later.  It was a sweet little marina and very nice showers! (Are you sensing a theme here?)

We are now in Peterborough, the largest city on the Waterway. We are spending 2 nights here before moving on. Our first lock in the morning will be different from all the others. The process for the others is to drive into a chamber, it is flooded to the level of the river above and then we pull out. The first lock tomorrow involves us pulling into a “tub” of water and the whole “tub” lifts us up and out we drive.  We hope everyone is enjoying their summer.