We had a long but very fun day. As we drove East from Sault Ste. Marie on the Trans-Canada, Tom reminded Scott that we were going to look into a Seaplane ride.  Using google search and google maps, Scott found True North Airways about 3 hours into our 5 hour planned drive to Fairview Park Campground and Marina in North Bay.  The earliest scenic flight we could get was at 3PM, so we had time to kill as we drove to the seaplane base.

As we went through Massey we stopped at the Massey Area Museum .  It was nice and explained some local logging stuff, but couldn’t compete with the South Dakota Tractor Museum. While Scott admired the big manly press,

Tom admired the jewelers regulator.

One of the exhibits was about the Canadian Pacific Railway Spanish River Derailment. The bridge where it happened is still standing.

We arrived at True North around 1:30, hoping we might be able to get our ride in earlier.  However, the were running late and 3:00PM became 3:30PM then closer to 4PM.  However during this time the winds died down a bit, and we discovered that our pilot Arnie would be taking us in their DeHavilland Beaver rather than their smaller and less interesting Cessnas.  Scott guessed that plane was older than either of us.  He was right, though just barely (it was built in 1954.)

Arnie promised to give us a view of the fall foliage, some waterfalls more like rapids) then the local mining operation, then return to the lake.  The ride was spectacular.  We flew around 100 feet or so from the ground at times – it had more of the feel of a helicopter ride than a fixed wing, since the Beaver was capable of flying so slow.  We saw lots of houses accessible only by boat or floatplane.  Definitely a five-star experience.

After the ride and chatting with Arnie, it was 5PM before we began our trip to the campsite.  Google Maps said there was a backlog of up to 40 minutes due to an accident on the Trans-Canada highway, so we stopped for dinner at Kate’s Kountry Kitchen – sorta a Canadian, non-chain version of Cracker Barrel.  Similarly not health food, but good and filling.

We pulled into the campground just after dark, tired but happy after our day’s siteseeing.