Ruth and the sunset at the island of Dhiffushi, Maldives.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Elliot Lake, Ontario

Elliot Lake is an interesting town. Or at least it has an interesting history.

In the early fifties, a huge ore body of uranium was discovered in this area. So the city was designed as a planned community for the mining industry, and by the late 1950's there were 25,000 people living here.

The mining industry has had several boom and bust cycles over the years, and the population here has ranged from a high of 26,000 to a low of 6,600. By the early 1990's, a combination of depleted reserves and low prices caused the last of the mines to close. The current population is around 11,500.

Pretty fall colors at the side of the road near Elliot Lake.

Our hosts Diane and John took Ruth out for a drive yesterday morning. I had some kind of a bug at the time and unfortunately stayed home for the morning outing. No idea what it was, but I was quite a bit better by the afternoon so was able to join them then.

Kayaker out on the lake.

Statue of uranium miner in the 1950's.

Elliot Lake, with the city on the left. Taken from the Mount Dufour fire tower lookout.

Lots of pretty fall colors.

Elliot Lake has become known as "the perfect retirement community", with inexpensive housing. You can buy a nice two bedroom bungalow for around $100,000. So a lot of new retirees will sell their overpriced home in the Toronto area, pocket the proceeds, and move here. 

One of the old mine entrances. There is a trail here that leads to Rooster Rock, and another lookoff.

Friends Dianne and John on the way to Rooster Rock. The sheer rock face drops straight down to the water.

After lunch, they came back to see if I was well enough to join them for the afternoon outing, and I decided I was! So off we went north of Elliot Lake to see some more sights.

Fall colors.

A unique geological attraction at Flack Lake is "Ripple Rock". They say this is where the old continent of Pangaea broke apart 200 million years ago. This rock was formed by thousands of years of wave action.

Interesting mushroom that Ruth spotted.

Diane, John, Ruth, Kevin.

Minutes after this picture was taken, I was putting our new camera back in it's case and didn't zip it up, thinking I would use it again shortly. I turned around and slid the bag towards my back when I heard something fall onto the rock we were standing on. 

Oops. Remember I mentioned I didn't zip the camera bag up? 

When something like that happens, you cannot cry or get upset. You can feel a little depressed, but what's done is done. Amazingly, despite the broken lens cap and the slight bend on the lens housing, the camera works perfectly fine. At least it seems to so far. Lucky!

At Laurentian Lodge there are some pretty cabins to rent.

More fall colors.

Today, we do our final leg of this part of our trip. A fairly long drive of 594 kms (368 miles) will bring us from Elliot Lake to Ruth's dad's house in Galetta, Ontario (just outside of Ottawa) where we will be based until October 15th.


17 comments:

  1. Some awesome fall colours there that you are enjoying. Save travels to Galetta.

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    1. The colours were really in there prime in northern Ontario. It was a beautiful drive.

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  2. The colors are beautiful, I love fall and this year hope to see some of that color.

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    1. I hope you get the chance to see the colors too!

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  3. I hear what you are saying about your camara, it happens so often my brother lost a $3,000. one the same way his was not repairable. I almost lost one also, so now I have gotten rid of the bag. The fall colours are awsome, we were just a couple weeks to early oh well next time. Love to hear of all your travels.

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    1. We bought the bag to help protect the camera, so much for that idea! Actually it was the fact that Kevin didn't zipper it up, guaranteed he will make sure it is zippered up from now on.

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  4. Love the fall colors and the shots taken after the 'incident' seem to be just as perfect as the previous ones.

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    1. Yes, they do seem to be fine, thank goodness!

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  5. Sucks when that happens to any camera, but one that is really new? Enough to make you spit!
    I've had my share of issues. I once dropped my Nikkormat in Paris (this was back in the 70s) and that sucker just bounced. That was one tough old camera.
    Mind you, I just about pooped when it happened.
    Have a safe drive.

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    1. Yes, it is definitely much harder when it happens to a new camera but what can you do...nothing! We were very lucky.

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  6. It's only money and if it is any (fill in the missing words because I forgot the expression in English), the pictures above are so good they were worth the price of the camera.

    Looks like your trip is really taking off. Can't wait to see new pics of the baby!!

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    1. Yes, it seems like we were lucky. Baby pictures will start showing up in just over 2 weeks time! :)

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    2. "consolation" is the word you're looking for!

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  7. I'm relatively new to your blog. Just have to say I enjoy reading your posts and viewing the pictures of the various places you visit on your travels. My husband I are retiring the end of this year and have plans to RV part-time. I'm so glad that you and others are willing to share your travels! The fall colors in these pictures are gorgeous. Hard to believe that fall is here! Happy travels!

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to comment Cheri, we like getting feedback and don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have about traveling or RVing, we are more than happy to try to answer them for you.

      You must be looking forward to the end of the year when you can sit back and relax, it will be an exciting time for you both.

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  8. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed your visit SO much! Hope our paths cross again!

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    1. We had a great time as well Dianne! Thank you so much for the wonderful hospitality you gave us and the private tour of the area. It is such a beautiful area, I can definitely see us returning with Sherman sometime. I am pretty sure our paths will cross again too!

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