A ‘NO FLY ZONE’- MORTAR BOMBS & A COUPLE FOOT LONGS CHASED DOWN WITH A COUPLE ROOT BEERS

At 7:45 a.m. this morning I was out in the driveway with a hose & a bucket of soapy water washing the Jeep.  Now why would I be doing that & so what if I had the usual gaggle of mud on the fenders?  Well, a friend & I were on a mission this morning to find out why the Canadian Government has created a permanent 'no fly zone' up to 10,000 feet stretching from Point Franks Ontario to just east of a place called Kettle Point on the shores of Lake Huron. We did have a hunch why but it made no logical sense.  My retired friend Craig Wilker is a private Pilot with his own plane & this 'no fly zone' has been bugging him for a long time.   But both Craig & I plus 3 other hometown Tavistock boys know something about this area that many people don't know & it dates back to the very early 1960's.

Craig & I grew up on the same street in a small Ontario town.  We have kept in touch through the years & Craig always drops in to say Hello in late August.  He drives from Kitchener Ontario to another little town in our area called Zurich.  Zurich is known for it's annual big bean festival.  Craig always attends to pick up a big load of his favorite baked beans.  It's always a Saturday & two weeks ago Craig dropped by late in the afternoon to say Hello.  He mentioned his interest in this 'no fly zone' south of Grand Bend which in turn is south of Bayfield.  Port Franks was our destination. We talked a bit about what we had found in this 'then uninhabited' area about 43 years ago.  Craig wondered if I would be interested in taking a drive back in time to a place we had indeed found some ‘bombs’ those oh so many years ago.  Bombs??  Yes indeed, hundreds if not thousands of them.

Ok, a quick bit of background.  The area in question had been owned for centuries by the Chippewa First Nations Native People.  Using the War Measures Act in 1942 the Canadian Government appropriated a large chunk of land & turned it into a military training base.  Deal was to return the land to Native Peoples after the war but they never did.  It was used as a base up into the 1990's when the Indian folks fought to take the land back resulting in the death of one of their own.  The military finally withdrew in 1995 but tensions are still strong amongst the local Indian folks.  It was while this section of land was still in military hands back in the early 60's that we made our bomb discovery.

Near the military base was the small lakeside community of Port Franks.  It consisted of a Marina & a few dozen cottages back them.  Between Port Franks & the military base a Tavistock couple built a cottage on the shores of Lake Huron.  They were trusting enough to let their son Gary & a few of his friends go up to that cottage at times including Christmas Holidays. There were usually 5 of us who spent a few days now & again at 'the cottage.'  Our group of 5 consisted of Gary, Jim & John Eifert, Craig & myself.  While at the cottage & being the young teenagers we were it didn't take us long to discover all the military stuff back in the sand dunes & forests of the military camp nearly.  No fences in those days or signs warning anyone to stay off the property.  Well I don't remember any signs anyway & if there were signs it wouldn't have mattered anyway.  We were young males & the more we hiked into this area the more really neat-o army stuff we found.
It was an active army training base with fox holes on many of the sand dune ridges.  Found an underground bunker made of pine logs & one day we hiked in far enough to see the firing ranges.  We were behind the big square wood targets.  Not too smart.  It was easy for us to dodge any military vehicles because we could hear them coming.  I don't recall ever running into any army personnel though.   We found rifle & machine gun shell casings everywhere.  We even found an old Indian cemetery one day.  But one of the big finds was hundreds if not thousands of MORTAR BOMBS dumped into a small pond.  Water was crystal clear & piles of these mortar bombs covered the bottom of the pond for as far out as we could see.  I remember them looking to be about a foot & half long with tail fins on one end.  All 5 of us seen them so we know they were indeed there.  I also remember finding a blue rocket head in the sand.  We poked at it with a stick.  I'm talking some very major stupidity here but it gets stupider.  Had this thing exploded it would have instantly killed the whole works of us.  This warhead was very heavy, about a foot long, & about as round as my leg.  It was tapered to a soft point at one end.   For some reason we convinced ourselves it was probably a dummy practice round.  Here's where it gets even stupider.  I picked this thing up & carried it all the way back to Gary's parents cottage.  Now Gary is older than me, a whole lot smarter & for sure a much more cautions person than I have ever been.  Thinking about it now I don't know how he let me carry that thing back to the cottage.  Unless he didn't know.  Hmmmmm.  It's not clear how I got that possible bomb back to Tavistock into my Mother's barn out behind the house but I did.  And that is where that piece of forgotten ordnance remained for the next 25 years until I came across it cleaning out the barn one time.......Oh Dear I have got myself waaaaaaay off topic here again haven’t I.

Met Craig in Sobeys Supermarket parking lot in Grand Bend at 10:15 this morning & we Jeeped ourselves off to Port Franks.  (Craig is quite meticulous about his vehicles & that's why I wanted us to go in a clean Jeep:))  Our first destination was the very cottage we used to go to go to back in the early 60's.  I had driven by it last summer so knew where it was despite the whole area being much more built up than it was many years ago.  Craig wanted to have a close up look at the cottage plus take some way points on his Garmin Aviation device he had with him.  Nobody home so we had ourselves a walk around for old times sake.  Many changes of course but the basics of our memories were still there.  Last time I remembered walking on that property was 1967.  Awhile back I posted about where I was the night the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan 50 years ago.  This is the cottage where we watched the Fab Four that night & this is my February 9th 2014 LINK to that post.
 

THE BASIC COTTAGE STRUCTURE IS STILL THE SAME EXCEPT THE CARPORT ON LEFT HAS BEEN MADE INTO A ROOM & ANYWHERE YOU SEE GRASS IN THESE PHOTOS WAS ONCE ALL SAND DUNES

 

 

THAT LARGE HOUSE TO THE RIGHT WITH THE BIG CHIMNEY WAS NOT THERE YEARS AGO

 

YES WE DID HAVE SOME PARTIES ON THAT BEACH DOWN THERE FOR SURE:))

THESE STEPS & FLOWERS WEREN’T HERE EITHER

From 'Burton's' cottage we headed off in the direction of the army camp a short distance away.  Absolutely nothing was familiar.  Where once we hiked up & over sand dunes & tobogganed down a steep hill onto a frozen pond there were now roads & suburbs of houses.  We ventured up some no exit roads with Craig recording way points along the way.  He wants to gather enough information together before he phones someone in the Government  regarding the 'no fly zone'.  We could only guess where the small lake/pond was with the mortar bombs in the bottom.  No landmarks we could go by until we spotted a sign on a fence alongside the road after we had come to the end of the suburban sprawl.  It was a warning sign which read.  We knew we were roughly in the area of Mortar Bomb lake but it was heavily forested & neither one of us were into tramping through a mosquito infested woods in search of something we already knew was there.  The Government is obviously aware of all the ordnance scattered about in the large training area as well but it seems a stretch to enforce a 'no fly zone' over this whole area, including all the suburban homes.  Whatever artillery shells that could blow up in there certainly is not going to toss anything 10,000 feet into the air.  Anyway Craig logged the information & photos he wanted so our mission was complete but we didn't stop there.  If he is successful in finding out about this ‘no fly zone’ he said he’ll let me know.  And of course you all know when I know you all will know as well…………….:))

CRAIG PUNCHES IN A WAY POINT FOR HIS ‘NO FLY ZONE’ PROJECT

 

TAKING A PHOTO OF THE SIGN ON THE RIGHT & WE KNEW WE WERE IN THE GENERAL AREA OF MORTAR BOMB LAKE

 

CRAIG USES THIS GARMIN AVIATION DEVICE WHEN HE’S FLYING HIS SINGLE ENGINE GRUMMAN AS WELL…HE WAS ACTUALLY IN THE AIR OVER LAKE ONTARIO HEADED FOR THE STATES ON THE MORNING OF 9/11 BUT WAS ABLE TO GET HIS PLANE TURNED AROUND IN TIME TO LAND BACK IN CANADA
We took us for a leisurely drive south on highway 21 to another area we remembered traveling around many years ago.  Much of it is now under Indian control so we were a bit restricted as to where we could go.  We did recognize a few buildings here & there as we made our way to Kettle Point right on the shores of Lake Huron.  Grabbed a leg stretch here & took a few photos of the areas big round rock 'Kettles.'  To see the history of how these rocks were formed & how the Stoney Point Indians made use of the shale rock check out these links…..KETTLE POINT & how the Kettles were formed at ORIGIN OF THE KETTLES

UNFORTUNATELY LAKE LEVELS ARE UP THIS YEAR & WE COULDN’T SEE THE BIG ROUND ‘KETTLE’ ROCKS NOW UNDER WATER JUST OFFSHORE

 

THESE 2 KETTLE ROCKS HAVE BEEN MOVED HERE FOR PEOPLE TO SEE & THE ONE BELOW IS IN IT’S NATURAL ENVIRONMENT NEAR THE WATER

 

FACE TO FACE WITH LAKE HURON & THIS IS THE SHALE ROCK AT KETTLE POINT THE INDIANS MADE ARROWHEADS & SPEAR TIPS FROM

From there it was back to Grand Bend where we washed down a couple foot long hot dogs with a couple root beers on the Bend's famous main street stretch.  Um, that’s 1 foot long & 1 root beer apiece by the way.  Drove Craig back to his car in Sobey's parking lot & we called it a day.  Been a very long time since I have had a day like today & it was nice meeting up with an old friend & heading off on a bit of an adventure.  Years ago it was the norm for me to be hanging out with a bunch of guys & close friends off doing all sorts of things.  I hadn't really missed that way of life these last bunch of years but I sure did enjoy our mystery 'no fly zone' mission today.  Hmmmm, makes me wonder if I've been hanging around with myself too long.........................

PROBABLY ONE OF THE LONGEST STANDING EATERIES ON THE STRIP

 

MASHING DOWN OUR FOOT LONGS & SHARING A FEW OLD MEMORIES OF DAY’S GONE BY…LUNCH WAS ON CRAIG…THANKS BIG GUY

 

I RIGHTLY GUESSED AT THIS AS A 54 FORD

CRAIG WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THIS CAMARO BECAUSE HE BOUGHT A NEW OF THESE YEARS AGO & STILL HAS IT

THE BOYS ARE TALKING SHOP HERE…UNLIKE CRAIG’S CAMARO THIS ONE IS ALL SOUPED UP

Bit of a surprise on the way home when just north of Grand Bend I spotted a very familiar looking Class C Ford Winnebago Access Premier.  Made a U-turn on the highway & went back to grab a couple photos.  Yep sure enough…….it was our old Winnie Wagon.  Winnie The Bago her very self.  Ron had told us a couple from Grand Bend had bought it & by golly now we know where Winnie’s new digs are.  It was comforting to see she had herself a fine new home……………………..:))

 

YES BY GOLLY THAT’S WINNIE THE BAGO ALRIGHT:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((    The other day it was my turn to prepare dinner so I asked my wife to go over to the local market and buy some organic vegetables. She came back rather upset. When I asked her what was wrong she said, "I don't think I like that produce guy. I went and looked around for your organic vegetables and I couldn't find any. So I asked him where the organic vegetables were. "  He didn't know what I was talking about so I said, " These vegetables are for my husband. Have they been sprayed with any poisonous chemicals?"  And he said, "No, ma'am. You'll have to do that yourself."

PHEEBS POINTS OUT THE SHOTS & I TAKE THEM….WE’RE QUITE A TEAM

Our day dawned sunny, clear, & cool.  Nice. With Autumn's cooler nights & clear skies upon us it is a heavy wet dew on the grass we have each morning.  Makes for some mighty wet shoes & paws on our walk.  Pheebs decided to take her Ducky along this morning & we thought that was not only nice for Ducky to get out of the house for a change but very thoughtfully considerate of Pheebs to bring her best little Pal along.

Kelly headed off to Goderich on some errands so Pheebs & I busied ourselves with additional tree trimming especially in the area we park the Big EEE.  About 10 o'clock the call of the countryside was making itself heard so figured I'd load up Little Miss Smarty Pants & take us for a short drive over to the Hullett Marsh.  I was needing a few new photos for my post tonight anyway & this time of year is so pretty with natures purple & golds dominating the rural landscape.

It is not only the ever changing beauty of our area but it is the sound of early Autumn creatures which makes these days this time of year so special.  A background chorus of Crickets wherever we stop & often the busy hum of tiny unseen bees buzzing about amongst the many pretty Fall flowers. Blue Jays in the woods & Canada Geese on the Marsh ponds.  Where once we had multitudes of Monarch Butterflies just a few years ago now there are few.  We did manage to see one this morning.  A true rarity now.  No shortage of small yellow butterflies as groups of them flitted about in spiralling circles.

 

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS LITTLE FELLOW IS
We did do a bit of hiking but only for a short distance.  Tall grass still too wet & the morning sun too hot which in turn brought Mosquitoes out from the swamps cooling shadows.  Did try some bug spray but I might as well have sprayed water on myself for all the good it did.  No carrot muffins at Tim Hortons this morning so we had to settle for blueberry.
  

PHEEBS POINTS OUT THE SHOTS & I TAKE THEM

I carry a point & shoot camera on my belt wherever I go & if I don't have one of my DSLR's with me I will use it in a pinch.  Quite often by the time I get home I've forgotten I had even taken a picture so the errant photo sits in the camera until I stumble upon it at a later date.  Didn't have my larger camera with me on our walk this morning when I spotted a spider web in the morning light.  Took a photo with my point & shoot & actually remembered to download it to my computer later in the day.  Was surprised to find some photos I had taken back on August 18th in London Ontario.  We had stopped at a UNION BURGER for the first time & they had a neat way of letting customers know when their order was ready.  Photos below.

FRONT COUNTER AT UNION BURGER

 

EACH CUSTOMER GETS A BLACK SQUARE DEVICE & WHEN AN ORDER IS READY IT MAKES A NOISE, 6 RED LIGHTS START FLASHING & IT VIBRATES…GREAT FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN’T SEE, PEOPLE WHO CAN’T HEAR & PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO FEELINGS………..:))

AND YES THE BURGS & HAND CUT FRIES WERE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOKED

THIS MORNINGS ‘POINT & SHOOT’ SPIDER WEB

Karen over at RVING: THE USA IS OUR BIG BACKYARD has good post including pictures of how hubby Steve replaced a leaking gasket on their rear air conditioner.  For any do-it-your-selfers out there it's a good idea to keep an eye on this blog.  Steve is one of those fellows that does all his own work & he's one of those gifted guys who knows how to do things right when things need to be done right.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  This has to be one of the best singles ads ever printed. It appeared in The Atlanta Journal.
SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship,
ethnicity unimportant. I'm a very good looking girl
who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods,
riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and
fishing trips, cozy winter nights lying by the fire.
Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your
hand. I'll be at the front door when you get home
from work, wearing only what nature gave me.
Call (xxx) xxx-xxxx and ask for Daisy.
Over 15,000 men found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society about an 8-week old Black Labrador Retriever. 

TRAVEL ROUTE CHANGES, NEW DEPARTURE DATE, & I’M BACK ON TWITTER

Our threatening Monday night storm didn't amount to much except for a menacing yellow sky & maybe a half hour's rain.  A few dim lightning flashes & the occasional roll of distant thunder.  And that was it.  No power outage.

Today was a basic repeat of Monday so no point in trying to make something interesting out of nothing.  I basically picked up all of Monday's cuttings & loaded them into our utility trailer.  Cloudy morning sunny afternoon.

A few days ago we decided to resurrect our original Canadian travel plan route for heading south at the end of the month but we have made a few changes.  Several factors fed into our decision with the 182 days in the States being the main one.  We still plan to leave at the end of September but instead of heading in a south-westerly direction straight-away for the border at Sarnia/Port Huron we have decided to head North instead.  We will probably leave Bayfield sometime during the last week of September & it will be on a week day.  We have a boat to catch:))

Our plan is to leave Bayfield maybe around noon or early to mid afternoon on whatever day we decided to leave & head up through the Bruce Peninsula to the scenic little lakeside town of TOBERMORY.  We will ‘overnight’ in the parking lot adjacent to the loading ramp of the large lake ferry CHI-CHEEMAUN.  We have already called about that & they said 'unofficially' yes we can do that.  This will place us in line to board the ferry for it's departure at 8:30 the following morning.  It's a 2 hour crossing to MANITOULIN ISLAND & we're looking forward to just totally seeing & doing something new.  I did cross on the Chi-Cheemaun one time back in the late 70's but don't remember a lot about it.  Been a long time since Kelly & I have been on any kind of boat & we’re looking forward to standing on the forward deck with the wind in our hair marvelling at the Chi-Cheemaun cutting her way through the clear cold waters of Lake Huron’s picaresque Georgian Bay.  We may or may not spend a day on Manitoulin Island before crossing a bridge to the main land where we will join the Trans Canada highway at Espanola on our way up & over Lake Superior through Sault Ste Marie, Wawa, & Thunder Bay.  Been many years since I have traveled this stretch of highway on my treks back & forth to British Columbia in the early 70's. 

 
We actually have 2 destinations in mind before we cross the border into the States in Southern Saskatchewan sometime in early October.  First we are hoping to stop in WINKLER Manitoba.  Winkler is the home of TRIPLE E RV & we would just like to stop in & see the facilities where our Triple E Commander was made.  We might be interested in having them swap out our leather Flexsteel tub chair for a recliner while there if possible.  Maybe have them explain & show us a few things about the Big EEE’s electronics.  TV, DVD, etc.  Kelly phoned them today & yes we can have a factory tour.  They also suggested Winkler’s County Park as a place to stay for the night. 

Our second planned destination will be a special one for me.  We are heading for Dog River.  Dog River doesn’t really exist but it does live on in the minds of all of us who are fans of a Canadian TV half hour sit-com called Corner Gas.  I have been watching CORNER GAS for about 4 years now.  All re-runs of course but it is my favorite situation comedy of all time.  The show was in production from 2004 to 2009 & I have probably seen all the re-runs more than once.  I guess you could call me a true fan.  Each weekday whether we are in Congress Arizona or here in Bayfield Ontario I always make it a point to be kicked back & relaxed in my recliner when Corner Gas comes on which is generally afternoons.     The show is excellently written & in this day & age the humor is refreshingly simple.  I like my humor that way & it's why I always preferred Jay Leno to David Letterman.  Letterman's humor often left me sitting there scratching my head saying, what??  I always liked the old chestnuts like Cheers, Sanford & Son, Barney Miller. & Seinfeld plus a few more but it is the down home rustic hayseed humor of Corner Gas that really works for me best.  No matter how blue I may be feeling on any given day I know if I can catch a half hour of Corner Gas I have a guaranteed half hour of whimsical feeling good.

Corner Gas was filmed in the out of the way prairie town of ROULEAU (aka Dog River) Saskatchewan . Incidentally Corner Gas is the highest rated comedy program in Canadian television history. It was the most watched comedy series in the country with an average of 1.6 million viewers per episode.  The half-hour comedy centers around the fictional small town of Dog River, Saskatchewan, and the lives of Brent LeRoy, who runs the gas station; and Lacey Burrows, who owns the coffee shop as well as the zany & colorful characters Oscar & Emma Leroy, Hank, Wanda, Karen & Davis.  The show, a true Canadian icon was filmed in the tiny town of Rouleau Saskatchewan where the tallest thing on the horizon is it's local grain elevator.  Near that elevator is where the sets & props were built & still stand today.  When the series wrapped up production on September 20th 2008 the buildings were left standing but soon began falling into disrepair.  A private entrepreneur bought the property & set about to preserve the buildings.  So that is where we are headed because I want to see where all the segments were filmed.  Want to see the actual place that has brought me so much 'feeling good' over the years.  Want to see the gas bar where Brent pumped gas & the store where Hank & Wanda hung out.  Gotta see the eatery called the Ruby where Lacey dished out coffee & Chili Cheese Dogs to the likes of Brent, Oscar & Emma along with fumbling RCMP officers Karen & Davis plus other travelers who wandered or blundered their way into the Ruby.  Am really looking forward to visiting mythical Dog River & it's comical ghosts of the past & here's something I didn't know until I went to the Corner Gas website in search of some info.  Filming of Corner Gas 'THE MOVIE’ just wrapped up this past July.  The entire cast re-united for filming of the movie which will be in theaters this coming December.  Down side for me is that I would be very surprised if the Movie makes it into theaters down in Arizona.  I will probably have to wait a few months until it comes out in a DVD.  Anyway, that is one of the reasons for our route change & because we will be entering the States later than planned we should be able to get ourselves down to the 182 allowable days south of the border:))

Rouleau Saskatchewan is located about 40 miles south-west of Regina & approximately a hundred miles north of the border crossing at Regway Saskatchewan.  From the border we will drop south into Montana & head for Custer South Dakota & the BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK area where we will hang out for a bit before heading on down into south-eastern Utah.  No idea when & for how long we will be in any of the above mentioned areas.  We always prefer to keep our options open & of course everything is always subject to change here at the Bayfield Bunch at any time.  It’s just the way we like to do things………………..:))
 
Well I’m back on Twitter again.  I remember having a Twitter account years ago & I used to Tweet my posts in 2010/11 but have not done that since April of 2011.  Maybe I just got lost in the technology & social media mash or something but Kelly re-interested me again this afternoon & helped me re-fire up my long dormant Twitter account.  Of course I don’t really understand how or why Twitter works or what benefit it would be to me but I’ll try to gather enough patience & interest together once more & see if I can make some sense of it all.  
 
GROANER'S CORNER:((  Although a bright and able man, my husband is almost completely helpless when faced with even the simplest domestic chore.  One day, in exasperation, I pointed out to him that our friend, Betty, had taught her husband Frank to cook, sew and do laundry, and that if anything ever happened to Betty, Frank would be able to care for himself.  Then I said, "What would you do if anything happened to me?"  After considering that possibility for a moment, my husband said happily, "I'd move in with Frank."
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One day my housework-challenged husband decided to wash his sweatshirt.  Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to me, "What setting do I use on the washing machine?"  "It depends," I replied. "What does it say on your shirt?"  He yelled back, "University of Oklahoma."

HARDEST PART OF TODAY WAS THINKING OF A POST TITLE TONIGHT

First thing we did this morning was kick on the A/C & that pretty much set the day’s pace.  Kelly headed over to Deer Park Lodge about 10 & I surprised myself by getting into some hot weather yard work.  Could only stay outside about 20 minutes at a time before having to retreat into the house to cool off.  Was able to get some serious shrub trimming done in the front yard.  Cut down all the Bamboo grass.  That will save me a messy clean-up in the Spring.  By noon the humidity was too much & that was the end of my outside activities.  Grabbed a shower & settled into my recliner.  Found a couple documentaries on Netflix.  A great one about the early folk music scene in Greenwich Village, New York City & another informative one about legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix.  We have severe thunderstorm warnings right now & I can see a fast moving line of weather on our computer’s radar coming across the lake.  ‘Wow’ our sky has the weirdest color. Time to go before we lose our power……………………………..

GROANER'S CORNER:((    Dear Sir; To tell the weather, go to your back door and look for the dog. If the dog is at the door and he is wet, it's probably raining. But if the dog is standing there really soaking wet, it is probably raining really hard.  If the dog's fur looks like it's been rubbed the wrong way, it's probably windy.  If the dog has snow on his back, it's probably snowing.  Of course, to be able to tell the weather like this, you have to leave the dog outside all the time, especially if you expect bad weather............ Sincerely, The CAT

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"Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant."