Dinner at the Grand Hotel

In addition to the great food at this place, there seems to be a fudge shop on every corner. This was in the dining room of the Grand Hotel. Dresses only for the ladies and coats and ties for the men. The Admiral likes that.

Honeymoon Redux

43 years ago my bride and I had our picture taken in this same spot - The Grand Hotel front porch on Mackinac Island. This was our first time back since then. We were on our honeymoon having just traveled up from Flint, Michigan where Dad Frick pastored at the time. Today, the place is more beautiful than ever.

We are Back in the USA!

We really enjoyed our six week Canadian adventure. But we are so glad to be back in the good old USA. The weather these last two days have been great! A little on the cool side, but clear and no wind, which is good for boating in wide open Lake Huron as we approached the Mackinac Bridge. Tonight we are in St. Ignace, Michigan and tomorrow we head for two days at Mackinac Island. The picture is of the Grand Hotel we passed today.

Sunset in the North Channel, Ontario

Johns Island anchorage

The North Channel is much more remote than we have been so far. Here we are at anchor behind Johns Island to get maximum protection from the windy conditions. Also, at this place we took the dinghy up close to the huge rock formations extending from the shoreline.

The next morning we decided to head for Thessalon. But after about 30 minutes of beam seas and a storm warning ahead, we decided to turn back. We learned our lesson from last month trying to tough it out going across Lake Ontario. So back to Johns Island.

Then, here came the storm. My anchor wasn't set well enough for 50-60 mile an hour winds so we broke loose and were heading for the rocks. I fired up the engines in a hurry to keep us off the rocks. Then, a nearby sailboat was swinging toward us as the wind direction changed, almost pinning us between the shoreline and the other sailboat. Fortunately, I was able to power us away from the other boat in time to avoid a big collision. But my second anchor was just clipped by the other sailboat's stayline, knocking it into the water. My main anchor was already in the water. So here we were with high winds and a driving rain and two anchors in the water between the rocky shoreline and another boat. Sound like fun? The admiral must have thought so because she was taking pictures of the calamity in progress. The winds began to subside as soon as they came so we were able to recoil both anchors and re-anchor.

Lesson Learned: Make certain anchor is very well set. I should have known of the possibility of wind shifts and the potential of the approaching storm. Also, allow for the swing of other boats.

This Just In

A fellow Looper took our picture as we were in one of those locks on the Trent Severn Waterway where the boat is actually floating in a "bathtub" which is supported on a 7 foot thick hydraulic piston and lowered to the waterway below, about 60 feet. We just got the picture today.

Into the North Channel

I know that looks like snow, but it is actually granite! We are on our way to a popular spot known as Bay Fine between Killarney and Little Current.
The Admiral was watching for rocks as we headed up to the "pool" at the very end of Bay Fine. The water is so clear you can see down to the bottom for at least 20 feet. What we usually see when it's this shallow are huge boulders.
Here we are in Killarney. How about that sign for building your appetite. We rarely pass the ice cream stands.
This is not exactly a Discovery Channel prospect for The Deadliest Catch, but this fishing boat goes out in the bay every day to bring in a large supply of Whitefish for hungry customers.
The fish are caught and delivered to the other side of this bus (converted into a fish and chips stand). Then they are cleaned for cooking about 1 hour later. It doesn't get any fresher than that.

Georgian Bay - Part II

Sure glad we decided to take the small craft channel up the north shore of Georgian Bay. The scenery is spectacular, somewhat like Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area, but on a much larger scale.

Woke up this morning to a cool 10 degrees. Not Farenheit, but Celsius. That translates into about 50 degrees Farenheit. So the Unabomber (AKA Admiral/first mate/Marlene) donned everything she had that was warm for this cold snap. But the weather looks great for the next few days as we plan to be Killarney tomorrow sometime.

Back on our Trip!

We left the boat for a week at Penetanguishene, Ontario while away for Trent's funeral. The people at Bay Moorings Marina were so good to us. I think we got charged about half the normal rate. Anyway, we left Saturday morning for Georgian Bay, planning to cross a big part of it. But the winds were up. So we decided to anchor out in a cove before tackling the Bay the next morning. Last night, while watching the Olympics (and 8th gold medal award to Mark Phelps), we had a change of heart on the route to take. So instead of "sprinting" across Georgian Bay in two big chunks, we decided to take the channel up the northern perimeter. That picture above was our welcome to the channel.

A few miles down the "road" was this fish restaurant called Henry's. Great fried fresh (pickeral) fish! It must be pretty popular because there were about 4 seaplanes docked there as well.

Everywhere you look in this area could easily be suitable for a postcard picture.

Tonight, we are at a marina in Parry Sound. I think it's the last time we'll have internet access for a few days since the next town is Killarney at the beginning of the North Channel.

Trenton Robert Frick: Nov. 7, 1973 to August 9, 2008

This blog is about our journey, yes. But it's also about how our lives are impacted during it. So it is with great sadness that we report that our nephew passed from this earth to Heaven this morning. Here are some of my thoughts at this time

Life doesn’t stack up to my perception of fair. If it did, Trent would still be here and I would be gone. A lot of us are asking the question right now, why am I still here? If a guy so energetic for the Lord and his vocation can be taken out of the picture, what did God have in mind? Is this some type of cruel joke?

Let me be quick to say the answer is no. Rather, we live life in these earthly bodies which are subject to all of the diseases which entered the human race with the Fall of man. Some of us have been fortunate to miss the onslaught of dread diseases like cancer. Some of us got it and are doing everything possible to keep ahead of it. The reality of it is that no one is immune. And yes, God can heal people from their diseases and has. And I will be talking to God about Trent when I get to Heaven- because this is a hard one for me. But this I know: Trent fulfilled his calling with excellence and is in Heaven with his Maker. You can know that for certain!

When the news came to me about 4 years ago that Trent had been diagnosed, I called him so we could have lunch. We ate at a TGIFridays in the Block E development in downtown Minneapolis. The news was a shock, and we all didn’t want to accept the fact that something like this was intruding into the life of a man with so much going for him.

Trent was an architect and a very good one. He had both undergraduate and graduate degrees in his field from the University of Minnesota. I remember when he took an interest in architectural things early on. And, as it turned out, I was able to get him a position at one of my clients, Ellerbe Becket. This was by far the largest architectural engineering firm in the Midwest and ranked about 8th nationally. He went on to become a staff architect and was granted access to some of the most prominent opportunities in the world, including the early developments in Dubai, which as you know will have the world’s tallest building this year. Trent went on to pursue his interests in an area not a strength of Ellerbe – that of libraries and churches. He spent a lot of time in Europe expressly to visit some of the great churches and libraries there. And on that topic, he wrote a letter to the editor of the Star Tribune about the selection of the architect of the new Main Library in downtown Minneapolis. He had visions for that library which far exceeded the City Council’s own vision. Seems they selected a firm he felt wasn’t up to the potential of a great city like Minneapolis.

Another conversation I had with him several years ago was on the topic of city design and how the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul came into being. His view of things like this was way beyond me but I was so impressed with his excitement about his work.

One structure I visited that Trent played a major role in is the school and community center near 50th and Minnehaha in Minneapolis. He was especially proud of that building as I recall.

So not only was Trent a model for others to follow as a follower of Christ, but his work ethic and expertise in his chosen field were of top caliber as well. His devotion to Cathy, his bride of 5 years was also a model of how a husband can and should be. Trent loved his parents dearly. They were so pleased with him in so many ways. Trent had one brother Todd. In an email he just sent to me, Todd said:

“Trent was an amazing brother. I had the chance to write a personal note a couple weeks ago letting him know what he meant to me. How I admired him and loved him. I know we all did.”

Trent’s life was a life of excellence for the Lord, excellence as a husband, excellence as a family member and excellence in his work.

So this is a challenge to all of us, no matter where we may be in our stage of life. My message to you is this: Be excellent for Trent. Let the spirit of this Godly man who showed us how to live life become a part of us. He didn’t get to finish what he planned on this earth. I can only imagine what God will have him doing in the New Earth. Trent’s memory can live on through each of us in our lives. In our work, in our family, in our dedication to the Lord. Be excellent for Trent.

With that, we are now on our way to Denver to be with Trent's wife and family. Will talk again in a few days.

The last Leg of the Trent-Severn - Some Pictures

Looking back at where we just came out of the lock. The current is swift here, partly because of the rain.

One of many little cottages along the Waterway.

OK, here comes the excitement as we prepare to take the boat out of the water and into the "rail car" which carries us, boat and all down the hill. I wouldn't have believed it until I saw it.

The Joy @ Sea is held in an upright position by those two huge straps which span from the railings, under the boat and to the railings on the other side. The keel is resting on the bottom of the rail car. The props and shaft are hanging over the back side, but would have been OK anyway since the keel is lower than them both.

There is the admiral looking at me as the car is slowly descending the hill with the boat and us in it.
Here is one of the larger locks with the lockmaster opening it's downstream gate.

Into Georgian Bay!

We made it fine throught the remainder of the Trent-Severn Waterway and into Georgian Bay. In all, over the last month and a half, we have gone from the Hudson River and then up through the Erie canal, across Lake Ontario, then through the Trent-Severn. There were 82 locks! the Admiral and I were very busy over this period. Now we head for the North Channel which is a safer route than going out into Lake Huron to get to Mackinac Island.

We have pictures, maybe I'll get them to download at a faster wifi connection soon.

Last night we docked at Pentaguishene, Ont. where they actually have a place for people who are traveling the Loop!

As we left lake Simcoe, the terrain changed to pristine collections of granite rock formations, many of them with little cabins on them.

The most spectacular part of the Trent-Severn for us was the Big Chute Railway boat conveyor. If you can imagine this, we pulled our boat into a garage-like steel framed structure on rails. Huge straps on both sides of our boat began to lift it out of the water. Then the structure itself began to move slowly out of the water, taking us with it. These straps on each side of our boat kept us perfectly stable as we were carried over a hill and down about 65 feet into the waterway on the other side. It is an amazing tribute to Canadian engineering. Marlene was totally calm the whole time, actually relished the experience. Then I remembered she jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 13,000 feet about 5 years ago.

A Three Day Weekend for Canadians....

...meant that we decided to stay put in the LeFroy Harbor for a few days. Had we ventured out on the Trent-Severn Waterway on Saturday we would have likely run into a lot of boat traffic which may have caused several hours of delays at the locks. So we are now on schedule to leave Tuesday morning for Georgian Bay. Staying here also gives us full internet access so we can keep checking on Trent's progress, which is still guarded. He has not awakened fully since his surgery last Tuesday. Thanks for praying!