Heather and Barry's Homepage

Breakfast took place back at The Misty Dog where I ordered a fried egg sandwich with sweet potato fries. Barry decided lunch was in order and purchased 10 Buffalo wings. The meals were as scrumptious as last night’s dinner, but - as always - nothing beats dessert. Owned by the same people who own The Misty Dog, the Twist of the Mist ice cream stand had just what I wanted: a baby-sized soft-serve vanilla/chocolate twist with rainbow sprinkles.* Barry ordered the same less the sprinkles, and we soon thereafter got into the car to cross the border between the USA and Canada via the Rainbow Bridge, which was literally right across the street.

The entire day was spent driving. It was a good travel day in the sense that it was raining on and off, meaning that any activity that we might want to do other than drive would be thwarted. Sprinkles of water continued until we reached Sudbury, Ontario. The drops let up then, opening the skies to gorgeous pink and orange hues. The lack of rain made my determination to drive as much as possible in the next two days solidify so that we would have a day to play before visiting my aunt and uncle in Minnesota. Barry agreed with this idea, and we made our way Southwest along route 17 to Spanish, Ontario.

Here, we stopped at a campsite just off the road (thanks Streets and Trips) called Mitchell’s Campground. Our home for the evening was a small marina right along the Spanish River. When we got out of the car, this pleasant retired woman greeted us. She welcomed us to Mitchell’s, gave us the scoop about checking in and setting up camp, and told me to let her know if we needed anything else. I thanked her and grabbed my camera, quick to get the setting sun on the river and its surroundings. As I snapped away, Barry went to check in and then chatted a bit more with the woman who greeted us and her husband. They told him that they live ~18 miles up the river but come to Mitchell’s every year from May to September to fish, as the fish are much better here. Doing all of this without setting up camp before sunset was a BIG MISTAKE. No sooner than the sun had snuck away did the killer blood-sucking, ear-buzzing, drive-us-out-of-our f*$%ing-minds Mosquitoes arrive. We rushed to put on our bug nets and cover ourselves in our nature-friendly bug repellant, but to no avail. Sorry, Rachel, but Green Ban had zero affect on these suckers from devouring our sweet human flesh and blood. And I mean zero, zilch, nada, none. You get the picture. :)

Barry, despite the minor panic attack he was having at being eaten alive, walked across the grounds (a mere 100 feet), took the friendly couple up on their offer of asking if we needed anything and asked them if they had any “real” bug spray (a.k.a. deet). Not only did they (1) provide him with a can of 25% deet “Back-Country Off”, they also gave him (2) of this coily-type device that, when lit on fire, smolders and produces a smoke that kills the evil blood-hungry ‘skeeters, and (3) friendly advice from people who knew about setting up camp right before sunset - as in DON’T DO IT. The best chances of becoming corpses and having Gil Grissom come to do an investigation is about ten minutes before the sun completely sets through about thirty minutes after dark. While it would be awesome to be on a CSI show, Barry and I would much rather be alive and part of the research than the actual specimens.

Barely surviving, we drenched ourselves in Off and became much happier. After calming down a bit, Barry cooked us dinner while I finished setting up the house (what we affectionately call our tent given that, other than the car, it is where we spend a third or so of each day). He started burning the bug-killing coil - which was very effective, by the way - and threw together some veggie chili on Ramen noodles. We ate our dinner happily without being eaten ourselves then celebrated by cleaning up and getting ready for bed.

• While waiting for dinner the night before, Barry read an article from the local newspaper that there were some objections to a building looking like an ice cream cone being built. Friends of the Ozsark (?) “Something Something” Conservation Group felt that it was visually inappropriate and would mar the visual appeal of Niagara Falls Park. [As if the town weren’t entire a pit anyway. –Barry]. In the end, the town voted for the construction of the building and the Twist of the Mist Ice Cream store is living and happening from then until today.