Days 98...Poonamalie Lock to Smiths Falls, Ontario

THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2012

     We woke up at our regular time and waited to go through the lock by talking to a kayaker who had paddled to the lock from a couple of miles before the lock.  He makes the trip to Poonamalie, rests for a while and then paddles back.  We waited to lock through with a boat that had moored on the wall across the canal from us.  We had talked to them but really hadn’t gotten their names.  They wanted to leave at 9:00 a.m. so we said we’d go then too so the lock people wouldn’t have to open twice. Did I tell you that the locks in Canada open at 8:30 a.m. instead of 7:00 a.m. like the ones in the Erie Canal? We knew that their boat was faster so we told them to go ahead.  We were out of Poonamalie Lock (Lock 32 down 6 feet) following VOYAGEUR by 9:15 a.m.

     The water was pretty shallow at first.  We were almost scraping bottom.  There were cattails and grasses blowing in the breeze on either side of the river.

     By the time we got started it was almost time to stop.  VOYAGEUR and TRAVELLER pulled up to the blue line at the first Smith Falls Lock.  Lock 31 and the Abbott Street Swing Bridge that operates in conjunction with it opens only 4 times before 1:00 p.m. because of the amount of traffic in town.  We were very lucky, there were boats coming the other way so we were able to get in the lock almost immediately. We locked through Smith Falls Lock (Lock 31 down 8 feet) with Ron and Kathy for the last time since we would be stopping at the wall on the port side and they would be going on.

      We stopped as planned at Smith Falls.  Smith Falls is a busy, sorta big small town (not quite a city) named after the original owner of the land, Thomas Smyth and the once magnificent falls that were diverted on order to create the Rideau Canal and the three lock stations. 

     The closest thing to a waterfall we saw was the runoff from the dam and the pictures on top of the water tower and on the sign for the park.  It is the biggest town between Kingston and Ottawa.

     We stopped at the wall right by the fountains in Centennial Park.  We had traveled a whopping 2 miles in 31 minutes.  Remember the time is moving time and doesn’t count the time in the locks or waiting for locks while the motor is turned off.  We have now traveled 1797 miles total.  We should break 1800 miles tomorrow.

     We walked by the old Locks 28, 29 and 30 that were replaced by our next Smith Falls Lock 29A on the way to see if we could find the grocery store.  The old locks are still there to see but now have barrels of flowers in them instead of boats traveling through them.

     We did find a pretty big grocery store, a Wal-Mart, a McDonalds, a Dairy Queen and other recognizable stores.

     We did not want to come to Canada and eat at an American restaurant so we found the ROOSTERAUNT (instead of restaurant, Get it.).  

     The first thing you notice by the road is a huge, 5-foot tall hard plastic rooster.  

     The décor was everything about chickens from the hen on the ladies’ restroom door and rooster on the men’s door to the statues on the fireplace to the art on the walls.  

     The waitress was very nice.  We’ve noticed at the smaller restaurants they usually keep the ticket and you go to the cash register to pay.  We just usually watch what others in the restaurant do.

     On the way back to the boat, we walked on the other side of the canal. I took a picture of the canal looking toward our boat from the bridge by Lock 31.  We walked back through Murphy Park where families were picnicking and swimming in the water of the Rideau Canal.

     Just before we made it back to the boat we found ourselves in Centennial/ Confederation Park. With its fountains and 100,000 blooms.  I took a few pictures of the flowers.  Look at the gray ones in the first flower picture and see if you can see the numbers 2012. 

     When we got back to the boat we noticed that there was a lot of people and movement across the street from the boat.  We found out that from June 28^th until August 30^th the town was showing Movies under the Stars every Thursday night at dusk.  The movies are free, but they sell refreshments and have raffles to raise money for different charities.  We saw them blowing up an inflatable movie screen. 

     They closed the street and between 200-300 people enjoyed the movie. Gary went to the movie about whales trapped under the ice called Miracle. I went to sleep.  Before I did I took a picture of the movie from the boat.  This seems like a good idea for a fundraiser.