July 23: Thunder Bay, Ontario

After a leisurely breakfast, we set out to explore Thunder Bay, Ontario, one of the largest port cities on Lake Superior and the largest grain port in all of Canada! I opted for a tour through the city, followed by a lovely walk in a Boreal (aka Northern) forest. A local forester provided insight on the various trees, primarily tamarack, spruce, pines and cedars. We learned that the cedars in many areas are bare up to 8 feet off the ground because of the white tailed deer munching on them. As the snowbanks get higher in winter, the deer can reach higher and higher on the cedar trees! Afterwards we stopped at the Thunder Bay area Fire Protection Headquarters, run by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. There we toured a large yellow plane, specially designed in Montreal to allow the pilots to dip water from local lakes to fill tanks on the plane (more than 1,800 gallons!) for fire dousing. This is one of only four such planes in Canada, which cost more than $30 million each. Our driving tour also pointed out Little Finland in the old section of Thunder Bay, which includes stores and community centers for the city’s Finnish population, which at one point was the largest in Canada. Being Finnish myself, I felt right at home here! Lunch was back on the ship, followed by my last lecture on “Navigating and Fishing on the Great Lakes.” Then we were off to the final reception with Captain Uli and our farewell dinner. At the reception, we were treated to a slideshow of memories from the trip, a compilation of photos taken by the tour managers and guests. It was lovely. And dinner was extravagant: oysters, salad, lobster and baked Alaska!! I sat next to a charming 93-year-lady woman who had more energy and zest for life than most 40-somethings that I know! She was a former computer programmer for an aeronautics company, retired for close to 30 years, and had traveled all over the world. She reminded me that life is sweet at any age and the best may be yet to come. We are now sailing to Duluth, our final port of call.