DAVE BERNHEISEL

Aboard the Going There in Campbellford, Ontario

Hi John,

(7.11) We are taking our lay day in Campbellford. We had some tasks to do on Going There, but I frittered the day instead.

Campbellford is a real town with real people and a lot of charm to boot. It is a town of about 5000 that thrived as a mill town (wool) because they had all of the water power. It obviously used to be prosperous, judging by the nice old houses which are most interesting.

A lot of the houses are brick with unusual arch treatments above the windows. Some have a slight curve, others more up to half round, and some even have a gothic arch (I'm showing my architectural ignorance -- I mean an arch that comes to a steep point at the top).

When combined with fancy brick work around the window, each is a unique work of art. Despite not being up on the names of the architectural styles, we enjoyed walking around and looking at them.

The mill is long gone, but the town continues to thrive. They have capitalized on their location on the waterway to build a tourist trade, plus there must be other sources of income. So, what we see is a vibrant downtown with stores that mostly cater to the local population, including an excellent bakery.

One old business that is still here is a chocolate factory. Attached to the factory is the outlet store which has products ranging from fancy gift packs to big barrels with bulk product. For $1 (Canadian) you can get a five pound bag of broken cookies. All of the prices were definitely factory, 'move em out' inspired -- a terrible place for a chocoholic.

Periodically, a town just strikes a chord with you...Campbellford did it for us.

(7/12) We left Campbellford this morning on our way to our current home, Hastings. The first stop on the way out of town was for diesel fuel. Campbellford has a reputation as having the cheapest boat fuel in this part of Canada. This is done by two regular gas stations on the canal that just run a long hose out to the boats and charge car prices. When we got fuel in Ottawa it was $.79/liter, and in Campbellford we paid $.59/liter. Twenty cents a liter adds up when you get 250 liters.

The run to Hastings was easy, six locks and about twenty miles. The farther we get into the Trent-Severn, the prettier the scenery gets. Hastings has plans to spruce up the waterfront in a manner similar to that in Campbellford. We hope they can make it, but they have a long way to go.

Hope all is well on the home front.

Dave & Mary