Pap Becomes a Tripod

(2024 Heartland Ep 8)

Our earlier overnight stops along Lake Superior provincial parks were at Sleeping Giant, where we attempted a challenging hike to the top of the giant and learned about a silver mine on a tiny island in the lake.  At Rainbow Falls, we viewed a nice waterfall and hiked several short trails to nice vistas above the lake.

A Superior POW Camp

Our travels continued eastward to Neys Provincial Park, midway across the top of Lake Superior. Much of the park is at lake level with scenic sandy beaches and a rocky shoreline.

We learned Neys was the site of a prisoner of war camp during WWII – one of 26 POW camps in Canada during the war.  The first POWs were German Officers transferred from Britain starting in January 1941.  Captured enemy merchant seamen were at the camp from November 1941 to December 1943, and high-level Nazi sympathizers were there thru the end of war.

A fourth group of Japanese Canadians were housed at the camp after the war as they were repatriated into Canadian communities. 

^{A park ranger tells us about the WWII POW Camp at Neys; metal pieces from a water tower are what little remains of the camp}

A park ranger led us on a short hike where she told us about the camp and pointed out the locations of buildings and other camp facilities.  Camp buildings were removed after the camp closed in 1946 and, except for displays and artifacts at the visitor center, there are few remains that reflect the unique history of the park.

Winnie-the Pooh and Ed Too

At White River, a small town on the Lake Superior north shore drive, we visited a larger-than-life monument to Winnie-the-Pooh.

In 1914 an army lieutenant on his way overseas purchased a small back bear and named it after Winnipeg, his hometown. He left Winnie at the London Zoo during WWI, and the beloved bear became the basis for the Winnie-the-Pooh story by A.A. Milne in 1926.

Pukaskwa National Park

We spent two nights at Pukaskwa National Park where we hiked two challenging (and shorter) trails that climbed to amazing views of Lake Superior.   We were reminded of some of the beautiful coastline and islands in Maine and Newfoundland and kept expecting to see whales breeching.  There are no whales in the fresh water of Lake Superior we reminded ourselves!

In case you were wondering, Pukaskwa is pronounced like Arkansas (e,g, puck-a-shaw).

^{We often stopped at Tim Hortons for coffee and donuts; Ed was perplexed by the reminder ‘Always Fresh’ above a men’s room urinal at one location}

Pap Becomes a Tripod

Shortly after leaving Pukaskwa we heard something dragging under the truck.  We quickly stopped and found the rear driver side camper jack leg dragging on the road.  The jack motor was continuing to operate, pushing the rear end of the camper and truck higher and higher.  I scrambled to cut the power to the jack.  

The jack leg was bent and could not be retracted. It took several minutes to figure out how to remove the jack from the side of Pap.  

Camper jack control box – the loose power connector was at the bottom left (+12 VDC); the power connector was snipped when installed

The cause:  the ‘hot’ wire on the box that controls the camper jacks slipped off a loose screw and directly contacted the connector for the rear driver side jack. 

We are thankful the only apparent damage was to the jack itself.  And we praise God for His protection because had we been going at regular speed the entire back corner of the camper could have been ripped off!

A new camper leg is waiting for us at home.  This will be Pap’s second leg replacement.    :>(           

Next Week

Colored eggs, footballs and an impressive collection of flying things.