Canada Day with Vampire Flys -Ontario

We took a weekend jaunt to Canada and arrived on what we discovered was "Canada Day." As an ignorant American, I was both ashamed and delighted to discover such a day existed. We were a little worried the border patrol would not let us in when they flagged is into the office for additional questioning. Funny thing, despite all the media stuff, it was easier getting back into the US than into Canada. Made us wonder if Canadians were trying to keep the Americans out.
The border agent exchanged stories with us about home town hockey players that were playing for the professional league in our local city.  Our welcome in Canada was turning out ok afterall.

While visiting Thunder Bay, Ontario we decided that our adventure would be amethyst mining. We found a mine on Tripdadvisor where we could search for amethyst and take home a bucketful for $10.  When we got to the area, we saw several signs for mines, but none for the one we wanted, so we followed the signs. We ended up at a mine where we got a guided tour and then headed out to find our amethyst that was strewn in what looked like piles of white and purple rubble.  We found our selections, washed them off at the wash tables, then took them to the clerk. this is where I realized my mistake. I love sparkles. I loved my selections of amethyst and quartz, but at $3/pound, that price really adds up for large rocks. When the clerk told me my total I was stunned. This was not the $10 cheap day of fun we had planned.  The Canadians were savvy salespeople though and quickly chimed in about the great exchange rate for American dollars right now. There was a line behind me. Too late to go back. I handed over my credit card wincing.

We left the mine with our boxes of rocks and what surely was a giggling shopkeeper. As we drove down the road I spotted a small sign on the side of the road for the Blue Point Amethyst Mine, the one we had originally planned to visit. I talked my fellow roadwarrior into driving in, despite his looks suggesting I was crazy.  

We followed a beautiful scenic dirt path through the woods surrounded by wildflowers to the mine. There we met a quiet little old man, the cartetaker of the mine with an accent that kinda reminded me of a leprechaun who approached me with a bucket. he told me about the wildflowers and the mine and showed us a table of his gorgeous finds. We were sold. We grabbed our buckets and headed in. The amethyst we found here was different, more on slabs than small rocks, but some of the geode quality. Again, we climbed through piled of rubble...well, more accurately I climbed through piles of rubble seeking my treasures while Chris looked at me annoyingly as he swatted away the giant vampire flys that were ripping our flesh causing blood to streak from our ears, eyes, scalp, and cheeks...no exaggeration. These suckers didn't even care about the deet bug spray, they just wanted to feast on our flesh. Not knowing what these bugs were, and starting to fear that they were laying eggs under our flesh, we took our buckets and cashed out with the caretaker.  I attempted to take photos of us on the way out, but kept getting swarmed by the vampire flies and started running around like a cartoon character when a swarm of bees attacks them.  

We spent the night in the local Strathcona motel that the owners literally flagged us down on the street to stay in. He gave us the tour of the 60s retro style motel room that was upgraded to be a "green" motel. It had wifi. The owners were friendly. It was a unique experience. We went for it.  

We ate ate the local La Poutine cafe and I had my first taste of poutine and the owners homemade dessert...which was basically fudge so it was awesome. Next we hit up the local market to stock up on Canadian candy bars. Then we drove around the city listening to the local radio programming, which was pretty awesome. I attempted to take some photos of nature and ended up with a tick on my leg after stepping into the grass for 1 minute. 

The next day we headed to see some natural beauty and took in the falls.  We could feel the mist on our face and hear the roar of the water. Nice to see the splendor.

​The takeaway: Canada has some wonderful natural beauty, but you need some industrial strength bug spray to visit.

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