For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Hello on this rather cool January day! Actually it’s a cold day. But that’s okay since we are on the inside enjoying some nice hot chocolate. The “we” being Muffin and I, however, she is not enjoying the hot chocolate, she doesn’t even like the smell of it. But before I get carried away on that, I just want to apologize for not getting this out earlier today as I was planning, but I was having problems with my laptop and lost what I was doing and ended with my laptop deciding to take a break. Sigh. But all is working okay now, so, let’s begins the tour of our town. However, before we get started on the town itself, we should take a look at our big lake. Why? Because that is probably the main reason this town got started here at this location.
This lake has been a major source for travel for thousands of years. The first European to come to this lake was the French explorer Jacques de Noyon in 1688. Lake of the Woods (our lake) has been a major fur trading route and also for lumber and gold mining. There were many gold mines in the area from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Unfortunately most of the gold was shallow so many of the mines did not operate for very long.
Lake of the Woods is located partly in the United States in the state of Minnesota and partly in our neighbor province of Manitoba, but mostly here in Ontario. A Hudson Bay fort, and fur trading post, was built nearby on Old Fort Island back in 1836. The island was actually located in the Winnipeg River. This was the first known European structure built in this area. In 1861 the post was moved to the mainland and the town of Rat Portage grew up around it. The post became a general store and was closed eventually in 1918.
The length of Lake of the Woods is about 68 miles (109 km), the maximum width about 59 miles (95 km). The lake covers 1,679 square miles (4, 350 square km). It’s a fairly shallow lake with a maximum depth of 210 feet (64 meters). The shore length, not counting islands is about 25,000 miles (40,000 km) and including the islands would be about 65,000 miles (105,000 km). There is 14,532 islands in the lake, mostly in the northern half of the lake. The southern portion of the lake is low, and sandy while the northern portion is carved out of granite rock.
Originally the name of our town was Rat Portage due to the abundance of muskrats in the area. Muskrats are not rats but are a semi aquatic mammal that looks like a small beaver. However, the name was changed to Kenora in the early 1900s. The name Kenora was made by taking two letters from each of the 3 communities in the area, “ke” came from Keewatin, “no” came from Norman, and “ra” from Rat Portage.
All three communities are side by side along the northern edge of Lake of the Woods and are now incorporated into the city of Kenora. Although large enough to be a small city by government standards, it really isn’t much more than an average size town. The population is less than 15,000 year round residents and getting less each year. But in summer the population swells to around 40,000 due to all the tourists that have cottages in the area. However, the town is not built for such a large population so summer traffic can be terrible and parking is even worse.
Well, this is our initial look at our town but there will be more coming up so I hope you will be back to join us in this little tour of our beautiful town. We have already seen most of the parks in the area during our “coffee” series last summer so we won’t be revisiting those. But there is still a lot to see here which I will be sharing twice a week. Part 2 will be ready on Thursday. Until then, I hope you all enjoy your day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2020 Steve McLeod.
Very cool!
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Thank you Lydia!😁😸⛵
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You’re welcome!
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😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
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Thank you for sharing these pics…nice to have a cottage out there…oh, well, I can dream about it !
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I like to dream too. Thanks for stopping by!😃😺
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That’s very interesting! The boat houses are really cool.
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Thanks Michelle! There are some amazing boathouses on the lake with a “guest cottage” on top that is bigger and nicer than many homes. A lot of them are actually rented out in summer. Thanks for reading Michelle, enjoy your day!😁😸⛄🌲
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Super !
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Thank you very much Outosego!😁😸⛄⛵
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You don’t have to ! You’re most welcome, though !
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😃😺🌞⛄
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Shared : https://twitter.com/outosego/status/1214776291427278848
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Thanks so much!!😀😺⛄
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Steve thank you for sharing your part of the world. It looks beautiful. I am sure it is pretty even though it is cold. Stay warm!
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Thanks for reading! I’m glad you enjoyed this first part. It is beautiful here, especially in summer. Muffin and I are trying to stay warm, it has gotten rather cold again, but not as bad as it could be.😃😺⛄🌲
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Steve, you are welcome! I do understand the cold and staying warm. It is -36 F and -38 C here in interior Alaska. It is beautiful but chilly. Stay warm!
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You’re a bit colder than us but we’re heading in that direction, -30C this morning.
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Yes, stay warm!
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I also really like this series. I will follow it with interest! Good job, Steve!👏😉
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Thank you so much Ross! Glad you liked it! Hope you have a great day!😁😸⛄🌲
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What a charming little town, Steve. Thank you for sharing your info and pictures. 😺☕️☕️
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Thanks for taking a look Eugenia! There’s more to come tomorrow!😁😸⛄☕
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Yes, and guess whose birthday is getting closer! 😸
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Yep, she’s counting the hours.😹😹🥳
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Super AMAZING!! I love that cottage!
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Thanks! There are many amazing cottages on this lake. Have a wonderful day!
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your welcome and I hope i have a wonderful day!!!
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😃😺⛄🌲
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Very nice tour Steve! I had a family member that used to live in Kenora up until 2005 I believe. He made good use of the fishing on the lake!
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Hi Dusty, thanks so much! It is good fishing on this lake that’s for sure. I see you changed your pic.😃😺
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Yep! I did it this morning! It was a path I walked when I was in TX! It was a beautiful walk next to a wildlife area. I changed it to remind myself of the path I started down last year, and how it isn’t finished yet… Thanks for noticing!😢
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I’m finally back again. Are you supposed to get any snow tonight?
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Dont think so.. supposed to warm up tomorrow into the 30’s then back down into the teens for high temperatures
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Wow, you’re missing this one. Our turn to get snow.😜🌨☃😛
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Yeah only 40% chance tomorrow
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That’s good, you need a break. I think.🤔 There I go again.🤯🙄
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Easy does it!!😂
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You’re right, it’s easy, too easy. Sigh.🙄🙄
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That’s why im always in trouble!
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And here I thought it was only me.
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I wish it were only you too!! Sorry🙄
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Hey now! And after all the nice things I could have done for you!🤔🤪😜
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I said I was sorry!!😟😟
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Didn’t sound too convincing. Sigh. You sure you’re not getting snow?🤔🤪
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Not really!! It’s cold out there! I don’t want look!🥺🥺😬😬
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It’s warmed up here, only 0 now, but feels like -20 with the wind. Still, better than this afternoon.
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Yeah, yesterday the temp dropped more than 10 degrees in less than an hour between 4:30 and 5:30 pm
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Yep, same here, only just a bit earlier. Last night the place was banging and popping soooo loud!
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Yesh I read that in your post! That must be a shock when you here those trees start freezing and popping? I’ve never heard them do that! You know that relative I mentioned that lived in Kenora died on LOTW. He went ice fishing in the spring one evening and on his way back home his three wheeler broke through the ice. He was in his late 70’s so he wouldn’t have bèen able to drag himself out of the water. Sorry got going there.. didn’t mean to get so somber..
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Yep, nearly every year someone drowns going through the ice out here, especially towards spring. People think the ice is still good, but it isn’t. And this year the ice is very poor and will be that way all winter due to the water level going up and down. Lots of water and slush showing up now even in this cold weather because they have shut the dam some more raising the water level.
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Do thry ever restrict movement on the ice in these types of years?
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Nope, but they do give out lots of warnings, including signs. If someone does go through the ice in spring then they close all the ice roads. No matter what, there are signs that say use at your own risk. Insurance won’t pay if you go through the ice. Some people have lost their cars, though they managed to get out. It’s bad up this way due to the strong current, so many places have bad ice no matter how cold it gets.
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Yeah, I’ve never understood why some never heed the warnings!
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Like last summer, 3 people drowned in the river, right next to BIG signs warning of the dangerous current. And that current sucked them under fast. People just think they can handle it.
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Hey.. i meant to ask what happened to the Private Eye series you started? Did you not get enough interest in it?
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I’m still doing it, chapter 4 came out today. If you miss any just go to my home page and I have a new page there now specifically for this series, all the chapters are there, just click on a link. Seems to be quite popular. Muffin is the star.
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Cool! I will do that. I’ve been a little busy with work this week so I will go and catch up on reading them! I am really impressed with that idea! I think you hit on something there that will be very popular!😁😁👍
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Thanks so much Dusty! I have to sign off now, need to get to bed early tonight, haven’t slept good the last couple nights. Good night!
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Good Night!😁 I hope you sleep much better tonight!!😊
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It seems so peaceful! Great information Steve and very interesting to know! I have heard of Coney Island for the amusement park 😉
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Thanks for reading Ribana! It would be nice if our Coney Island had an amusement park, it did apparently way back in the 1920s and 30s. Now it’s just a beach and nice park. The island though is full of cottages and year round homes.🙂😺⛄🌲
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Sounds like a great place for a vacation 😉 but maybe in summer time 😉🤪
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It is a great vacation spot, but yes, in summer for sure!😁😸🌞🌳
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Very interesting topic, that house boat looks beautiful Steve! 🤗
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Thanks so much Suni! I hope you have a great day/evening!😁😸⛄🌲
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Yea, sure Steve!
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Warm pictures 😍 Going back to my place 😁 but need to come back after a week😒 totally hate that part. But let’s just forget that now. Looking forward to see you walking by your town on the summer and more exploring 🥂😉 Have a beautiful day Steve✨💐☃️
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Thanks Simon! Yep, it’s nice in summer, looks a lot different in winter!😬 Feels a lot different too. I’m looking forward to be out walking again this spring.😁😸🚶♂️ Hope you have a good trip home!!😀😺🛫
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sounds like a great place to live!
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Yep, sure is…in the summer anyway! Thanks for stopping by!😃😺⛄
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Steve, I went back to this earlier post as I had missed it. I surveyed the area in Google maps, and the lake is indeed a monster of one. I have only been as far north to Bemedji, Minnesota.
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It is a big one. The northern half with all the islands is quite amazing. Before the days of gps it was easy to get lost among all those islands. Still great fishing. And a very beautiful lake.
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