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National Park Entrance |
Point Pelee National Park is a worthwhile trip. There is no flamboyance to the
park, there is nothing so outstanding that it would change the world, but it’s
a great trip if you have the time and the means especially during COVID-19, when you can only visit
Nature and admire her glory… All other conventions, mass meetings or rallies
have been cancelled in 2020. The only option is to visit nature. At least that
is how I look at it.
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Lookout from the Parking Lot at the Tip
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Carol and I were in isolation starting March 5; we did just the absolute necessary things, like going food shopping; getting gasoline or using the ATM machines and even then took precautions. So for us the trip to Pelee was a big first step in starting our traveling again. |
Path to the Tip
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Land Is Coming to a Point
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We booked a room at the Town ’n Country Motor Inn in Leamington, ON and while we were a bit leery it was a perfectly good place to stay for one night. The room was super clean, spacious and it came without breakfast.
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At the Very Tip of Point Pelee
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The price CAN $100.57 (US 67.-) was within our budget too. I first thought we were the only guests at the hotel when we checked in around 3 PM on a Thursday but no, when we arrived later after returning from the Park, the place was packed... I would guess about 15 cars in the parking lot. I believe people feel cooped up. COVID-19 sure harmed most motels and restaurants.
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Lots of Driftwood
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For dinner we had takeout Subway sandwich. For breakfast the next day we used the drive-through at Tim Horton’s. Most restaurants were closed, just a few could accommodate outside eating. We did not want to take a chance; we just ate a sandwich.
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A Beautiful Monarch Butterfly
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The purpose of our visit to the Pelee National Park was to see the annual migration of Monarch Butterflies. Monarch Butterflies collect themselves at the very tip of the park and then migrate, en mass, from there to Mexico. This peninsula is the most southern piece of mainland in Canada. Just a few small Islands (Pelee Island and Middle Island and others) a bit further south, also belong to Canada.
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Another Beauty
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But we did not want to take a boat to just see the most southern land Canada has, we came to see one of the Monarch Butterfly migration start off points in Canada. The Pelee peninsula is where the butterflies ‘roost’ before their long journey south. Trees are covered with Monarchs… so we were told… and some pictures showed us that is true. We, Carol and I, waited for the Monarchs to roost until sunset and yes, we saw some butterflies, but not the thousand’s we had anticipated. One park lady, who is there every night, said that this year The Monarch Butterflies have had unusual behavior. While normally September is the best time to see the roosting, this year, because of chilly weather, most of the butterflies had left already.
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And Another One
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But on the way back north, the Monarchs will do the trip in stages, taking up to 4 or 5 generations to move north.
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Many Pathways to Safe Beaches Off the Main Road
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It's mind boggling to think that this fragile-looking
insect can fly from this southern spot in Canada all the way to Central Mexico.
But it has been proven to be correct. Some butterflies have been ‘tagged’ with
special markers and those markers were found among Monarchs on arrival in
Mexico. The markers attached to the Butterflies, list the year and location where the marker was
attached. We for
sure know that Monarchs fly in one generation from Canada to Mexico.
After
arriving In Mexico, laying eggs and then dying, their bodies are collected, taken
to a collection point and the Mexicans are awarded $5 U.S. for each tagged Monarch
body. Mexicans love to sort through the, by then dead, butterflies to get that
kind of money.
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Looking Back From the Tip
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It is simply amazing. How do the butterflies do it? How do they know the way? How do they find the same spot in Mexico, over and over? Nobody knows… there are many theories, but nobody KNOWS for sure. And through studies, we know today that going north is much slower. It takes a few generations before the Monarch arrives in Canada again. But again, we have no clue as to how they tell the new generation where to go, when to go and to find Point Pelee.
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GPS Shows How Point Pelee Juts Out Into Lake Erie Point Pelee National Park Is the Green Area
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A mystery of nature!
This Point Pelee peninsula is sticking out, facing
south into Lake Erie. The most southern tip of the peninsula is the National
Park. Nothing has changed much here; all has been left as natural as possible.
The peninsula has marshes and wetlands that are still like Mother Nature
established them. Maybe that is why the butterflies still like to come here.
While the park is visited by thousands of visitors each year, Canada has the
layout and the preservation of the park under control. There is no commercial
enterprise within the park. |
TENTik Accommodation in the Park
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Inside - 5 Beds Side by Side + 1 Bunk Bed
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The admission for seniors was CAN $6.90/person
which allowed us to stay until sundown. We first thought of staying in a ‘tent’
motel inside the park, but the tents were all booked out way in advance, hence
our stay in Leamington at the Town ’n Country Motor Inn.
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Many Well-Camouflaged Birds at the Tip
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Carol and I scoured the smallish park as best we could,
and spoke with other folks who came to visit the spectacle of the
butterflies but we did not see many butterflies. We saw more people than
butterflies. Darlene Burgess, a woman
who has her own blog was our source of information. She
is hired by the Park to do nightly counts of the Monarchs. On the night we were
there, she counted 65 Monarchs but saw no roosts.
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More Driftwood
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You can read a lot if you are interested in her well
maintained blog on Facebook.
Naturally, we had to ‘walk’ to the end of the spit of
land so that I can now say… I stood at the very southern tip of Canada. No
swimming allowed here, the water for Lake Erie is dangerous with lots of under
tows and dangerous cross currents. But since there is just a very mild tide, I
felt very safe on the shore. Gulls flew about us, looking for food. Shore birds
were striding about, pecking between pebbles and rocks, looking for morsels.
This spot was a wonderful, natural spot and even though there were people all
around us, it did not feel crowded. Driftwood, whole trees in fact, piled up
along the shorelines. Lake Erie, even though it’s only a lake, looks like an
ocean. The expanse is on the grand scale; water everywhere.
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Viewing Tower to See the Wetlands
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And wetlands, very huge wetlands, which filter the
pollution out of the system, are part of this spot in Canada. Like a kidney
cleans our blood, so these wetlands clean the environment around us. The park
system built a large wooden board walk through the wetlands so that it was easy
walking and it made one feel part of the whole. When we walked these planks it
was early morning, the next morning after our Monarch experience in fact and we
walked around the 1 km loop all by ourselves. The wind blew the reeds and
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View From the Tower
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rippled the water a bit, which prevented us from being exposed to any mosquitoes. It was a perfect outing, just us and nature. We kept our shoes dry since we only walked on the wooden boards, but it would have been easy to wade into the muck and mud… which of course… would have been against the rules… Canadians are good that way… they don’t break the rules. |
The Grass Is as Tall as Hans
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Yes, we went back to visit the Park the next morning, we wanted to see Pelee Peninsula Park in the early morning hours, too. We also liked that hardly anybody was there in the AM. We witnessed people riding their bicycles for exercise along the many rustic trails throughout the park. The weather was perfect. A light breeze kept the bugs away, the sun shone and while it might have felt a bit desolate this early in the day, it was wonderful, too.
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Wild Turkeys in Point Pelee National Park
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The more commercial area around Leamington, the main
town near the park, is build up nicely. There is an appearance of ‘wealth’ that
permeates the area. Wineries abound. We tried to visit Pelee Island Winery in Leamington, but
due to COVID, the place was closed to visitors. Too bad, we would have liked to visit but
no visitors allowed, only curbside, pre-ordered pick-up was possible. We drove
all the way out to the winery to make sure, but no, closed until further
notice. Sure we could have bought wine at the LCBO across the street but it’s not the same.
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A Lovely Smaller Home; Many Were Much Larger
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We like to have a taste before we
buy. Well, we need to come back here. It is a great area to visit.
We explored some neighborhoods too since there is
wealth here. Some houses are on a grand scale, something I really don’t need.
Yet we found ‘smallish’ places that were attractive, too.
Location is everything, and wow, do they have some
nice spots along the shore line of Lake Erie.
What surprised us was the number of commercial hot
houses that are all around. I mean huge, commercial spaces. Acres after acres,
covered with hot houses, to grow vegetables of all kinds. No longer does this farmer rely on the weather, but he controls the environment inside these hot houses for the best possible production.
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Hundreds of these Huge Hot Houses
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I was really shocked to see so many
hothouses. Do we, the people, really eat that much produce? Sure there were
open fields but there were also lots and lots of hothouses. It is hard to
photograph, but here is an example on how large these hothouses are…. And there
are hundreds if not thousands of those all around here.
All in all, we had a good trip, a good visit.
I guess we will be traveling more in Canada for a
while. Going out of country is not advised, we will heed the advice of the
Government. So, don’t look for exotic topics from us on this blog….
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Sunset on Point Pelee
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