We'll be heading north into Ontario to visit some of the places the Schmeler family lived and worked. Then it's around Lake Superior to the explore the 'greatest' lake.

During this summer's trip, we'll be visiting some of the places that Donna's family came from. Her grandfather, George was born just outside Cobalt Ontario. Other family members lived in Parry Sound, Nipissing, North Bay, Magnetawan, South River and other small towns in the area. Her great uncle and his family ran a fishing/hunting camp in the area for years.

In 1910 when George was born, the town of Cobalt had a population of over 10,000 (today it's under 1,000) and was the fourth largest siver producing area in the world. Over the years the area produced over 26 million pounds of silver. In later years they mined cobalt for use in rechargeable batteries.

The mining boom transformed a largely agricultural area into a thriving metropolis

and forever changed the area. As the silver and cobalt ran out the area was again

transformed as all the jobs and money disappeared. The abandoned mines left

behind a barren landscape.

The Schmeler family moved from southern Ontario to the Cobalt area before 1904,

probably because of the availability of jobs in the numerous mines,

George's dad John Henry worked in the mines for at least 15 years.

We also plan on visiting the home of the Dionne Quintuplets in North Bay. Brian's family is distantly related to the quintuplets through their mother who is a LeGros (Brian's grandfather's  name). If you go back 9 generations, you can make the connection down to the Dionne family.Theirs is a sad story of how too much publicity and media attention can ruin someone's life.

Then we'll take a drive around the north shore of Lake Superior and enjoy the many waterfalls and beautiful shorelines. Lake Superior is one of our favorite places, there isn't really anyplace else quite like it.