HANCOCK -- Back here in Hancock after another jaunt downstate. Hopefully, I'll have a quiet Thanksgiving.

Just to follow up on Monday's trip to the Soo, here's more information on Algontario -- the ship I saw pass through the locks Monday night. It's so impressive seeing how the 730-foot-long vessel slowly and carefully threaded its way through the relatively narrow MacArthur Lock. I definitely gained an appreciation of how these ships and crew do their jobs.

Thanks to BoatNerd.com for the link to the Algoma central Corp.'s Web site. BoatNerd is a valuable Web site featuring "tonnes" of information about shipping on the Great Lakes.

Speaking of appreciation, I really enjoyed walking through the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Ontario. All those planes and the pilots who flew them did a bang-up job helping to keep the remote parts of Canada connected and safe from fires. I really enjoyed reading the history of the planes and the close access that I got to many of the historic workhorses of the north.

I wasn't excited about losing CDN$20 playing blackjack at the "charity" casino, but them's the breaks I suppose. I was happy about having poutine for the first time and finding a Remembrance Day quarter with the red poppy on it (or the "The Poppy Coin" as the Royal Canadian Mint calls it). It's the first colored coin in circulation and it's a neat way of honoring vets.