Willy (our Jeep) and our team hit the road to complete our first Fall #WheresWilly “Dam” Road Trip.  While we have completed two summer versions of these dam road trips, this was the first fall one and took us way up into Northwestern Ontario. Starting in Burlington we traveled up to Dryden and Vermilion Bay before turning to head home, hitting 11+ dams and waterpower generating stations along the way.

The age of the sites we visited date range from over from 3 to over 100 years old. It was truly amazing to see the differences in the equipment, technology and even architecture over the ages.

One of the things we noticed with the older plants was the beauty of the buildings and structures even through they were suffering from aging. Lines, cracks and discolouring of their surfaces, much like what happens to all of us as we age, seemed to only provide a patina to gaze at.  Also, the equipment in the older plants included brass elements, art deco logos, and manual switches.  There is just something very elegant about the simplicity of the design and attention to detail.

The newer plants were also impressive but from a different stand point.  They were larger, shinier, and included more automation. These newer plants were built with more efficient technology and can be operated remotely.  

In addition to the plants, we visited some of Ontario’s most impressive waterfalls and local sites.  The link below is a video/slide show of our trip so you can enjoy these sites as well.  Cheers, from the #WheresWilly team.