While driving toward Sault Ste Marie, Ruth searched for some attractions along the way. Boy did she find something interesting! Entomica, an insectarium in the Canadian Bush Plane Heritage Centre. It was the right place for both of us. Huge flying insects for Ruth and old airplanes for Martin.

These huge bugs from Africa have velvety bellies and claws. Creepy, crawly, interesting, but not necessarily something you’d want to wake up with.

Not only did they have fascinating insects, but Willie Wonka, the chameleon captured Ruth’s heart.

Chris, the director and curator, spent quite a bit of time with us and showed some more unique insects and explained where they lived and why they are so special.

Once the insectarium closed at 3:30, we visited the bush planes and learned about the heritage of these airplanes and some of the people who built and flew them. Ruth was very happy to see a special exhibition of the history of women in aviation in Canada. It took a long time before they were truly accepted.

There was a movie covering the use of aircraft in forest fire fighting operations, which seems timely given the current wildfire situations throughout Canada.

A Canadair CL215 water bomber. I believe these were built at the Canadair facility that was close to where we lived in Montreal.