At the Lone Pine Motel

"I have good dreams..." The speaker was a fellow who repairs cameras in Missouri. He was showing me pictures of the propoerty where he lived. He had put in a lake and decorated it with lots of stone walls, docks, six-sided buildings and a waterwheel, actually three of them. Apparently, he dreamt of waterwheels a lot. "Life is about your dreams, finding them, following them and making them yours. You have to live your dreams." He has five waterwheels so far on his place. One at the entrance by the road, one by his front door and three by his lake. He was living his dream building waterwheels. He even had three or four little ones in his repair shop.

If life is about living your dreams, the Lone Pine Motel in Ignace, Ontario, where I was staying, was built of dreams. Dreams made into reality, one board at time. The Lone Pine Motel was built by hand and the man who performed the work did a beautiful job. The motel was his dream and he dreamed completely and thoroughly. He did not stop when he had walls and roof. Much of the trim of the building was custom milled. The furnishings in all of the rooms are all designed and built by him. Chairs, tables, desks, dressers, stools all made by him. Even the shades of the desk lamps are made of wood--ten panels spiraled out each with holes drilled into it spelling L-O-N-E (a pine tree) M-O-T-E-L, one letter on each panel.

He was considered by some a little eccentric. He was so possessive of his beautiful motel he became quite picky about whom he would allow to stay there preferring little old ladies and retired couples. Three days after I left Ignace, I stayed at a motel in Dryden. The owner of that motel owned a lumber yard in Ignace when the Lone Pine Motel was being built. He sold the builder most of the wood for his motel and remembered him well. "Oh yeh, I knew him. He was a little bit different. He wouldn't have ever rented to you. He once turned away an entire hockey team and he always closed up all winter, he didn't want people tracking mud into his rooms."

He died three years ago and his daughter had been leeping it going since. On September First nine days before my arrival, the motel changed hands. Now it is being run by Troy Lebarge. As I related in my last post, Troy owns the fitness center at the hotel I almost stopped at 100 miles earlier. Troy looks like he owns a few fitness centers. Well-muscled, clear blue eyes, and a soft, in-control demeanor. Troy has had the dream of putting together a health retreat for a few years. He has been considering properties in Costa Rica and other exotic places, but the logistics of managing something from so far away caused him to look closer.

Finally, Troy saw the offering of the Lone Pine Motel. It turned out the Lone Pine Motel is perfect for his dream. It is beautifully made, in a natural setting on a beautiful lake, it has 400 feet of beach and it has a 1200 square foot building that is perfect for a gym. He is going to have health and fitness retreats and market them through his fitness centers in Thunder Bay and Winnipeg as well as health magazines. If you ever have the opportunity, I recommend staying there. Ignace is halfway between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay on highway 17 which makes it a perfect stop-over spot to break up the long drive. The Motel is 2 km off of the highway which means it is quiet! The motel has a nice lounge and a full kitchen. Although it is not now being utilized, Troy will be getting the kitchen in shape so you will be able to have dinner and breakfast in the lovely setting. I intend to stop by again over the years to see how Troy's dream unfolds.

Lone Pine Motel

807-934-2239

LonePineMotel.ca

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When I packed my truck I put things in that I have no idea why I felt I needed them. One of the items was a voltmeter. While I was at the Lone Pine Motel, Troy was fixing the electric sign that is out by the highway. When he mentioned that he wish he had one to fix the sign I had the honor of watching an odd expression cross his face when I said "I have one in my truck."

There seems to be something wrong with the utility companies in Canada. I was working on the computer, I noticed the battery was running down even though I had it plugged into the wall. When I talked to Troy about it he replies. "They're doing something on the electric system, eh. The whole town is down. They said we'll be back up at around three."

"Oh yeah, three O'clock," I thought. Ok, I can deal with that. I can recharge my laptop in my truck. So I went out for a drive into the woods. Once there, I broke out the cook stove that is stowed in the back of the truck, made coffee and worked the rest of the afternoon in the woods. I came back in about 3:00 I noticed the utility workers were packing up and getting ready to go. That's not natural, utility workers actually finishing their work when they say. So unusual!

Sunset again found me out on the lake in a canoe. This time I rowed down the shore and watched some otters playing in the water. Yes, the Lone Pine Motel is a nice place.