On The Road Again

Packed and ready to go

Well, we are into the last segment of our cross Canada adventure of 2023. We flew to Vancouver to spent some quality time with the West Coast sister and her husband and you heard of the amount of walking and hiking we did there. When she got tired of us she loaded us into a helicopter and sent us across the strait to spent a couple of days with old friends from the East Coast living out there. Next we boarded VIA Rail’s Canadian and traveled through the mountains, across the prairies and through Ontario to Sioux Lookout where we drove north to the First Nation reserve where my daughter had been working for eight years so we could help her pack up and come back East again. A week of  . . . .

“I want to keep that . . .”

“Throw that away . . . .”

“Give that to  . . . . .”

“Pack that carefully . . . .”

“OMG I forgot I even still had that . . . . .”

On the road

We had a nice shiny 4 X 4 Toyota Truck that was towing a speed boat, and a trusty twelve year old Toyota Matrix that had already proved it’s ability by moving her up there eight years ago that was going to be reattached to a UHaul trailer loaded with as much stuff as we could jam in. Other items would be put in the boat under the boat cover, packed in the back of the truck, and under the hatch of the Matrix. The pile of stuff sorted to go was stacked in the living room and there were questions about where it would all go. However, Alisha’s husband Derek kept assuring us it was all going to fit, and in the end he did indeed get everything in; a little tight, but everything had a place.

Oh, did I mention there was a large adopted “Rez” dog Mochi and a cat who was not used to car travel. Mochi was used to travel and is a pleasant passenger and Bob the cat was medicated, so we had to find place for them as well. 

Relaxing by the lake

The first stop was at Derek’s dad’s lovely house on the lake outside Thunder Bay and Regis was even tempted for a nice relaxing swim in the lake. 

The next day we were up early and under way for eight hours to Sault Ste Marie, but with a smoker who is not allowed to smoke in the truck, an old guy with prostate issues, two ladies who loved water, and a twelve year old matrix towing WAY too a heavy a load, this eight hour drive extended into ten hours. 

Next stop is Peterborough where we need to exchange the UHaul trailer for another exactly the same UHaul trailer (A complicated story), and then on into Quebec, New Brunswick, and finally after seven days on the road we will get home.  

Bob the cat has a break

Looking at the world through a windshield

Lake Superior Views

A Day in Thunder Bay

Kakabecka Falls

On the way to visit our daughter in Northern Ontario, we have been stopping to meet the future In-Laws, and Derek's dad and his wife live in Thunder Bay, which was also a convenient stop on the trip. We arrived in time for a meet & greet evening meal and then the next day, we were given a tour of the city of Thunder Bay.

The first stop was Kakabeka Falls just outside the city. This was a truly spectacular waterfall with trails and viewing stands all around. An especially nice feature is a walking bridge just above the falls allowing you to see them from above. I took lots of photos, but no photo really does a waterfall justice. Apparently a native legend says a native princess who was captured by a rival band lured an invading party of warriors over the falls to save her band from probable defeat.

The falls from above

Next we visited a cheese farm/factory making amazing Gouda. We have an excellent gouda cheese master back in Nova Scotia, and I hesitate to switch loyalties, but I think this cheese is better. BUT it could just be because they have so many interesting varieties. Imagine cumin & cloves gouda? Delicious. The biggest problem was deciding which ones I wanted. I think we left with six different packages. I hope “That Dutchman” doesn't find out.

A trip to a look-off on one of the native reserves provided a wonderful view across Thunder Bay and a perfect spot to see the famous “Sleeping Giant” land formation across the harbour which we missed on the trip up in the fog and rain. And, we did not have to climb to the look-off; there was a paved road right to the top.

Thunder Bay waterfront

A drive into Thunder Bay proper brought us to the Marina and the waterfront. I always admire cities that resist the temptation to allow big hotel chains or luxury condo developments to have exclusive waterfront access, and Thunder bay have done their waterfront nicely with a Marina, parks and lots of public spaces that allow everyone to enjoy the waterfront. Those exclusive condos are right across the street and still have lovely waterfront views.

Even the birds enjoyed it.

By this time I was getting pretty tired, and I felt I had seen a lot of this city, so a stop at a local watering hole was in order for a beer and dinner.

The Sleeping Giant

Thunder Bay from the look-off

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Where is Lake Superior?

Aguasabon River Gorge (And fog)

Canada has the famous Great Lakes, and the most spectacular is Lake Superior. I am not sure of the exact statistic, but I believe it is the biggest lake in the world in some aspect, total size, area, volume . . .something? Years ago we drove all the way around Lake Superior on a trip to BC and it was a boring, nerve-rattling trip with two young children on terrible roads filled with one large logging truck after another. We swore never to do that route again, and on subsequent trips we took a route through United States. Then just to spite us one of those children grew up and moved to Northern Ontario, giving us no choice but to make the trip again. This year's “Road Trip” takes us once more around Lake Superior.

Well, you can sort of see a lake . . .

The roads are better, we drove on a Saturday so there were no logging trucks, and it was just the two of us. However, we did not get to see Lake Superior. The trip started in Sault Ste Marie in a rainstorm, and the rain continued off and on all day, some times raining so hard you could not see; complete torrential downpour. When it was not raining the fog rolled in, sometimes so thick I had to slow down to see the road ahead. It is a seven hour drive and most of the day we were not far from the shoreline of Lake Superior, but the famous lake eluded us, we caught very few glimpses of the huge body of water. I stopped at one designated “Lookoff”, and could not see anything of the lake. Coming into Thunder Bay there is a beautiful memorial to Terry Fox that is supposed to provide a lovely view out over Lake Superior – still no luck. There was, I am sure a big lake somewhere out there, but all we could see was fog and rain.

Fog but no lake

Fortunately, we have to take the same route on the way home in a few weeks, so I am hoping for better weather.

Road Trip

Breakfast In New Brunswick

This summer we are going on an old fashioned road trip, driving from Dartmouth, up to visit our daughter, Alisha in Kejick Bay, Ontario. On the way we plan to stop in Quebec City, Brockville, Peterborough, Toronto, Sault Ste Marie, Thunder bay and finally Kejick Bay. Some stops are just overnights, but we are visiting our son Ryan in Toronto, and finally getting to meet some of Derek, our daughter's fiance's family.

This trip was completely organized by me. Anyone who knows us will know that this is not the usual, as Regis normally does ALL of the trip planning, but this one I have done myself. The goal was to visit Alisha, so it was organized around getting to her school before the last day of school, so she could bring her parents to visit her school. I simply split the trip up on Google Maps into reasonable driving distances with stops in Toronto, Peterborough and Thunder Bay to spent time with people.

This did not work out so well . . . . our planned stop in Quebec City coincided with the G7 meeting, so visiting the beautiful old part of this lovely city was not advised. Even out where we were there were busses full of RCMP who provided security for the meeting. As well, we could not bypass Quebec City for Montreal, as the Canada Grand Prix was being run, so it would also have been way too busy. Then, our son who we planned to visit in Toronto called to say he was suddenly told that he had an unavoidable two day meeting in Halifax during our two day stop in Toronto.

A chilly picnic lunch

The first part of the trip from Dartmouth to Toronto is very familiar for us, as we have been visiting our son in Ottawa and Toronto for over 10 years, so the drive is comfortable but it is always interesting to see the differences. Since we started driving the route through New Brunswick into Quebec, the road connecting the Trans-Canada Highway in New Brunswick to the Quebec Highway 20 along the south side of the St. Lawrence River has been under construction. Every year there is a tiny bit more that is twined but there does not seem a lot of interest in completing this 95 km section of road into a real highway.

Dinner In Quebec City

We have a routine for this section of the trip. We get up early, stop outside Moncton for breakfast and then in Edmundston for lunch. This usually got us to Ottawa in time for dinner with our son. This trip we are trying something different. I put together a little two person Picnic bag, and we have a nice 12 volt cooler for the car, so we plan to stop for lunch at rest stops or picnic areas. It was a good plan except for the chilly 10° temperature at the first rest stop in Quebec, so our first picnic stop was a bit of a rushed meal to get back in the warm car.

I hope I can find interesting topics to write for the blog on this road trip. I appreciate all the people who told me they were looking forward to me travel tales.