We got a good early start this morning – up at 6:15 and on the road by 7:15. I don’t think we can pare the morning time down much, by the time I get up, dressed, and get back in from a quick walking of the dogs, Carm has their breakfast ready, and coffee brewed. As I’m eating my breakfast and drinking my coffee I start puttering around at getting ready for the road.
Today we got a glimpse of Lake Superior, so of course I had to play the “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. It is a sombre song, which set the mood well for our next stop – the Terry Fox Memorial. It is a lovely setting with parkland all around. The statue itself overlooks Lake Superior.
While in the parking lot we met people from Cornwall.
We got on the road again with gas on our mind. Gas stations are few and far between, and when you guzzle gas like this beast does we stop at every chance! There is an Esso Kakabeka Falls so we filled up there, and got coffees for the road. On the way back I may stop for some wild rice.
9:50am – 1000 MILES! We are 1/2 way there!
The highway is in good shape here, but hilly. Bits have been quite curvy as well. Spike seems to be settling in better – either the Rescue Remedy is working or he’s just exhausted.
10:13 am (central time) – saw our first bear. It was far from the road, on the banks of the English River.
As the miles have rolled by I am awed by the challenges our first explorers had to overcome. The forests go on forever – what incredible spirits of adventure these men must have had. We’ve been driving for 4 days and are still a good days drive from the open plains. I will rejoice at the openness and celebrate the great open sky!
We’ve seen quite a few cyclists on highway 17 – I don’t know how they keep their nerve. The night before we stayed at Birchwood (last night’s camp), two cyclists were killed right in front of the campground. Tragic.
We stopped for lunch at a little lakeside park (no photo), and just as soon as we finished the rain started. And kept up on and off until we reached Kenora. We expected the Ontario part of the trip to be long (it was) and boring (it wasn’t). The landscape changes constantly, and is often quite beautiful.
I am exhausted and will appreciate the extra day of rest we have scheduled in Kenora.
MS Streets & Trips has been great, and would be even better if there was decent satellite coverage for the gps…
4:20 we finally arrived at Ancinabe Park in Kenora (no photos yet). We got checked in (after making sure they were giving us a site long enough for our rig) and got settled in for the night. Unfortunately we have to change sites tomorrow, but it will still be a rest. The park is very pretty with a walking trail that has a pretty river view.
Carm has been handling his TV news withdrawal well. He hasn’t had any TV since North Bay – I thought he’d turn into a 3 headed monster by now, but he hasn’t ;-)
I haven’t mentioned yet, but at the end of the day having our own place to chill out in is wonderful! We are somewhere new, but home at the same time – perfect for two homebodies!
They might in the future more than ever before engage in hunting beavers.
Samuel de Champlain
Are we there yet?
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