Saturday, June 23

Sault Ste. Marie to Sturgeon Falls

A moderate day of driving today with stops along the way to check out the farmer’s market in Blind River and to send some email from McDonalds in Espanola, Ontario.

By late afternoon we’d hit the outskirts of Sudbury. For a city of just over 160,000, Sudbury sure is spread out. But we found it – The Big Nickle. It wasn’t exactly hiding and was easily seen from the road even if the road TO it was a bit difficult to figure out. And it’s REALLY BIG. I was quite impressed.

Eliot less so, I think.

And the huge smokestacks of Sudbury can be seen from all over town.

 

We had two Westfalia sightings today and gave and received the “Westy Wave”. Owning a VW Westfalia gives you access not only to expensive vehicle maintenance costs but also to the fraternity/sorority of Westy owners.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I bought some beer in Wawa. The cooler was going to be running all day so I figured it might as well have something to cool. But I had completely forgotten about Ontario’s “Beer Stores”. I was completely floored that the separation of beer from wine and spirits still exists. It all seemed pretty silly to me back in the 1980s.

So the deal is that you go into the store and there isn’t actually any beer on display. Well, OK, there are empty bottles of the beers that the particular store carries. Underneath each bottle is the quantities (6, 12, 24) that the beer comes packaged as. After you’ve made your decision, you go up to the counter and place your order. The fellow (yesterday it was fellow) goes back into the room where the beer is kept chilled and soon your selection shoots out through a little door on a little track with rollers.

Don’t the good citizens of Ontario know that in other provinces, spirits, wine and beer have been sold in the same store for years with nothing apocalyptic occurring? My goodness, in Val Marie, Saskatchewan just a week and a half ago, Ute and I purchased a case of beer in a little grocery store.

In any event, encountering The Beer Store brought back pleasant memories of life in Toronto in the 70s and 80s.

Tonight the dog and I are staying at a bustling campground/RV park outside of Stugeon Falls, Ontario on Lake Nipissing.