Friday, June 22

Marathon to Sioux Ste. Marie

A long day on the road today. Our first stop of the day was Wawa, Ontario. One of the reasons for getting the van’s engine overhauled was that I had a dread of it breaking down in Wawa. On the map it just looks like a place so far from everything. Well, it is far from a lot of things but it’s a busy little town.

I took the opportunity to visit their Canadian Tire store. (See, I said it was happening place.) Yesterday morning I broke my plastic bodum type coffee press and had had to make due with instant coffee for two mornings.(Fortunately Ute was no longer with us.) I found a serviceable looking glass press and it turns out that the old one’s little neoprene jacket sort of fits it. This Canadian Tire store was not very big but it was crammed top to bottom and side to side. I’d bet that it had as much merchandise as the Douglas Street Canadian Tire in Victoria.

I felt a bit silly having Eliot on his leash as the dogs in town seemed to wander at large. And another odd thing. When I crossed the street a man with a stop sign rushed out into the middle of the street to stop traffic … of which there was none. It was around lunch time so perhaps school children would soon be coming by. I noticed that there was another man further down the street with another stop sign. We jaywalked to avoid the mild embarrassment of having him stop traffic for us.

Wawa is famous for its big goose which greets visitors as they enter town. The original was apparently built of chicken wire and plaster (don’t quote me on that) to mark the completion of the Lake Superior stretch of the Trans Canada Highway. The original barely survived its first winter and so the powers that be in Wawa decided to commission a goose to be constructed of steel made from Algoma iron ore.

The new goose is holding up quite well although there are a few rusty bits. Time for a new paint job, I’d guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The visitor’s centre also had these lawn chairs on their deck for use by weary travellers.

And I thought these Gitchee Goomees were really fun.

And the canoe is doing well in Wawa … at least symbolically.

We’ve ended the day at an RV park on St. Joseph’s Island just southeast of Sioux Ste. Marie. It’s practically surrounded by the U.S.A. And there’s a bridge so no ferry is required. A lot of the sites in this RV Park seem to be permanent or summer places. Still everyone is very friendly as I appear to be the only one staying just for the evening.

A little while ago a young fellow drove by in his SUV and rolled to a stop. I looked up and he said: “That is SO cute!” I thought he was referring to Eliot and said: “Yeah, he’s a pretty cute dog.” But he said: “No, the van. It’s really cute. Can I take a picture?”

Turned out he’d never seen a VW Westfalia before. I had been thinking that I’ve not seen a single one since leaving B.C. And I’ve gotten some strange looks when I’ve rolled into some gas stations.

On to Sudbury tomorrow. Hope I can find the big nickle.

from Manitoba to Ontario

 

Tuesday, June 19

This morning dawned still overcast but with the promise of improving weather. Ha! The drive from Falcon Lake into Ontario was pleasant enough. But by Kenora the rains had begun again. It showered on and off for the rest of the day.

Gasoline is way more expensive in Ontario (so far). But the roads are certainly in better shape … at least the Trans Canada. Down south of Kenora through Sioux Narrows and Nestor Falls and then a bit east to Fort Frances. I was finally able to post the previous post by using the Wi-Fi at the Fort Frances Public Library. The library is a beautiful, new building with lots of windows letting in light with a high ceiling and plenty of natural wood finishing.

The next big ‘hop’ was from F.F. to Thunder Bay … about 400km. It was already late afternoon so I decided to head out for Quetico Provincial Park about halfway in between. We didn’t make it quite that far and were ready to stop when we reached Atikokan. I had actually been in Atikokan, Fort Frances and Kenora in my earlier life working for Indian and Northern Affairs. To be honest, my visit to Atikokan was only a landing at the airport to change planes to a DC-3 if I remember correctly. I was the only passenger plus a bit of cargo including a new stove which I remember was well tied down and secured.

Totem at Sioux Narrows

Fort Frances marina (with pulp mill in background)

 

Wednesday, June 20

We’d pulled into the A.&K. Bunnell Campground in Atikokan with few expectations. It’s one of many civic campgrounds that towns on the prairies and western Ontario. I guess they assume that if they can get folks to stay in town then they’ll also spend some money there.

Most of the sites were grassy with lots of room between them. There were only three other sites occupied so we had lots of choice. The sign at the entrance had said that an attendant would be around in the evening or next morning to collect a fee. (No amount was mentioned.) It had begun to rain again in earnest so it was no surprise that no attendant made an appearance. Perhaps he was afraid of the mosquitos which took no mind of the pouring rain and invaded the van within minutes.

When I took a quick trip to the washroom, I was surprised to see a sign saying “Free Wi-Fi”. It seemed a bit too good to be true but I fired up the laptop and sure enough there was a Wi-Fi signal available. Turns out all of Atikoken offers Wi-Fi. When you sign in your browser goes to the town main tourism page. But after that you’re free to roam wherever you like. I did some banking and checked a couple of blogs I’d gotten behind on and even sent some email.

This morning we were slow to get going and by 10am when we pulled out no attendant had showed up. Clearly the best camping deal I’ve come across so far. Oh, I forgot to mention that there were also free hot showers in the restrooms!

Since the good folks of Atikokan had been so hospitable camp site wise, I decided to take a look around town. Atikokan bills itself as the “Canoeing Capital of Canada”. I thought that was a claim that lots of other Ontario towns might take exception to. But Atikokan takes its canoeing seriously.

There’s an outfitter called Canoe Canada that has about two dozen kevlar tripping canoes for rent with all the other gear you might need. Quetico Provincial Park is nearby and is a paddlers paradise. It borders on the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

And around town there are canoes used in interesting ways.

And this is my favourite bike stand ever.

By late morning we were on the road to Thunder Bay amidst showers of varying intensity.

Just before Thunder Bay we came to Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park. The river is really swollen with all the rain they’ve been having. Earlier this month there’d been serious flooding. I was informed of this by a local woman who said she’d never seen so much water going over the falls in all her years living nearby. It was certainly a mighty torrent.

We’d had a brief break from the rain which allowed a relatively dry visit to the falls. However, when we reached Thunder Bay the heavens really opened up. I know that Thunder Bay is a port on Lake Superior but I didn’t catch so much as a glimpse of water it was so foggy and the rain came down so heavily.

The rain let up a bit but did continue until Nipigon, Ontario where we stopped briefly to give Eliot and me and chance to stretch our legs. The tourist bureau had this canoe carving on their steps.

We pushed on to Pukaskwa National Park just east of Marathon, Ontario. The landscape of this north shore of Lake Superior is much rougher than the area of lakes and rocks between Fort Frances and Thunder Bay. There are mini-mountain passes that the road climbs over to traverse the huge headlands along the coast.

It’s still raining quite heavily so I’ve put off exploring the nearby trails. A weather forecast today suggests that there may actually be some sun tomorrow. I’m taking a wait and see attitude.

Thursday, June 21

This morning dawned grey and foggy. We were up plenty early as the skylight leak returned around 5am at the end of some heavy rain.

However, by noon, the fog had burned off and we were able to get out and explore some of the hiking trails at Pukaskwa National Park. This park really is quite magnificent. Lake Superior is so big that it produces huge swells and breakers just like the ocean. And the park has some beautiful beaches with dunes behind them.

then Manitoba

 

Friday, June 15

The Nickle Lake Regional Campground outside of Wayburn was adequate except that the air conditioner/heater on top of the RV next door woke Ute at 5am. We’d gone to bed around 10pm so it wasn’t as if we hadn’t gotten enough sleep. But what was she going to do at 5am … get up and make coffee?

It was a lovely warm, sunny morning. We sat around under the trees drinking coffee and reading and I took the opportunity to do some laundry. Ute thought the dish towel I had brought along was getting kind of smelly. (She was also shocked that I’d only brought ONE!) There were also some muddy duds from our time at Grasslands National Park.

Around noon we headed north towards Fort Qu’appelle where we’d made reservations (it being the weekend) at Echo Lake Provincial Park. We’d booked a spot in the Lakeview section of the campground. We were a bit surprised that we not only NOT ON the lake but there was not even much view. The whole south side of the lakeshore was mostly taken up with private cottages with a public beach at one end. The campground is set up the side of the valley above a public road.

As we’d driven north the sunny skies of Wayburn were replaced by thunder clouds and the odd bolt of lightning. Ute kept watch for funnel clouds in case we needed to prompt Helmut to outrun a tornado.

Overall the Qu’appelle Valley was a bit of a disappointment.

Saturday, June 16

Sadly, this was the day that Ute left us to return to Calgary. After breakfast we drove in to Regina Airport. As we drove up the terminal Ute was asking herself: “Am I flying Air Canada or WestJet? I still don’t know but I do know that she got home as she confirmed her arrival by text.

Now the dog and I were on our own to finish our journey to Nova Scotia.

I spent a bit of time in Regina exploring Wascana Park. It’s a huge park near downtown Regina and I came across some boys having a canoe lesson. (Practicing their rescue techniques.)

Paddling is clearly a popular sport in Regina and Wascana Lake is a great place to practice when it’s not frozen over.

And there are some very fine views of the Saskatchewan legislative buildings looking across the lake.

The day before Ute and I had had lunch at the Valley Bake and Coffee Shop on the main street of Fort Qu’appelle. It was clearly a popular local place and the food was delicious as were the butter tarts. After returning to Fort Qu’appelle, I dropped in again for another pair of tarts …. one really isn’t enough. The Valley Bake is the kind of place where the hash browns actually appear to be potatoes that someone boiled, peeled and cubed. Not those horrible machine created frozen things that are then deep fried in most places. Also interesting that the Valley Bake only takes cash!

Downtown Fort Qu’appelle still has its original Hudson’s Bay Store from 1897. These days it’s a real estate office. I was quite surprised at the prices of some of the homes in the area. But I suspect the area is prime holiday territory for the folks from Regina.

Mainstreet Fort Qu’appelle

Sunday, June 17

After clearing skies on Saturday, on Sunday overcast skies had returned. It began raining during the night and was raining lightly by morning. I’d decided the night before to have breakfast at the Valley Bake and Coffee Shop which opens at 7am on Sunday mornings.

I didn’t make it to breakfast at 7am but shortly before 9am. The food was as good as I remembered and by the time I was leaving at 9:30am the place was packed with locals. Clearly the place to go to see and catch up with your neighbours. Onward to Manitoba.

The roads in Saskatchewan are in terrible shape. (At least the ones I drove on.) There are huge potholes everywhere and in general it’s very rough riding. Granted driving a Westfalia is like driving a huge breadbox on wheels but I think the Saskatchewan government should give everyone a voucher for a wheel re-alignment when they leave the province. Unfortunately, the roads in Manitoba so far have only been a minor improvement. We travelled down Highway 16 (the Yellowhead Highway). At first we enjoyed a section that had been newly resurfaced but then it was back to the old bump, bump, bump, oh there’s a sign, must be a really big pothole.

We stopped for groceries in Minnedosa, Manitoba where I had a conversation with two cyclists (man and woman) who are cycling across Canada. They’re from Vancouver and that’s where they started. They’ve discovered that their tent is failing fast (i.e. leaking) so they’re going to stop at MEC in Winnipeg to get a new one. (They realize they should have gotten a new and lighter tent in Vancouver before they left.) I told them that I work part time at MEC in Victoria so there ensued a brief pro and con talk about some of the tents we sell. They are thinking they’ll get a Hubba Hubba by MSR which is a good choice for cyclists. It’s light and we rarely have one returned which suggests it’s pretty reliable.

Minnedosa is a lovely little town with an old CP diesel engine and caboose on display (of which I didn’t get a photo).

Now it’s Sunday evening. It rained all day and we’ve made it to Riding Mountain National Park where we’re camped at Moon Lake Campground. The only other campers are an RV a half dozen sites away. It’s wet and chilly and there are mosquitos.

Monday, June 18

I awoke at 3am this morning with a wet face. No, I wasn’t weeping in my sleep because Ute was no longer with us. No, the little skylight in the van roof was leaking. It had been raining really hard all night with wind so I guess the water was finding a way in. It was just the occasional drip but very annoying. I put down a towel with my Gortex jacket underneath and scrunched down further in the bed to avoid the wet. If Ute had still been with us with the upper bunk unfolded, she would have been the recipient of the early morning rain shower. Thank heaven for small mercies!

It was still raining and overcast when I finally awoke from my fitful sleep. I was feeling pretty cranky so I packed everything up and asked the GPS how long it would take to get to Kenora. Perhaps a change of would improve the weather forecast. The GPS said we could get there by 5pm. Well, with stops along the way for coffee and such we’ve made it almost to the Manitoba/Ontario border. We’re staying in a lovely provincial campground at Falcon Lake. Their camping rates are really reasonable. I paid under $20 for a site for the Westy and that includes a day pass for the park plus FREE SHOWERS. I’ve only had one since last Monday so I’m due.

Along the way I stopped to take this photo before we left Riding Mountain National Park.

And along the way, we took a little side track to see a house in Neepawa, Manitoba where author Margaret Lawrence lived for a time.

And finally the beach at Falcon Lake.

Onward to Ontario tomorrow.