Northern Ontario, aka The Never Ending Story

We were about 400 km east of the Manitoba, and were all itching to be through Northern Ontario.  After three days of driving, we had experienced the good, the bad, the ugly, and just about everything in between.  A good friend of mine had forewarned us that there was nothing to be found in those long stretches, and she hadn’t been far off.  Mile after mile passed by  without any towns or even rest stops.   As we neared our stop for the evening, however, we came across a sweet yet quirky ice cream shop in a little town called Bruce Mines.  Across the street, the waters of the North Channel sparkled and we were beckoned to explore.

Levi kissing the ice cream cow

What a lovely spot to enjoy!  The boys threw rocks into the lake, only for us to read later a sign forbidding such activity.  Theo chased a group of Canadian geese, probably also frowned upon.  We ended up at the playground; surprise, surprise.  Both boys perfected their slide down the fire pole, and Theo braved walking over the monkey bars.  I grew several new grey hairs watching him.  These moments have been my favorite; when we have happened upon little gems tucked away and enjoyed spontaneous fun.

                                                                               
                                                                                   Stunning waters

Rest time is over, birds

The perfect tree

Sault Ste. Marie was a decent enough city.  It would have been neat to drive across the bridge that connected to its sister city in the States, but another time.

Disaster struck in the Soo!  I was enjoying a glass of wine and was starting on the day’s blog, when along came a spider (named Kim) who sat down beside me and frightened the wine straight over the laptop.   Try as he might, Kim was not able to salvage the computer.  I went to bed grieving the end of the blog, hoping that at least the downloaded pictures from the lost camera would be able to be retrieved.

Kim surprised me early the next morning with a new laptop!   Thank you, sweetie!  The blog would make it after all!

Day 2:

The drive to Sault Ste. Marie had been a piece of cake compared to Thunder Bay.  The weather had turned cooler and wetter, and construction was everywhere.  The day dragged.

It seemed like the type of day for a hot lunch.  We had brought a Coleman stove along and it seemed like the right time to use it finally.  We found a rest stop beside the river and were ready to heat up some soup.

Until we stepped out of the van.

I have lived in the far north and also in rural Alberta for several years.  However, three cushy years in the Okanagan have dulled my memory of mosquitos.  We were swarmed!   Poor Levi had had an accident in the car and had to change his clothes outside.  Half naked, he stood there screaming at the top of his lungs, panicked by the sheer number of buzzing, biting insects.  Lunch was forgotten.  We all scrambled back in the van, only to discover that an army of mosquitos had already found their way inside.   The boys shrieked, cried, and swatted away as we pulled out of the rest stop.  As we were leaving, I noticed Levi’s one and only pair of sandals still on the ground outside.  I debated for a moment about just leaving them, but decided to make a quick dash for them.  Robyn’s Donuts didn’t sound so bad after all.

Theo totally not impressed

Mosquito Haven

The mosquitos followed us into the van, much to Levi's horror.

And we drove.

We were finally close to Thunder Bay when we noticed signs for the Terry Fox Lookout Memorial.  Having grown up in Vancouver, Terry Fox was a legend and a hero in our school.  Even to this day, I consider him to be one of the greatest Canadians ever.  Naturally, I was thrilled to be able to pay tribute to him at his memorial, and was very pleased with the excellent job that our country had done in honoring him.  Terry Fox had been forced to abandon his Marathon of Hope just slightly east of the spot chosen for his memorial. The walkway up to the scenic lookout was beautiful, and lined with a canopy of trees.   The statue that had been created of him was very realistic, right down to the beads of sweat on his face.   Kim and I were exhausted after only driving the route that Terry ran.  I couldn’t even begin to fathom running that distance, let alone with a prosthetic leg.  There were picnic tables surrounding the area, encouraging people to linger amidst Terry’s promise of hope.  I felt more patriotic at this rest stop than even at our parliament buildings in Ottawa. 

The approach

   All of Canada pays tribute

Lifelike detail, right down to the beads of sweat

The scenic lookout

Tranquil rest area

Levi pretends to be Terry Fox

Then came Thunder Bay.  While I don’t like to speak ill of any place, this is a place worth avoiding.   We stopped at a motel recommended by Tripadvisor, only to be completely creeped out by the owner.  We continued looking for another place to stay  and finally settled on an overpriced and slightly run down hotel.  Still, I felt safe there.  After a shoddy supper at McDonald’s, we set our alarms early so we could get the heck out of Thunder Bay.  See you later….NOT!

                                                            An odd experience to say the least