Sault Ste Marie to .....?

 After spending the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot with lots of other RV-ers we were up early and pulled out by 6.45am and drove for an hour or so before stopping at Tim Hortons at the highway 17/17B intersection near French Bay which we noted as being a potential boondocking spot for the future.

Carried on along highway 17 passing Espanola and got around Sudbury before gassing up at Coniston. Since we'd been on the road since early we scanned the map for a rest area where we could stop for lunch and the only place we could find was just before Beaucage, Ontario.

We arrived at the rest area to find it was on the north (opposite side to us) side of the highway but we pulled across anyway and in to the rest area. 

Unfortunately, as we turned we saw a sign informing us that vehicles with trailers (i.e. US!) must not enter as there is no room to turn. It seems an odd place to put that sign, by the time we could see the sign we'd already turned and were committed to going in.

Fortunately the rest area was not too busy and there was room to turn with the trailer attached even if it was a bit tight! Since we should not have been at the rest area we didn't get as much rest as we'd normally have taken so we soon headed off again.

By 4.20pm we were at Rolphton, having completed around 585km so far today and we checked the GPS which informed us that from Rolphton we only had around 250km to home! No point in stopping anywhere for the night except home - yeah!

Excited to be close to home we pressed on again, just stopping at Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior for gas and to dump the waste tanks before we headed through Ottawa on highway 417. Maybe it was because we were keen to get home but the traffic on the 417 (The Queensway) through Ottawa seemed as bad as anywhere else we'd be though the entire trip (including even Winnipeg).

Regardless, we safely navigated the 417 and the roadwork on highway 174 for the stage 2 of Ottawa's LRT project before backing onto our our drive at 8.30pm, completed today's drive with 837km driven - our new record

TRIP DONE

Our final statistics were a total of 9475km, 134.36 hours of driving, fuel consumption of 18.6l/100kman average speed of 70km/hr, spent $2368.48 on 1762.3 litres of gas at an average of $1.344/litre.

Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie

 Before moving on from Thunder bay did you know that the city of Thunder Bay was previously two towns by name of Fort William and Port Arthur? The two towns were amalgamated on 1st January 1970.

By now we had seen all that we planned to see and stopped at all the points of interest we'd identified so we were keen to get home although we still had around 1500km to go!

We pulled out of our lonely campground at Fort William Historic Park on a Monday, shortly before 8am, and headed north east on highway 17, stopping in Nipigon to gas up. Shortly after leaving Nipigon we were overtaken by the woman we had met at the Virden Lions campground the previous Thursday. However it was not long, somewhere between Terrace Bay and Marathon, that it was our turn to overtake her as we spotted her pulled into a rest area, sat at a picnic table having lunch and she spotted us us we passed.

 

We pulled into a rest area just past White River for lunch at 12.45pm

The rest area was pretty popular considering it's location but we found a good enough spot for lunch and a short nap!

The river alongside the rest area is actually Depew River and after stretching my legs after a nap we headed off once more at 2pm. Driving south, still on highway 17, we soon arrived at Wawa that we were somewhat familiar with, having stopped here when heading west. 

 

We had posted pictures previously of the Wawa goose but we didn't post anything about the totem poles, so here they are.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, OK then, here's couple of our picture by the goose!

Once more we headed south and aimed for Sault Ste Marie where we (or at least me!) planned to boondock for the night.We arrived in Sault Ste Marie shortly after 6pm where we filled up with gas at a Petro Canada gas station that I'd previously marked as being a place to also boondock. However we didn't particularly like the look of the place for boondocking, it was OK but just didn't feel right. After using the Petro Canada wifi we travelled a little further down the road into a Wal-Mart where, of course, boondocking is always allowed. Imagine our surprise as we pulled into the parking lot to find a whole load of other RV-ers already stopped and obviously also boondocking here - quite a community. 

 

There were approximately 20 RVs in many shapes and sizes (including one motorcycle with trailer that had a tent built into it), including one parked in isolation at an adjacent Home Depot parking lot.

Did you notice that once again we have a picture of the trailer with a Canadian flag flying above it!

We thought about unhitching the trailer and driving off to find a KFC as that was what we fancied for supper but where was ta KFC? I headed over to the Wal-Mart entrance to get onto their wifi and a quick search showed me that there was  KFC just 400metres from where I stood! No point driving there, so we walked down the street, crossed over a junction and there it was, yeah! A good size bucket of chicken pieces, fries and root beer later we were set for the night although we did wander around Wal-Mart to give them some business before we settled in for the night.

Having explored a bit of the park last night 

and avoiding the thunderstorm we wanted to explore the park a little more before heading off again. We had wanted to stay here two nights to do the park more justice but were only able to book one night so we made the best of what we had. Rushing River is a pretty big provincial park so after breakfast we drove to the park entrance, parked up and went for a walk along the Lower Rapids trail.

The path was a little overgrown in places and there were lots of steps going up and down. It was still early morning and the mist was rising from the river although, since it was August (snow melt long since gone) and it had been a very dry summer the river was not as rushing as it might usually have been. There was though a faint smell of smoke in the air from the wildfires in Northern Ontario. It was still a nice walk along the river but even so by 10.00am we had packed up and left the campground. 

Ninety minutes later we were back in Dryden where we gassed up the car and decided to get coffee at Tim Hortons. From our trip going west we knew that Tims was at the east end of town so we headed that way and pulled across the highway into the parking lot - WHOOPS! The Tims parking lot was really small and there was nowhere we could park and no space to make even a ten point turn! We had no option but to go through the drive through. It was a tight fit in the drive thru lane which was narrow and had raised kerbs on both sides but at least there was no height restricting  bar which would really have been bad! Tims was very busy and it took us a good while to filter through the drive thru and get back on the highway. We managed to find somewhere quiet for lunch not too far along the road before heading through Upsala at 3pm (central time) where we gassed up again - I was taking no chances on getting short of gas! Thirty minutes later we passed back on to eastern time.

We continued east on the Trans Canada Highway (highway 17) down to Thunder Bay where we had booked two nights stopover at Fort William Historic Park (FWHP). We didn't know anything about FWHP prior to arriving. I had hoped to book two nights in a provincial park but there were no spots available - same story as at Rushing River the previous day.

We entered FWHP but there was no obvious campground or indication of where we should go. There was no sign of any other campers and no reception as such. We did mange to flag down someone in a car that was just leaving. It turned out she was one of the costumed interpreters from the reconstructed settlement. She directed us to the foyer of the visitor centre although the visitor centre itself was closed for the day. The visitor centre foyer contained all the necessary information and directions for the campground. It turns out we didn't see the campground as there was no-one booked in there except us! Furthermore, because of Covid the campground had only opened it's campground (and online booking system) to campers the previous day so I must have found the site and booked it almost as soon as it came online. Our campground was on the crest of a hill above the visitor centre although we were rather lonely....

Later in the evening a motorhome came in so we were not entirely alone.

My preference was to have been to spend two nights at Kakabeka Falls provincial Park which was about 30 minutes west of FWHP so after breakfast the next day we headed off there.

Kakabeka Falls is known as Niagara of the north and it's easy to see why.

,

After spending a couple of hours at Kakabeka we headed back to FWHP for lunch and then explored the FWHP reconstructed settlement. The original settlement was where fur traders, indigenous guides and merchants from Europe would gather at set times to trade their wares. The merchants buying the furs using 'modern' European equipment such as knives, guns, blankets and cooking pots etc to barter with. The settlement was organised and included a gaol for those causing trouble. 

The original settlement had fallen into disrepair and no buildings were left intact but the reconstruction was built from surviving plans and using the building foundations many of which survived.

 

 

                                                 Trading furs........

 

 The Armoury, although the fort was never built or used as a military site there were plenty of guns and other weaponery around. Note that the earth around the armoury is built up the walls so that in case of an explosion the earth would help to contain the blast and minimise damage. 

The armoury was also in a separate enclosure withing the fort for the same reason. The costumed interpreters did a really good job of talking us through the history of the site and were obviously passionate about the work they do. If we had done as planned and stayed at Kakabeka falls we would have missed this! It was even better as, again due to Covid and a resultant lack of visitors the entrance fee was reduced to just $5 each.

Incidentally, on the drive into FWHP through Thunder Bay we couldn't help but notice the large rock formation ahead of us. We did not confirm it but believe this is the 'Sleeping Giant' after which a nearby provincial park is named. This is the best we could do of it.....

 

Almost there - back to Ontario

Having spent the night at the Virden Lions Campground in Manitoba we were looking forward to getting back into Ontario even if we'd still be several days from home!

It was a bright and sunny morning and after breakfast as we were getting ready to pull out we had another chat with our lady neighbour with the two dogs. Although she was having a short drive today so was also getting ready to leave Virden. We finally got away at 8.23am, not too tardy! More gas and settle in the car for the next leg.

On the drive west we had driven through Portage La Prairie looking unsuccessfully for something I had wanted to visit just because it was there (or supposed to be) and I wanted a picture. I'd done a little more research on exactly where to go and so it was about midday when 

we pulled in to a Canadian Tire parking lot and walked down to side of the store to see..... the LARGEST Coke Can in the world!

To get some perspective let's put someone there!

 

A few pictures, a little shopping at Canadian Tire and WalMart then continued east to find somewhere for lunch. An hour later we arrived at Tim Horton's for our lunch break.

 

 

Now we just had to navigate past Winnipeg and we should have an easy ride into Ontario. Unfortunately we didn't make it as easy as it should have been. We missed, or ignored, the turning that would have taken up south and around Winnipeg but decided that going through Winnipeg couldn't be that bad could it? Winnipeg proved to have quite a bit of traffic and construction involving one or two detours.

Consequently the drive through Winnipeg was pretty slow though we grabbed a shot of Union Station as we passed slowly by!

Finally putting Winnipeg behind us we crossed into Ontario shortly before 4.15pm Central Time.

Around an hour after entering Ontario we arrived at our destination for the day at Rushing River Provincial Park. We managed to get set up and find something to eat before a decent thunderstorm arrived.

I had wanted to stay here two nights but in this unusual year it was all I could do to book a spot for one night, it didn't help that our arrival day was a Friday - just when people would be arriving for their weekend camping trips. The brown/yellow sign you can't fully see reads 'Sorry, Campground full'.

And so to Saskatchewan...and Manitoba

After a quiet night in the church parking lot we awoke pretty early on 29th July, refreshed and ready to go. But go where? We'd already booked a site just over the Ontario border for 30th July so although we wanted to make progress we wanted to leave ourselves  with a reasonable, but neither too short or too long, a trip on 30th July. The other factor working against us today was that as we cross into Manitoba we'd effectively lose an hour as we move into Central time.

A survey of the route had given us some ideas for where we might stop, one of them being at the Virden Lions Campground, MB. I called the campground and reserved a spot for us. I was a little concerned that if we didn't make it that far we'd lose our deposit however, being run by the Lions volunteers, there was no requirement to pay a deposit. I was told that on arrival I should park in our designated spot and someone would be around later to collect the fee. The other upside was that if we were a no-show for whatever reason we wouldn't have had to pay anything.

The drive through Saskatchewan proved uneventful enough with a gas stop in Hanley and a coffee stop in Chamberlain for 45 minutes. We'd stopped in Chamberlain on the drive west but here's the picture of the grain elevator again in case you missed it! We hadn't spotted it on the drive west but, just by the grain elevator, on the same side was a large, graveled, rest area. There were one or two semi trucks pulled in there and we joined them for our break.

We continued pushing eastward, making good time through Regina and took a Tim Horton's lunch break in Indian Head, SK at 12.38pm having driven 358km so far today. 

Not for the first time, the actual parking lot at Tim's was a bit small for anyone pulling a trailer but fortunately there was an area of 'waste' land on the north side of Tims so we pulled onto that, had lunch and watched a train roll slowly by. It was only after we'd had our Tim's lunch and gassed up the car we realised that the 'Indian Head' was just across the junction from Tims so we pulled over there to investigate.

 

 

 

 

 

Thirty minutes or so after pulling in to Indian head we were pulling out again and crossed into Manitoba at 3.10pm - whoops - make that 4.10pm!

A little further on and we pulled in the Virden Lions campground at 5.00pm Central time. 

After talking with someone at the campground by phone earlier in the day I had been allocated site number 7 for the trailer. We found site 7 easily enough but we were a bit concerned as to whether or not we could get the trailer onto the site due to a low hanging branch! We decided to give it a go and after some careful manoeuvring managed to get the trailer under the branch with about 15cm to spare! We had driven a comfortable 482km today with an estimated drive of 540km tomorrow but with no time change..

Whilst setting up and exploring the park a little we got into conversation with a woman also traveling east with her two dogs for company. She was pulling her trailer from the Vancouver area to Kitchener, ON. She was pulling her smallish distinctive, cream coloured, rounded corner trailer, with a blue Toyota SUV. She said she'd done a long drive that day and was just overnighting in Virden. Consequently she said that the next day or two would be shorter drives and that she'd be headed through Dryden, ON. We told her we really enjoyed our two night stop in Dryden and she shouldn't miss the 'Pieces of Dryden' mosaic and the suspension bridge. Later that evening a woman came around as expected to collect our fees. The campground was actually quite large with some large motorhomes and trailers towards the back of the park, there seemed to be plenty of unoccupied sites so we don't know why we wee squeezed into site number 7.

Homeward bound

 Having  been round and about Stony Plain, Alberta, for 4 1/2 weeks we just had to leave to get back home :-(

So on 28th July we sadly said our farewells and started the long drive east at 9.50am. It wasn't too long before we were back in Vegreville for our first stop for gas and coffee as well as to return something to Canadian Tire that we hadn't had chance to return previously. Then it was quickly back on the highway (at midday) to our planned lunch stop near Maidstone, Saskatchewan. That was when we encountered our first hiccup of the return trip! Just west of Maidstone is, or should be, a popular rest area (campsite for those staying over). However we pulled to the north of the highway and the barrier to the area was padlocked closed, with a faded sign swinging in the light breeze advising us that the rest area was closed due to Covid 19 restrictions. Arrived there at 2.30pm.

Despite being on a narrow, 2 lane side road we managed to reverse our rig into the entrance way of the area and park there for lunch and pulled out at 3.40pm, didn't manage to get a nap as it was still just too hot to be comfortable. 

We were a little concerned we'd be moved on when a truck squeezed in alongside us but the driver informed us he only pulled in because he was geocaching and this site was on his place to search.

It certainly looked as if the place had been abandoned though I guess it had been closed  technically since March 2020 but in practice from Fall 2019 since surely no-one would be camping there in winter?

After our rest we continued on our uneventful way where our next stop was North Battleford, SK. We'd stopped there on our drive west and had a pleasant enough boondocking experience at the civic park but this time we simply gassed up and drove off again by 5.10pm.

Not being too sure of how far we might get that first day I did not book anywhere to stop that first evening, we didn't know if we would leave Stony Plain early or midday and what other stops we might make. However (there's always an 'however'!) I had noted several boondocking options from ioverlander.com website but also did some research of my own. I had identified the small town of Langham, SK, as a good distance to have traveled in one day but there were no boondocking sites around there I could find. I did find a church on the edge of town with two good size parking lots. A quick look at Google street view gave me the contact name and email address so I fired off a request to use their parking lot if I happened to be in that area at a convenient time and I got an OK, no problem reply. So it was that we pulled into the church parking lot at 6.30pm after a drive of 535km.

Time for supper, a read and bed.....zzzzz.

West, east and inbetween

 Having posted blogs of the trip out west and some of the things we did while there  I also some some photos and videos that don't quite seem to belong anywhere but wanted to post anyway.

Having come from the UK I don't think I would attempt to travel in the UK as far as we did on a typical day in Canada. UK roads (motorways), despite having more traffic lanes are much more congested and there are frequently accidents,causing long tailbacks as well as roadworks. So, for my UK viewers, I have some video and photos of part of a typical day of driving. Between provinces the landscape varied quite a lot. In Ontario the highway was typically tree lined with not much to see either side (except when Lake superior was to one side!) 

but in the prairie provinces (Saskatchewan and Alberta in particular) the trees disappeared and we had wide open vistas to enjoy. The prairies were not as flat as I'd imagined them to be, I found driving them relatively good as the roads were pretty straight and flat. 

The highway we took through Ontario was quite hilly and windy in places, especially when puling a trailer and wanting to make good progress. The one thing all the provinces had in common was that gas stations can be few and far between, something to keep an eye on if your vehicle gas tank is on the small side and gas consumption is on the high side!

You may recall that on the drive over we'd seen a black bear, that was to be our most 'wild' wildlife we encountered although we did come across a deer (there were several deer here actually but only one on the dash cam, the others had already crossed the road) in one park as well as a busy beaver in a pond.

 

Something else the UK viewers may not appreciate is the length of goods trains and that most rural towns have railroad crossings in them, I guess because the towns grew up around grain elevator locations that need train tracks alongside to ship the grain to market. It was not uncommon to have to stop at railroad crossing to wait for train to pass. In this video the train took almost 3 minutes to pass by though I did clip the video to much shorter than that. 

We lost count of how many rail cars were part of that train but it was a lot!

It would be bad of me to not include a video of Sarah on the trampoline showing us her skills. 

Good job Sarah 👍

Just desserts

With our time out west rapidly coming to an end as we need to get back home to Ontario there was a quick trip to the Cheesecake Cafe in Stony Plain. Being another hot, sunny day we took a table on the patio but having been given menus there were no cheesecakes in sight! It turned out that despite it's name, Cheesecake Cafe was pretty much a regular restaurant with the usual offering of burgers, fish & chips, pizza etc although there were cheesecakes on the dessert menu. We went straight for the desserts in that case! The cheesecake portions were all a good size and more than one person took the remains of theirs home to finish off at a later time.

Vermilion Provincial Park

By now we were used to the routine of being at the house and going away on a camping trip on the weekend. It came as a bit of a surprise to all of us to discover that our final 'weekend' camping trip in Alberta was mistakenly booked for Wednesday through Saturday. After a little hasty planning and packing on Tuesday we were off on Wednesday morning for the short trip east of Edmonton to Vermilion Provincial Park.

After the fishing excitement from the Goose Lake trip a couple more fishing rods had been purchased to see what we could pull from the trout pond at Vermilion. Unfortunately it seems most or all of the stocked trout had already been pulled out by the time we got there. We failed to get anything like a bite while fishing at the pond. There were one or two busy beavers on the river though.....

It was a pretty relaxing time though with continued good weather and plenty of entertainment from the dozens of prairie dogs.

As well as relaxing around the site we played games, flew kites 

and explored the town. Unfortunately there were only S'mores on the first night. We purchased firewood for the first night but on Thursday we were told we should not have been sold the wood due to the extreme fire risk and there being a complete ban on outdoor fires.