Rainbow Falls Provincial Park to Aaron Provincial Park, days 4 & 5

 After a good nights sleep we rose at 6.45am and set about the routine of wash, breakfast and get ready to roll.

Before leaving the site we drove to a parking lot in the campground, walked down 172 steps to get a view of the parks namesake waterfall 

before heading back to the car, dumping the grey and black tanks and heading west back on the Trans Canada Highway.

The drive was consistently interrupted by roadworks with one side of the highway completely closed, sometimes for kilometres at a time. Traffic flow was controlled by workers holding stop/slow signs. Another sign we saw of a bit more interest indicated that we were passing the smallest Canadian Tire store in Canada. A pit stop for gas in Thunder Bay was followed by a lunch an hour earlier than planned as we took the stop at the rest area where we crossed in Central Time. 

Arrived at Aaron Provincial Park (just east of Dryden, Ontario) at 4.45pm having completed almost 520km today. We had booked a two night stopover here as we anticipated we may need a break from driving too much every day. As it turned out it was a godsend to have a break as the oil change warning light came on earlier in the day and having a longer stay here would allow us to get the oil change done without adversely affecting our schedule.

Despite the employee at the park office telling us where the potable water when we arrive at the water tap there was a sign informing us that the water was not potable. We drove around the site, trailer in tow, checking out all the water taps but they were all tagged as non-potable - do not use. Fortunately we do carry potable water in a 10L container as well as a pack of 24 individual 500ml water bottles. Just after setting up we had a thunder and lightening storm. Roast beef, broccolli, new potatoes, gravy and a glass of cider for supper - just needed some Yorkshire puds and horseradish to be perfect.

After breakfast the next day we set off the 15km into Dryden to try to get an oil change done. The only place in town seemed to be the Canadian Tire store who booked the car in for 4pm that same day. Being in the same town for a whole day also gave us the opportunity to get a prescription filled as well as look around the town itself.

Dryden seems like a nice town, originally built around a paper mill industry and a paper mill is still operational there today. Having a paper mill in town of course means another river,

a small waterfall and even a suspension bridge. 

At the park adjacent to the river/suspension bridge is a very nice piece of artwork called 'Pieces of Dryden'. It's central feature is an hexagonal structure comprised of around 18000 pieces of broken pottery and glass etc. contributed by the citizens of Dryden. The structure is encircled by benches with various designs.

                           

After exploring town we headed back to the campground, packed a lunch and headed to the lakeside for lunch and a couple of hours fruitless fishing. Then it was back into Dryden for the oil change appointment and also bought some marine grade caulk for the trailer window. Back to campground for a bolognaise supper, caulked the trailer window and tidied the trailer ready for the off in the morning.