So our big Eastern trip has begun. This is new territory for us. I've flown to most cities in the East for work, but Cheryl hasn't been east of Thunder Bay. We are really looking forward to this road trip.
Ottawa, Ontario is roughly 2200 kilometers (1367 miles) from Winnipeg. I figured four days to make the trip. As usual we like to get the longest day over with first then gradually decrease the driving hours. We didn't have a lot planned to see during our stops we thought staying at Walmart for three nights would suffice.
We stopped at Thunder Bay our first night. The drive across the Canadian Shield was beautiful. Lots of lakes, rocky outcropping, and reasonable traffic made the eight hour drive enjoyable. We stopped at a couple picnic sites along the way and then stopped at Kakabeka Falls just outside Thunder Bay.
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| Still in Manitoba, but just. |
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| This guy was not having a good day. It looks like he got too close to a steep ditch, maybe while turning around. I wonder if the fridge works at that angle? |
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| I love roads that twist through rock cuts. The expose some interesting colours. |
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| Tons of wild flowers in the ditches. This is fireweed I believe. |
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| A nice spot for lunch. |
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| Paper mill near Dryden. |
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| Wonderful, but abandoned, church. Makes you wonder what happened to parishioners. |
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| It's a long drive to Thunder Bay from Winnipeg. |
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| Kakabeka Falls is about twenty minutes west of Thunder Bay |
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| Impressive falls! |
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| Shutter speed is slowed down to give the water a smooth appearance. All shots are hand-held. |
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| Just outside of Thunder Bay. Cheryl takes these shots while I drive. It is very hard to get a clear picture through the windshield. I here a lot of swearing next to me! :-) |
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| Our spot at Thunder Bay Walmart |
The Thunder Bay Walmart is near a busy highway, but the noise really wasn't too bad. The area is not the best so not sure if we would stay there again. It worked out fine for the brief time we were there.
Next day we headed out without buying fuel. We tried, but not every gas station sells diesel and not all of them have a high enough canopy for the trailer to pass under. Before we knew it we were out of town. We were sure there would be a truck stop along soon.
Our first stop of the day was the Terry Fox memorial just east of town. He was a remarkable young man that died of cancer far too soon. His Foundation has raised millions of dollars for cancer research. He is one of Canada's heroes that is without controversy or doubt. That doesn't happen often these days.
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| A view of Lake Superior from the Terry Fox Memorial lookout. Lots of fog over the lake. It cleared just enough to get this shot. |
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| There are Amethyst mines in the area. Here is a sample rock on display. |
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| Closeup of the crystals. |
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| We drove in and out of fog banks for a while. |
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| New bridge over the Nipigon River. |
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| A little church just outside of Lake Helen, north of Nipigon. |
We turned north at Nipigon, again without finding fuel. The Husky truck stop wouldn't accept my credit card at the truck pumps, and the moron ahead of me at the car pumps was taking the whole morning to get around to pumping fuel. Yikes! How do some people make it through the day? So we headed north and at the small native community of Lake Helen I filled with fuel for 20 cents a liter less than on the highway. We were also served by a very polite young man and the lady inside the store was equally charming. Overall, it was a good choice.
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| Best price around! |
Our second nights stop was in Kapuskasing. We had nice scenery and for the most part smooth roads. There is a lot less traffic along this highway and it moves along at reasonable speeds. We made a couple of stops......and of course waved toward Pasha Lake as we passed where
Jim and Barb are enjoying some great fishing (well Barb is, Jim is watching her :-)).
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| Beardmore, Ontario |
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| Mine shaft headframe near Geraldton |
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| Stop at Longlac |
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| Longlac is a huge lake. They used boats like this on it. |
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| This guy has a dinosaur in his front yard. I assume to help the plumber find his way to the guy's house. 'Yeah, just come down the highway and turn in at the dinosaur.' |
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| Railway bridge |
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| Kapuskasing Walmart. A friendly townsfolk stopped and told me that the Town provides a free dump station and fresh water at the tourist info place down the road. Thanks! |
Our last Walmart stop before Ottawa was in North Bay. It was a great spot. Far from the highway and lots of company for security. I counted 15 RV's in the lot Sunday morning.
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| Smooth Rock Falls |
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| One big lumberjack! |
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| Coming into North Bay |
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| Lots of corn grown in the Ottawa Valley. |
Just one 'pucker moment' on the drive to Ottawa. We turned a corner in a small town on Highway 17 and what should appear in front of us but an underpass with a height marking of 4.2 meters! Yikes, we are 4.1 meters!! It was too late to stop and no where to turn around so we eased under it while ducking and saying a short prayer. No noises from above, which meant the air conditioner was still attached. That was a bit too close. This was a major highway and no advance warning that I saw. I wonder how many 'slightly' high loads loose a portion of them under that bridge? Who knows what the true height of that underpass really is. Did they lay some fresh asphalt since the sign went up? Did the guy measure accurate before he ordered the sign? Do they purposely mark the height lower than it really is? Don't know.......and I don't want to find out. Cheryl refuses to climb up on the trailer while we go under those bridges to check our clearance. :-)
We arrived at the Hither Hills campground just south of Ottawa in mid-afternoon of Sunday, August 12. The campground is just far enough off the highway to be very quiet at night. The sites are a bit indistinct. Thankfully the owner led us to the correct spot. The 50 amp power is going to be put to good use with high temps and humidity forecast for the week we are here.
We have a full agenda and it starts first thing Monday morning.
....and that was Our View From Here!
