Tuesday July 14, 2009

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day! The best I've seen in a while. It was bright and sunny with a breeze and I even got to wear shorts! Too bad we were too tired and had to do mundane things like grocery shopping. We managed a lovely 24C (75F) as a high.

There's a gravel road than runs along the campground (Richard Lake Road) that has no traffic so after I had walked around the RV park a bit to get my bearing as to where the restroom and showers were I took off down that road. It's nice to be somewhere that you don't have to look out for traffic.

A couple of photos of the beach here at the park


When I got back and had breakfast, Gordon and I walked over to the Tourist Information Centre to get info on Sudbury and the area. They were very helpful there. When we got back we walked around the park a bit and down to the beach.

After lunch we proceeded into Sudbury and found a Food Basics, one of my favourite grocery stores and the mall which had a bank, Dollarama (another favourite store) and Walmart. Unfortunately it's not a Superwalmart but they did have groceries. I managed to stock up on stuff I couldn't get in Wawa. We didn't get to see much in the way of interesting stuff this afternoon.

Sudbury is not an easy city to get around in. Nor are the streets in good shape. I felt like we were back in Louisiana with the condition of the roads.

Gordon got a messy job out of the way today. Every so often the bathroom sink trap has to be taken apart because it gets clogged by hair, mostly mine I'm sure however it's now done and working well. I also put a mixture of baking soda, vinegar and boiling water down to clean it out as well.

Monday July 13, 2009-Now near Sudbury, Ontario

Last night just before I went to bed we had this awesome rainbow! If you look closely you can see it's a double rainbow.



Today we left the Great White North and traveled 541 km (338 miles) to Sudbury, Ontario basically back the way we came. We left at 9:20 a.m. under sunny skies but chilly at 8C (46F). It was mostly sunny for our drive but we started running into clouds and a few spatters of rain as we neared Sudbury. We stopped a couple of times for a break along the way.

I saw this RV at the gas station in Wawa when we fueled up this morning

Here are glimpses of Lake Superior on our way from Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie. This is my goodbye to Lake Superior and the moosie moosies.









It clouded up as we neared Sudbury



We arrived at Carol's Campsite at about 3:30 p.m. It was a very long drive! We were basically set up by 5 p.m.

Our site - they are a good size



This is what the sites look like going toward the lake



We've made the decision to stay here for a week. We can tour Manitoulin Island and check out the shore of Georgian Bay as well as Lake Nipissing from here. Although the campground isn't much, since we paid cash we got the week for $150 which is pretty good.

We're basically in a pull thru site in a field but at least there are no trees and we had no problem with the satellite.

I think we'll be having an early night tonight. We're both tired from the long drive.

Sunday July 12, 2009

Today, although sunny for the most part was downright chilly! This morning when I started out for my walk it was only 8C (47F) and I don't think our high got above 12C (54F).

Silver Falls in fog


This is the view across the road from the park that I've featured numerous times, this time in fog. It's kind of like the Superstition Mountains were to me in Mesa. I never get tired of looking at it.



My day was spent reading, on the computer, cleaning and doing laundry. Tomorrow we will hopefully be heading south and east on our way to the Georgian Bay area. We don't have a park to stay at yet. The one I emailed doesn't have room on the weekend and we like to get weekly rates when possible. We'll probably stay somewhere about half way to Georgian Bay tomorrow night. Maybe we'll find that former KOA at Spragge, ON that we were going to stay at on the way here. Who knows?

I didn't take any photos today so the ones featured are from yesterday's trip to Potholes Provincial Park and from our foggy evening drive the night before.

The gorge at Potholes Provincial Park

Marshy area at Potholes Provincial Park - this is part of the Kinwabi River

When we got home yesterday I noticed these huge toadstools under one of our pine trees.

Saturday July 11, 2009

Gordon has done a synopsis of mini-vacation this week, to read it click here.

We went out last night for sunset but it was too foggy. We did get some nice fog photos though.


Although it was cloudy this morning when I went for my walk the clouds soon dissipated and the sun came out but it did remain cool. We just piddled around this morning on the computer.

After lunch we set out to tour some of the back roads around here. Most of the back roads are gravel, some in better shape than others. In fact, I've been on more gravel roads in the last two weeks than I have been since we started our odyssey nearly five years ago.

Gordon then suggested we drive to Potholes Provincial Park which is down Hwy 101 where we were a couple of weeks ago only it was raining off and on so away we went and managed to find it again even though the signage was inaccurate.

One of the potholes

Lots of rocks

Trail

A little falls

It is a very special spot. No traffic noise, just the sound of rushing water and wind in the trees along with our footsteps. There was no one else there. I could spend some time there, it would be lovely for a picnic sitting on the rocks, very peaceful and as Doug and JoAnn would say 'spiritual'.

"This nature reserve east of Wawa gets its name from glacial potholes and troughs scooped out of bedrock forming the riverbed of the Kiniwabi River."

We had a great afternoon!

Friday July 10, 2009

We had heavy rains this morning and a couple of thunderstorms. It was raining lightly when I went out for my walk but almost as soon as I came in the heavens opened! The site next to us looks like a wading pool!

This is the site next to us - photo taken from our bedroom window in the midst of pouring rain!


Our internet was in and out this morning. I chatted with Jenny for a while on Facebook and read some when the storm was at its worst and the internet was out.

I've been looking for places for us to go next. Gordon doesn't want to go through Michigan so we've decided to go back to Sudbury and go south from there and visit the coast of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. That's another spot that we've wanted to go back too ever since going to Bruce Peninsula the summer of 2005.

This afternoon I made cereal bars again. This little piece of equipment, my mini Cuisinart is a very handy tool to have in an RV if you don't have room for the larger model.


We received this joke today from a friend of ours in Florida. Someone has a lot of time on their hands!

The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new health care plan being developed by the Obama Team.

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the
Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.

The Anesthesiologists thought the idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.

Thursday July 9, 2009 - Back at Wawa

We had a great little 'mini-vacation'. We haven't stayed in a motel for ages and I have to say I missed my own bed and our on-board amenities although the speedy wifi was great and the shower was wonderful. Gordon got to have a bath. He misses his bathtub.

Gordon was up again at the crack of dawn and I couldn't get back to sleep after he left so I read blogs and watched some TV and yes, they do have more than one channel in Terrace Bay. They have come into the 21st century and actually have cable! Consequently we were ready for breakfast at about 7:15 a.m. but the restaurant in the motel wasn't open yet. What's with that?

We decided to get on the road and head for Marathon. I figured that restaurants would be open by the time we got there. With stops to take photos including one of this very co-operative fellow


as well as two others who weren't so cooperative, we arrived in Marathon at about 9:10 a.m. and the restaurant in the mall was open so we had our bacon and egg feast then filled up with diesel at the best price I've seen in ages - 89.9/litre, we headed for Wawa arriving around 12:30 p.m. and so ends our vacation from our life on the road.

I was so tired when I got home that after the truck was unpacked and things put away I lay down for a couple of hours.

The weather for our trip was mostly nice, no rain but did have some cloudy skies yesterday. Today was sunny and warm at 23C (74F) - just perfect!

I'm so happy that I finally saw not one moose but three today! The last time I saw one was when I was fourteen and I drove with my grandmother and two family friends to Thunder Bay. A moose crossed the road in front of us in somewhere near the same area that we saw the ones today.

I'm pretty burned out with taking photos so I'll probably take a rest, at least for a few hours!

Wednesday July 8, 2009 - From Terrace Bay, ON

I took this photo of the Wawa Goose last night when we were out.


This morning we headed north with just the truck leaving the RV to fend for itself in Wawa. The plan was to go to Marathon about 2 1/2 hrs away and stay overnight in a motel.

We stopped at Pukaskwa National Park just south of Marathon on the way. I walked part of a trail but not being part mountain goat I don't like trails that go over big rocks so I went back to the Visitor Centre and waited for Gordon. It was a pretty spot.

Hatties Cove


Trail over rocks

Wood lily


We drove around Marathon and found a couple of scenic spots overlooking Lake Superior but decided to continue northwest. We stopped at Neys Campground where we had planned to stay if we had brought the RV. It's a Passport America park but only 15 amp service. The park isn't much. Right across the road is Neys Provincial Park. They also have campsites that have electric but no water. Wonder who thought that one up? Anyway, there were some pretty sites down by the water where we could see the satellites if we ever decide to come back.

Note the driftwood on the beach at Marathon

Prisoner's Cove at Ney's Provincial Park

Pretty scene along the way


On we went and stopped at Terrace Bay. We drove to a couple of the beaches on Lake Superior, then stopped at the Tourist Bureau, found a motel with wifi, had dinner at the motel's restaurant (wouldn't recommend it) and then drove to the Aguasabon Falls & river gorge which is just outside Terrace Bay. Unfortunately the falls are at an odd angle and hard to photograph and the trail that would have been a better viewing area was closed.

Terrace Bay Beach

Falls

On to Screiber beach. Screiber is a little town about 10 min. from Terrace Bay and we were told that they had just redone their beach area so away we went. It was only 8 p.m. at that point but we were both wiped out so we took some photos and came back to the motel. I just couldn't wait 1 1/2 hrs for sunset tonight!

Pre-sunset at Screiber beach

Sorry, too tired to go into a lot of detail. It was a very full day and we saw lots of beautiful scenery.....but no moose!

Wednesday July 8, 2009

We're heading out this morning about 2 1/2 hours north of Wawa to Marathon, Ontario. The plan is to stay overnight in a motel - kind of a mini vacation and see what there is to see around Marathon without hauling the RV up all those hills. So if there's no posting tonight, it's because we couldn't find any wifi.