Wednesday Sept 25th – Swift Current to
Grenfell Saskatchewan
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| LEAVING SWIFT CURRENT |
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| SASKATCHEWAN IS FLAT |
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| BUT HE GLACIAL DRUMLINS ADD A DIFFERENCE |
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| YEAH.... GRENFELL, SASK |
Well the Swift Current site
was nothing special so we got out as soon as possible in the morning, had an
uneventful drive past Regina and began to marvel at the flat grasslands of the
prairies. Got to the site at Grenfell about 2.30 pm for a self check in…just a
open field of 9 or 10 utility posts and a “please leave $25 in an envelope in
the mail slot!” easy drive through site and we didn’t even disconnect the
truck. Got the bikes off the rack and cycled over to see Laurette at her home.
Well Grenfell sure is a sleepy rural town of about 900. Almost idyllic and
friendly folk..I guess it was pretty obvious that we were strangers. What a
great visit to chat about the intervening years and life events for us all. So
we ordered a chinese take out for Laurette to pick up…too awkward for us to
carry on our bikes and we headed back to camp to show off our condo while the
three of us munched away. We spent some 7 hours together and still had many
stories untold. So good to renew friendships and stay in touch.
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| SUNSET AT THE CAMPSITE |
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| LOOKS ALMOST LIKE A FIRE |
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| GOOD TO SEE LONG TIME FRIENDS ... LAURETTE |
Thursday Sept 26th – Grenfell Saskatchewan
right through to Dryden Ontario
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| WINNIPEG FROM A DISTANCE |
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| STILL A LONG WAY TO GO |
After a short drive
yesterday we were set for a long one today. We started out at 9.00 am local
time and targeted to get to Kenora. We drove through a stormy morning and
drifted across the prairies. The TransCanada highway was dual carriageway and
two lanes each way the whole stretch, but boringly flat. Just gently rolling
countryside so that you could see a couple of miles at most …but it is savannah
grassland. In the afternoon we had passed through the storm and we pressed on.
Pleased to find that diesel was only $1.18 in Manitoba as in SK. Well we blazed
by Winnipeg on the southern ring road and only saw the city from a distance. At
the eastern end of Manitoba, we did however spot a huge bald headed Eagle and
the vegetation cover now included trees and brush not jut grass.
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| MADE IT TO DRYDEN-BIRCHLAND PARK |
By about 5pm we crossed over
into Ontario and began to look for the designated camp …The Willows in Kenora.
I had called ahead and was told its on Hwy 17 just after 17A rejoins it. The
gps co-ordinates couldn’t pick it up and knowing the mailbox number was useless
and the one highway advertisement was actually too far past it so we realized
some 20km on from Kenora that we had missed it. Well at that point we just kept
going and 90 minutes later just before dark hauled our weary selves into
Birchland Campsite in Dryden. Again basically just a serviced field but they
had internet (having warned me it
probably wouldn’t work) so we were happy. We actually reheated the Chinese
leftovers for dinner! Had an early night and set ourselves up for another long
day tomorrow.
Friday September 27th Dryden to somewhere
between Thunder Bay and Marathon called Neys!
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| MEMORIAL TO TERRY FOX- NEAR THE SPOT HE STOPPED HIS RUN |
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| IT IS A BEAUTIFUL SPOT NEAR THUNDER BAY |
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| YES FALL IS IN THE AIR |
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| TOP OF LAKE SUPERIOR |
Got off to a later than planned start,
actually we slept in. Packed as quickly as we could, but still didn’t quite get
going before the thunderstorm hit. Left the site about 9.30 and set off a
little wet in the pouring rain…first time this year! that that has happened!
Filled up at $1.35..welcome to Ontario. Ugh. Drove south toward Thunder Bay and
the weather broke about two hours into the drive. The scenery around Thunder
Bay became much more lush with firs and deciduous trees and much more prolific
vegetation. In Thunder bay we stopped by the Terry Fox memorial and were both
choked up seeing such a significant memorial and great tribute to perhaps
Canada’s greatest athlete and modern day hero. Shortly after getting back en
route we passed mile 3339 where he had to stop his Marathon of Hope. We had
researched and found a small campsite at Neys right on Highway 17 just west of
Marathon and that was the target for tonight. The camp has 14 sites a small
convenience store with a lunch counter, a hunting outfitters shop and an LCBO
agency. Ah yes it was awarded Ontario small camp of the year in 2011. It’s
called Neys Lunch and Campsite. We
arrived as expected at 7.30 pm and set up then wandered into the lunch counter
for home made bacon burger and fries and chicken fingers. Good solid comfort
food with more fat than we have eaten all week…. it was excellent. No disappointments.
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| VIEW AS WE DRIVE |
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| ONTARIO IS BEAUTIFUL |
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| CAMP AT NEY'S LUNCH AND CAMPSITE |
SATURDAY SEPT 28TH - NEYS TO SAULT STE MARIE
We
got up and headed back into the diner for a full cooked breakfast...
because we could!!! Afterwards our guts were questioning our wisdom..
but once in a while you just gotta get down and get greasy!!!!
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| Southbound on #17 - the road to the Sault. |
We continued to discuss our sanity as we drove south closer to 'home'. Our goal was to get to Sault STe Marie and we made it in good time. As we drove we couldn;t help admiring the beauty of this province. It is truly amazing. Lake superior and the surrounding area, ablaze with the colours of Fall surprised and delighted us on every turn of the road. We stopped at the Agawa visitors centre and learned much about the history of the area, watching a couple of short videos, and treating ourselves to a break in the drive. We are pretty much set to stay an extra night in Sault Ste Marie to catch up with another (band) friend who moved up here a few years ago. We arived at the KOA and were very happy with the campsite. Clean, friendly and good for a couple of nights.
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| The open road-almost at Sault Ste Marie |
Got off to a later than planned start,
actually we slept in. Packed as quickly as we could, but still didn’t quite get
going before the thunderstorm hit. Left the site about 9.30 and set off a
little wet in the pouring rain…first time this year! that that has happened!
Filled up at $1.35..welcome to Ontario. Ugh. Drove south toward Thunder Bay and
the weather broke about two hours into the drive. The scenery around Thunder
Bay became much more lush with firs and deciduous trees and much more prolific
vegetation. In Thunder bay we stopped by the Terry Fox memorial and were both
choked up seeing such a significant memorial and great tribute to perhaps
Canada’s greatest athlete and modern day hero. Shortly after getting back en
route we passed mile 3339 where he had to stop his Marathon of Hope. We had
researched and found a small campsite at Neys right on Highway 17 just west of
Marathon and that was the target for tonight. The camp has 14 sites a small
convenience store with a lunch counter, a hunting outfitters shop and an LCBO
agency. Ah yes it was awarded Ontario small camp of the year in 2011. It’s
called Neys Lunch and Campsite. We
arrived as expected at 7.30 pm and set up then wandered into the lunch counter
for home made bacon burger and fries and chicken fingers. Good solid comfort
food with more fat than we have eaten all week…. it was excellent. No disappointments.
We continued to discuss our sanity as we drove south closer to 'home'. Our goal was to get to Sault STe Marie and we made it in good time. As we drove we couldn;t help admiring the beauty of this province. It is truly amazing. Lake superior and the surrounding area, ablaze with the colours of Fall surprised and delighted us on every turn of the road. We stopped at the Agawa visitors centre and learned much about the history of the area, watching a couple of short videos, and treating ourselves to a break in the drive. We are pretty much set to stay an extra night in Sault Ste Marie to catch up with another (band) friend who moved up here a few years ago. We arived at the KOA and were very happy with the campsite. Clean, friendly and good for a couple of nights.
