Trip to Ontario

CT and I wasted no time in getting down to the business of how to travel across the Canadian border during this time of Covid. With an expensive, quick-return test, a vaccine immunization card and ArriveCAN online information uploaded (whew!) we’re ready to cross the border.

Lucky we had 72 hours (including wait time) to reach the border at Sault St. Marie. Lulu likes to stop at scenic lookouts, take rests (her tires get hot ya know) and be filled with fuel. Bathroom stops and stretching legs, getting ice and generally just taking care of business, we often averaged a whooping 33 miles per hour over the course of each day.

Two nights out, Wissota Campground (get it? Wisconsin/Minnesota! Clever.) and the fairgrounds in Escanaba, MI. Arrive Sault St. Marie with time to spare. Apparently the rush for Americans to drive across the border took place the first few days after opening, August 9th. Now, with just a few cars in front of us and all our papers in order it was a breeze.

Gee it’s good to be in Cananada where the people are oh-so-nice, and major populations are few with spectacular wilderness, small towns and hamlets in between. And of course, the popular Tim Hortons donuts. The company was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario, by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade.

The Cabin

Kayaking, reading, torrential downpours, warm sun, striking sunsets and birdlife. Bananagrams, supping, technically nupping (kneel-up paddle boarding),  biking, hiking and exploring. And at long last, several proper thunderstorms complete with a multi-hour power outage.

AND A PRIVATE OUTDOOR SHOWER!!

If you only have one day to explore, do Kagawong. “One of Manitoulin’s landmark natural tourist attractions, a heritage village (complete with lighthouse), a historic pulp mill that now serves as the waterfront municipal office of the Township of Billings, a bubbling brook, hiking trails, art galleries and even a chocolate factory.”  The cemetery is well taken care of and a solemn yet interesting walk thru history.  Find strange and thought-provoking artwork along the trails. Skip Bridal Veil Falls if there’s too many people. And get a chocolate or three.

A day trip to Tobermory.  The ferry ride was fun!

The Final Leg

So long to a wonderful time at The Cabin. Vacating for the next family members to enjoy, we begin a seven day drive across the north end of Lake Superior, down The North Shore in Minnesota, and 😩 to the Minneapolis airport.

Pancake Bay Provincial Park, two nights. The sun was out, the beach was warm. The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald was within sight of this park and was highlighted at the park so we Googled more in depth on that and began listening to Gordon Lightfoot.

Something interesting: we came across artwork reproductions at a couple locations, outdoors, on easels, complete with artist seats.  From Wikipedia: The Group of Seven, once known as the Algonquin School, was a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933.

Another source indicates: The Group of Seven are regarded as the forerunners of a national Canadian artistic identity. Focus of the Canadian landscape and their style of painting drew both national and international attention and is often regarded as an integral part of the emerging nationality Canada developed in the twentieth century.

About Sustenance

We were pining for a good burger but unwilling to test local fare in Wawa. Thus far we were unimpressed, perhaps somewhat DEpressed with the few times we stepped out to eat. Young Wawa locals recommended Station Four on the North Shore in Marathon for the best burger. It was great. Still, our stomachs felt heavy with the unaccustomed amount of meat.  Normally it’s quinoa, vegetables, tuna, lentils, fruit.

Neys Provincial Park

Neys was unequivocally our favorite park.

Remote. With miles of hiking along glacier smoothed boulders and forest paths, never-ending vistas of raw beauty, and exciting sounds and sights of freight trains.

An overnight at Kekabeka Falls Provincial Park outside of Thunder Bay:

Spending time at Grand Portage exposed a time period new to me:

“When the French ceded Canada to Great Britain in 1763, traders immediately began moving across the Canadian frontier to take advantage of the region’s wealth of resources forming trading companies throughout the Canadian Northwest. Among these was Simon McTavish’s North West Company, which from 1784 to 1803 was the most profitable fur trading corporation on the Great Lakes. Although based in Montreal, the company’s inland headquarters was on the Grand Portage, an 8.5-mile footpath that allowed travelers to bypass the Pigeon River Rapids. Known by the Ojibwe as the Kitchi Onigaming or Great Carrying Place by voyagers who lugged their canoes over the portage trail, this historic gateway into Canada’s fur country is part of the Grand Portage National Monument, which tells the stories of the American Indians and voyageurs of Minnesota’s Grand Portage.”

finally, a night spent street-side in the ‘destination town’ of Grand Marais, MN where we found laundry, a car wash for Lulu, and the previously mentioned World’s Famous Donuts. Then onward to a hotel in Minneapolis (LONG HOT SHOWERS!) and a super early shuttle took CT to the airport in the morning.

It’s a strange feeling, the transition to be moving about on my own again. It was a grand time.