Well this was a nice travel day with a lovely finish. We left Fairbank today, bouncing along the very pothole filled 14 mile park road back to highway 17. Then we headed west and kept going until we arrived at Sault Ste. Marie. All the while, we carefully scanned the rainy countryside, looking for moose (a bit desperately, it must be said).
Sadly, there were no moose to be found. However, we did spot signs warning us to look out for horse drawn carriages. Those crazy Canadians! They’ll warn you about the most unlikely things! Oh wait. Actually, there were multiple horse drawn carriages on the road. But not the angry night moose we had also been warned about so many times. Oh well. We loved Ontario so much, we think it’s highly probable that we will return.
The Trans Canada Highway is every bit as green and beautiful as I imagined it might be. You can go for long stretches without seeing any towns, but not so long that it’s scary. Yes, there are the ubiquitous stretches of road construction from time to time, but I’ll give it to Canada over Indiana any day on how the detours and temporary surfaces are managed. Sorry Indiana, I’m still fairly bitter. And construction or not, the highway is bordered by wildflowers everywhere, and marshes and lakes and rivers. It really seems like moose country to me. Maybe I’ll photoshop some herds in.
We stopped at a little park in Sault Ste. Marie before crossing the border. You know you’re close to home when your phone starts hitting Verizon and ATT instead of Roberts and Bell. The crossing itself was uneventful with the exception of oranges. Citrus, tomatoes, and certain meats (lamb), were on the list of ‘don’t bring,’ so we ditched them. No drama.
We chose a state park campground really close to the border, because you just never know how long that might take. It turned out to be a lovely place right on the banks of Lake Superior, and we got a site at the water. Sweet. It was raining as we pulled in but we made quick work of unhitching so we could go enjoy the beach. I can’t quite believe this is really a lake. The vastness makes it impossible to see to the other side and there are full on sandy beaches, complete with seagulls (lakegulls?). There are waves and everything, though it’s not as cold. It’s got all the vibe of an ocean beach and we enjoyed sitting in our Nemo chair swings to watch an almost sunset over the almost ocean.
And that’s a wrap for Canada! We really really loved our stay and have no doubts that we’ll be plotting trips in the future. It’s nice to be ‘home’ though, for better or worse, and despite all the dysfunction, it’s home.
Total miles: 200.1, 17.1 mpg, 5 hours 26 min. Site 195, by the water. Electric hookups, nice bathrooms, dump, water spigots. LTE for ATT, but weak 3g for Verizon.
I like how Richard always looks like he is riding a motorcycle with high handlebars whenever he sits in his chair!
😎 We’re just super cool that way. 😂🤓