Milton to the Sault

We left Milton about 9am. The skies were clear and the sun was shinning – always a great way to start the day.

Within a few minutes we were on the 401 heading east (yes east, before heading north). Traffic was light on the 401 and also on the 407…perhaps because it was Sunday. When we reached 400 north, we decided to stop at the first OnRoute to top up the Tundra and grab a coffee. There was a Starbucks so I was able to get an Americano (unfortunately no Clover at these sites).

After a quick stop we continued north toward Barrie. Zach wasn’t entirely certain but he thought when he rode with the Dias family to the cottage they took the 400 for part of the journey (their cottage is near Huntsville on Mary Lake).

After reaching Muskoka and Parry Sound, 400 ended and highway 69 began. We continued on until we reached Sudbury when we turned on to Highway 17. The Muskoka is pretty…little lakes everywhere. I can see why people who live in the Greater Toronto Area want to have a cottage there. We stopped for gas just south of Parry Sound, the home of Bobby Orr. I wish we had more time to explore these places but we must be home within a week and our 8 to 9 hour driving days are already long.

Just south of Sudbury, we saw a small black bear cub eating berries on the side of the road. After reaching Sudbury, I mused why anyone would settle here – I’m presuming mining? My friend and colleague Gaston lives in Sudbury and I recall asking him one time if he drove to Toronto to catch a plane to Boston or Vancouver. He laughed and told me they flew. Today, I understood why – 5 hours of driving. We passed by quickly and continued on to our destination of Sault St Marie.

Driving through Sault St Marie was interesting. One needs to be careful to make all the right turns to avoid ending up in the USA – Michigan. There were several previous business establishments boarded up, which makes me wonder if this community like many small towns in BC is struggling to sustain its economy.

After one more stop for gas in a place whose name escapes me, we pushed on for the Sault (pronounced Sue). About 30 minutes south, we passed this fella.

We arrived right on the GPS lady’s time into the KOA campsite and saw a young cow moose munching grass (didn’t snap a photo – sorry). The campsite is very nice and it even has a high pressure RV wash! If we had more time, I’d be in there – for those of you who know me and my OCD, it’s killing me not to wash off all the bugs. We quickly unhooked, met the neighbours. One guy and his two young boys is from Victoria and headed for Newfoundland and the other is from Markham and headed to Brandon. They left their trailers hooked up for an early departure tomorrow morning.

While Connie prepared dinner, I ran into town to gas up the Tundra. When I returned dinner was ready and we sat down to a lovely meal of pork chops, mixed vegetables and new potatoes, followed by dessert – Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice ream with maple liqueur.

After dinner Connie and I chatted…well she chatted and I attempted to listen. I mostly heard what she said but at some point I confess I stopped listening. It was a crucial point as she said “your wine has tipped over!” I was looking at my iPhone and said “hmmm.” She then raised her voice and said “your wine is spilling on the ground!” I jumped to attention but too late, all but a swallow had spilled. Connie used this as another learning opportunity for me. “See”, she said. “You never listen to what I say.” I responded, “I was listening.” Oh really? At this point I must have pushed the Siri button on my iPhone as she immediately blurted out “I’m listening”. To this Connie and I laughed hysterically. Siri responded by saying “I’m glad you find this funny.”

Meanwhile, Zach decided to reorganize the back of the truck. I had mentioned in yesterday’s post that we are very full now. I was skeptical that he could make more space. He responded with “you are always skeptical of me.” I protested…”not always!” In any case, I retreated to the trailer and began writing this blog entry. Shortly thereafter, Connie summoned me to come and see Zach’s masterpiece. He had done it! Everything was fitting inside the back of the pickup, with room to spare. He said in TPB fashion, “Dad, I’m not normally one to say I toad-a-so but I *** a toad-a-so!” I admitted my defeat and apologized for my skepticism.

Time for sleep now as we have another long day of driving . Tomorrow we will make like a tree… to Thunder Bay