The road from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie is…well…rather boring. At least I find it that way. Kilometres and kilometres of similar terrain and scenery (rocks and trees mostly). While signs are posted to remind you that services are limited, we had little issue fuelling up despite our less than optimal gas mileage.
We left Marathon about 830am and it was sunny, dry but windy the entire way to Sault Ste Marie. Given the wind, I drove a little slower (partly for gas mileage and partly because the trailer sways more in the wind).
Like every other day since entering Ontario, we saw several provincial police cruisers. Some cars, some SUVs and some pickup trucks. More than once, they whipped by us going to who knows where, as we never caught up with them or the incident they were called to. A couple had pulled over semi trucks for infractions of some kind, and cars for speeding. It’s been a few years since I travelled north of Prince George in BC but we’ve seen more traffic police on this trip than I’ve seen in Kelowna during the last two years.
Given I was driving a bit slower, I tried hard to pull over when safe, or slow down in the passing lane sections, to allow cars and trucks to pass me. Most of the time I drove at the maximum speed limit of 90 kilometres per hour. However, one semi-truck driver decided to climb up my backside and let me know he was behind me by pulling half-way into the oncoming lane of traffic. Shortly thereafter, he decided to pass me on a blind corner and when he saw a motor cycle coming the other way, thought it best to cut early into my lane. His passenger was motioning out the window to me, I presume to tell me I should slow down. I remained calm but shared with him a few choice words suggesting perhaps he shouldn’t have passed on a blind corner and double line, especially when the next passing lane was just 2 kilometres away. As the old saying goes, “where is a cop when you need him?”
We continued on our way and passed by the Yellow Brick Road. I kid you not! There was an actual road sign. Too bad I didn’t snap a photo.
One of our stops was in Wawa, where you can snap a photo of a giant goose. Wawa means wild goose in Ojibway. I’m curious when they named these creatures wild goose, were there any domestic geese? Furthermore, who came up with the bright idea to declare this goose Canada’s national bird? I realize the eagle was taken but couldn’t we have picked something else, perhaps a Peregrine Falcon. They live in every province and territory except PEI and they don’t poop all over the grass in our parks and on our beaches. In addition, I’ve never heard of someone getting Peregrine Falcon itch after swimming in a lake. But I digress.
The Trans-Canada route (highway 17) curves along the north edge of Lake Superior until you reach Sault Ste Marie and then it’s Lake Huron. As I was driving I almost had the sense that we were on the edge of the ocean.
We stopped (twice) to visit the shores of Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes and the one the Ojibwa call Gichi-gami (or as Gordon Lightfoot pronounced it Gitcha-gumi). We wanted to find a picnicking spot for lunch but our first stop was so small and full of cars, that I had a tough time getting back out to the highway. Eventually we found Lake Superior Provincial Park Visitor Centre with adequate parking and stopped there for a quick bite. Unfortunately the mosquitos were in the mood to have us for a bite of lunch.
We arrived at the KOA Campground in Sault Ste Marie at about 230pm. After getting set up we decided to drive downtown to see the sites. I found a local brewery and picked up some Soo Beer. The place was closed for a private event but we walked in anyway and were greeted by some of the party goers as though were long lost friends. In my experience if you act like you belong and you can almost get away with anything.
We walked along the boardwalk and looked across the water to the USA side. I expect the Soo Locks are worth seeing but we’ll have to leave that for another time.
The US flags were flying at half mast. I expect this was due to the tragic loss of life from the Texas river flood.
After a quick stop at Canadian Tire to pick up a tube of grease for my hitch ball, followed by a fuel stop at the Flying J, we returned to the campsite for the night. Coincidentally, it was almost to the day, six years ago (July 7, 2019) we stayed at this KOA.
In the middle of the night, I awoke suddenly from a dream. I was driving a black 1960’s era Chevelle (I have no idea why as I don’t know anyone who has such a car) and my nephew-in-law Richard was driving my old 1949 Ford truck across the Okanagan Lake Bridge when we were pulled over by a policeman. The policeman wrote me a ticket saying there was a violation that required me to rebore my cylinders. I was livid! Why on earth would I need to do that? He stated it was because I was burning too much fuel. I It was then that I really lost it! Reboring the cylinders wasn’t going to help the gas mileage and the truck doesn’t burn a drop of oil (a more appropriate reason to rebore the cylinders). Further more, the truck is 76 years old and when it was made, gas was so cheap and no one cared about fuel economy. I don’t care about fuel economy in a truck that is a Sunday driver. It was at that point, I woke up. My chest was pounding, I was so worked up.
I couldn’t get back to sleep. I was thinking about how I would prove that I rebored my cylinders. I’d need a receipt. That means I’d have to take it to a machine shop. If I did that, I might just as well rebuild the entire engine. Funny how the mind wanders, especially at 230am. Eventually I fell back asleep.
Connie and I slept until about 7am but after a quick breakfast and a stop at the Sani dump, we were on the road by 9am. While we were at the Sani I saw an Amish gentleman watching us. Too bad I didn’t have time to chat (others were behind us in the Sani dump line) as I would have liked to ask him a few questions. I bet he’d be an interesting person to get to know.
The weather was overcast but looking like it would clear up as we left Sault Ste Marie. The scenery on the drive was much the same as previous days although we saw less of Lake Huron as we moved eastward.
Once again we encountered some odd named roads, such as Little Seen Road. I guess one could argue that is an apt name but one has to admit, it is a bit odd. Shortly after we encountered an Amish lady and her kids making their way along the shoulder of the highway. Perhaps she was out to visit Seldom Seen?
Almost to the day six years ago, we saw this gentleman.
We arrived in Sudbury shortly after noon. The GPS directed us around the city, so we didn’t see much other than a couple of smoke stacks in the distance. We pulled over at a now closed visitor centre on the east side of the city and had a bite of lunch.
It was a short drive from Sudbury to Sturgeon Falls but we were stopped a couple of times due to road painting and paving. We arrived at the KOA at about 230pm and set up before heading downtown to get fuel and see if there was anything worth seeing. Prior to leaving we learned that one can actually travel by boat from the KOA to the downtown via the Sturgeon River. We elected to drive.
Shortly after leaving the KOA, we saw this fellow. Our truck is a hybrid and was running on battery and it took him a bit to notice us, so Connie was able to get a few good photos.
Downtown, we found very little except a little shop called Chez Jean-Marc Boulangerie. We picked up some fresh baked buns, bread, and a few cookies and pastries.
Tomorrow we head to Pembroke, our last night in Ontario. We will be staying at another Harvest Host and it should be interesting. Stay tuned! Tomorrow will be a short travel day but the following two days will be long until we reach Bathurst to see Ethan, Carissa and Boden. Three more sleeps Boden!
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Mal and Connie's Cross Canada Adventure 2.0 