Portage la Prairie and sand dunes

Last night we had the first thunderstorm of our trip but soon after the black sky made way for a beautiful orange and pink sunset. In the morning, we drove to Portage la Prairie and the Delta Marsh Wetlands station where Artemis spent two summers doing research for her Masters thesis. We saw the lodge she had lived in, even her bedroom with the antique wardrobe. We had lunch at Marsh Lake in Spruce Woods Provincial Park, near the Spirit Sands - a unique geological phenomenon of almost dessert-like sand dunes in southwestern Manitoba. In the afternoon we drove along the Yellowhead Highway through miles and miles of farmlands dotted with hundreds of "potholes" (ponds where ducks breed). It was extremely hot, 30+ and much more in the sun! We found a nice township-owned camp in Churchbridge, SK (very aptly named - evidently, for a population of 1200, there were a dozen churches]. The local seniors run the camp site.

On the road to Manitoba

The road between Thunder Bay and Kenora is very deserted. Only three little villages in almost 500 km. Since the day started out with rain, we did a lot of driving today. By 4:10 pm we crossed into Manitoba. It took us five days (!!!) to drive from Niagara Falls to the Manitoba border. The northwestern part of Ontario is very sparsely populated but we did find the rest stops were open now. Last night we had turned into the first campground we saw - Maki Landing - a fishing camp not unlike the one at Francois Lake in northern BC. We were the only tourists and got prime waterfront site with our own boat dock. All the rest of the campers were semi-permanent summer residents in fifth wheelers with little fishing boats for navigating the river. Our camp host was a retired Newfoundland fisherman.

Northern Ontario

We spent the night at Penn Lake in Marathon - a beautiful brand new public campground on a gorgeous lake. Including us, only three sites were occupied so no waiting in line for hot showers or laundry machines (yes, brand new laundry machines at a public campground!). Apparently there were three bear cubs and four moose at the far side of the lake, but we didn't see any. There were plenty of birds, though: herons, gulls, ducks, songbirds.... On our way to Thunder Bay, the road wound high over the mountains and, because of low-hanging clouds, conditions were from light to heavy fog. Once over the mountain passes, it was warm and sunny. We shared our off-road picnic table with blackflies and a can of bug spray (which was reasonably effective). In the afternoon we came across an accident site where a huge semi-trailer had fallen off the highway onto its side in a deep ditch. By the time we arrived, there were several monster tow trucks, a tractor, and several police cars on the scene trying to figure out how to handle the situation. We heard later that the accident had happened the day before but getting the semi out of the ditch was no easy task.

Western Ontario

We're back on Highway 17. This is basically the only east-west highway between here and Winnipeg, so while going east, we travelled this road as well only this time the weather is much nicer (mid 20's). On the campground last night we met a couple from Vancouver. They were trying to do a similar trip as we did. They left Vancouver two days after us but were only now at this point on their way east. Not surprising, though, as they were on their bicycles!!! Wonder how long their trip will be? Probably the whole summer!

After passing from Sault Ste Marie we left Lake Huron and followed the east coast of Lake Superior northwards. On the way east, this road was cold, windy, and snowy. And now, we can't get out of the car because we're eaten alive by mosquitos and blackflies. Even the dogs went out only for a quick pee break before diving back into the van. Finally we found a nice rest stop near a river where we could eat outside without too much bother from mosquitos but because we opened the car door several times we found a large number of blackflies that had taken refuge inside from the sun. After squashing a few dozen juicy (full of blood) ones, we were on our way again. For you animal lovers, don't call the SPCA, I'm severely allergic to blackfly bites.

Manitoulin Island

Today again was a beautiful sunny day. Instead of driving around Georgian Bay we drove to the ferry at Tobermory at the top of the Bruce Peninsula. The ferry went from Tobermory to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. An Ontarian we met in Banff had told us about this route. Manitoulin Island is said to be the largest freshwater island in the world, which within it has lakes and within those lakes other islands. It was the perfect day for a two hour ferry crossing on the MV Chi-Chee Maun (which means "Large Canoe" in the local aboriginal language). Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island separate Georgian Bay from Lake Huron. Apparently there are a large number of underwater shipwrecks, very popular with scuba divers. We had a very pleasant afternoon drive. I've never seen so many flowering lilacs in my life.

North from Niagara

We said good-bye to the Glifton Hill tinseltown area of Niagara Falls and drove to Kitchener where we stopped at the manufacturer of our Roadtrek camper van to pick up some replacement parts for future use. It's much easier to get them here now than try to order them from Vancouver later. It was very warm today. For the first time we drove all day with the A/C on. Our drive north took us through lush farmlands towards Georgian Bay. Progress was slow - no fourteen-lane highways here, just two-lane country roads without shoulders. In the last few days we've seen several caution signs showing a horse-and-buggy. It seems in parts of Ontario and Manitoba (and maybe elsewhere, too) there are still communities of folks who shun technology and do things the old-fashioned way. We stopped frequently for roadwork crews who were busy patching the roads now that eastern and central Canada are defrosted and the weather is nice again. Hard to imagine that all this is covered with snow for half the year. We ended our day at Owen Sound at the bottom of the Bruce Peninsula.

Niagara Falls

On the advice of locals, we decided to avoid downtown Toronto entirely as the "Ride to Conquer Cancer" was held today and the roads blocked off for the bicycle race. Instead, we took the 14-lane (!) expressway and literally breezed by Toronto at 100 km/h. I just don't know where all the traffic came from on a Sunday morning at 10 am. I shuddered to think what it will be like during rush hour or a snow storm on this infamous stretch of the 401. We drove straight to Fort Erie. From there we drove 22 scenic kilometers northwards along the Niagara River until we came to Niagara Falls. It seems the Ride to Conquer Cancer was also taking place here! After leashing up the dogs, we walked along the promenade for about 3 km to see the impressive falls. This time the Canadians have one up on the Americans - we get a much better view from our side. We booked a hotel room for the night, which allowed us to explore the flashing neon lights of Glifton Hill (like a mini Las Vegas but with more freakshows) and also take in the fireworks that erupted over the falls which are lit by giant multi-coloured floodlights at night. Altogether very impressive despite the throngs of fellow tourists (wonder what it will be like during the summer holidays? We had a hard time parking now!).