Hey Friends! I know it's been a while. I have some things coming your way, but for now I want to continue the story of our journey accross Canada.
This is part 4 of 5 in our journey to cross this big country, so we are almost at the end! Let's get the ball rolling, starting by waking up in the Northern Ontario city called Thunder Bay
We woke up as groggy as ever, threw our stuff in our bags and got the car ready to go. I recall thinking that this whole thing of packing and unpacking was really starting to loose it's charm. We walked outside to the crisp air to see some sunny patches accompanied by big dark grey clouds.
I began the days drive, so we decided to stop at the Terry Fox monument before leaving the city. As I began driving, the weather quickly began to turn and it started to begin to pour rain. We had made an effort to see the statue, so we kept driving up the hill to the top. We ran out to grab a quick pick with the statue and see the monument. I would have liked to stay longer, and see the view, because the vantage point from there is actual quite cool, but unfortunately the weather wasn't going our way.
We rushed back to the car and began driving back to the highway. Driving in the rain is a little bit stressful for me, so I was a little on edge during this time. Nick being the good copilot decided to look up what other attractions we could see on this ride. We noticed there was a stop for a picture with a big loonie in the background.
You take a turn off he highway and head down a residential road to find a giant loon by the side of the road. Kind of strange, but worth a stop if you want to grab a picture.
This part of the drive was picturesque as much for the driver as it is for the passenger. The road hugs the side of the earth as it drops in Lake Superior. The water seems to go on forever and you think about how cold it must be in there.
Sometimes it's just nice to pull over to the side of the road and take it all in, get a little stretch and mentally prepare yourself to not loose it on your partner for changing the music.
As you drive along the highway you begin to pass places like Terrace Bay, White River and Wawa, Ontario. Wawa is where you will find a giant goose and some other travel tourist material. The statue was dedicated to the community and people make it a stop as part of their journey accross the country, so naturally we made it a point to stop there. Originally a fur town, it later became a place for mining gold and iron. Why I wondered was it called Wawa? Well it is the Ojibwe word for "wild goose", wewe.
When driving through Batchawana Bay, stop by at River Rock Gifts to grab a fresh apple fritter. You won't regret it. The town feels like a cute beach, surf town. I felt like it would have been a great place to rent a cottage and enjoy the water.
We arrived in Sue Saint Marie around 4pm. Just in time to take a shower, freshen up and grab something to eat on a patio. The weather was very comfortable here and the sun was shining off the lake.
Sue Saint Marie is located at the junction of 3 great lakes that are shared between Canada and the United States. Accross the river is another city in Michigan with the same name. America is so close accross the water that you think you could jump in the water and swim accross. While on the patio, I thought about how hard it would be to actually swim accross.
I tried to take advantage of every opportunity we had to use the hot tub at every pool we went to. It is slightly critical after a long day in a cramped vehicle. Naturally at this final hotel on our journey, I decided to keep that tradition going.
After a couple of beers and a walk along the boardwalk, it was time to pack it in and get ready for our last drive into Toronto. At this point I was very happy for this to be our last hotel on our voyage. I was tired and cranky and had already begun to think about all the stuff that we had to do when we got back to Toronto and the fact that we would both be starting new jobs. It was a lot to take in.
Nick had been sick for most of the ride and I felt like it was coming my way by that point. The next day we would make our final drive to start another journey. I will always remember the beautiful views of Northern Ontario.
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