Wednesday, September 6:
Ontario may be huge, but sometimes we live in a small world. As we were packing up this morning at Sturgeon Falls, a couple stopped by to visit. Now, I always thought that the license plate holder frames that car dealers put on your new vehicles were tacky. Well, I take that back. A wonderful couple, the Gerows, from the Malone area, were camping in Sturgeon Falls and they noticed the Ellis Chevrolet license plate frame on our truck, and stopped to meet us. Talk about a small world!! Come to find out we both had a lot in common as far as teaching, farming, showing cattle, and 4-H. And on top of that, we happened to connect with them again a couple nights later in Sault Ste. Marie KOA. Ya never know who you are going to meet.255 miles and parked at the Sault Set. Marie KOA in Ontario, Canada
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| Trans-Canada Highway Rt. 17 all the way. |
We left Sturgeon Falls right about 9:00. The drive on Trans-Canada Rt. 17 was very pleasant with light traffic. Rt. 17 is a combination of 4 lane, 3 lane (the 3rd lane was an alternating passing lane for both sides) and 2 lane. In general, the Canadian highways have been in very good condition, so far much better than many of the US highways we have traveled. We arrived at the KOA shortly before 2:00.
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| Site 39: Pull thru with patio. |
This KOA is very very nice, guess I would call it "Upscale Rustic". The sites are gravel, but are roomy, wooded and immaculate. There are dog parks, several playgrounds, a pool, and an RV wash station. All the accommodations of a resort, but with a rustic feel.
First thing Thursday morning, we went to the Gateway Casino for my very first casino visit in my life. Now, don't get too excited. A little research told us that the casino was the place to exchange American for Canadian. So I took $100 American in and came out with $132 Canadian. Not bad for my first casino visit. 😁
We made a stop at the Ermatinger-Clergue National Historical Site, where we learned a lot about the early French fur traders that built Sault Ste. Marie and the War of 1812. Interesting thing about the War of 1812, who won or lost depended on whether you were American, British, or Canadian. Apparently, the only true losers were the original Natives.
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| Ermatinger Stone House and Clergue Block House. |
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| War of 1812 winners and losers. |
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| Fluid Boardwalk and Patio Grill. |
A high point of our time in Sault Ste. Marie was a 2 hour cruise on the Miss Marie Cruise ship as we traversed both the Canadian and American lock system on the 74 mile long St. Mary’s River that connects lake Superior and Lake Huron. The locks raise and lower you 21 feet as you make the transition between Huron waters and Superior waters. The cruise starts out going upstream on the St. Mary's River, passing through the Canadian Locks. The Canadian Locks are smaller and are used for recreational boating. We returned going through the American Locks, which are larger and used for commercial shipping.
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| Miss Marie cruise boat. |
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| Photo from Wikipedia showing the Canadian locks on the left, the American locks on the right and what's left of the original rapids dropping 21 feet plus on the St. Mary's River in the middle. |
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| Entering Canadian Lock. |
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| Lake Huron water level at the rear of the boat. |
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| The lock is flooded to raise us 21 feet to Lake Superior level. |
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| Laker shipping vessel. |
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| Maps screenshot of us passing through the American Locks, where we are lowered back to Lake Huron water levels. |
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| Rock shoal marking the American and Canadian border in the St. Mary's River. |
That evening, we reconnected with our new Malone friends, the Gerows and had another great visit. Come to find out, they took the same morning lock tour as we did, just the morning version.
Saturday, September 9: 255 miles and parked at the Penn Lake Park, Marathon, Ontario
On the the drive today, just east of Marathon, we passed by the huge Hemlo Gold Mine, a division of Barrick Gold Corporation.
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| Hemlo Gold Mine, from the Trans-Canada Highway. Photo from Wikipedia. |
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| Trans- Canada Highway all the way today. |
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| Site 8. |
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| Eerie night sky with clouds reflecting the lights of Marathon. |
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| Early morning sky with the quarter moon and Venus faintly below. |
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| Not a ripple on the lake. |
Penn Lake is a campground owned and operated by the municipality of Marathon. It was a wonderful find with only 18 RV sites, all level with full hookups, a fire ring and a picnic table on a cement pad. It was so quiet and peaceful. Across the small lake was a large playground and badminton nets. We would definitely stay here again.
Sunday, September 10:
As we were packing up this Sunday morning we struck up a conversation with our next door neighbors. Jim and Angie are from Maine and are traveling across Canada to Banff National Park. Anyway, we had such a wonderful conversation with Jim and Angie from Appleton, Maine, that the time flew by. Instead of leaving at 9:45, we finally pulled out of Penn Lake about 11:15. One of the joys of traveling is meeting some wonderful folks.
180 miles, parked at the KOA in Thunder Bay, Ontario
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| Another pleasant drive today on the Trans-Canada Highway system. |
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| Site 158. |
Monday, September 11:
I needed diesel, so I took a quick trip into Thunder Bay to find some. Along the way, I saw a sign for Fisherman's Park, so I pulled it. Some early morning folks were out fishing. I asked what for, they answered, salmon.
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| Salmon fishing on Thunder Bay. |
We make a short stop at the Terry Fox Memorial. The memorial is located on a hill with a grand view of Thunder Bay and Lake Superior. This bit about Terry Fox is from Wikipedia:
"Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, he embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although the spread of his cancer eventually forced him to end his quest after 143 days and 3,339 miles, and ultimately cost him his life, his efforts resulted in a lasting, worldwide legacy."
220 miles, parked at Wabigoon Lake RV Park, Wabigoon, Ontario
It was a very pleasant drive through the Boreal forests of western Ontario on Trans-Canada Rt. 17. We continue to be impressed with the quality of the Canadian highway system. While there are occasional rough spots, and construction slowdowns, in general the roads are excellent. Oh, another small world moment: remember the wonderful neighbors Jim and Angie we met at Penn Lake a couple days ago? Well on the road today, a Class C was passing us, and as they drew even, they slowed down and Angie was waving madly at us. We waved back and they moved on. Along the way today, we transitioned into the Central Time Zone.
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| Site 5. |
Wabigoon Lake RV Park is a very small (17 sites, 8 of which are pull throughs for transients) rural park. Frank, the owner, checked us in, and what a pleasant character he is. We talked weather, old cars (he has the first one he ever bought; a red '69 Plymouth GTX when he was 19 years old. He talked about quitting high school because he had learned all he needed, and going to work at the local paper mill. The RV Park is his retirement project. He winters for 6 months in Laughlin, Nevada. It was one of the most charming and pleasant campground check-ins I have ever had.
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| Site 5. |
And so ends our trip across Ontario. I'll say it again. Ontario is HUGE!!! It will be almost almost 1,700 miles from the border at Ogdensburg to the Manitoba border tomorrow.
Next stop, Winnipeg.
Thanks for the update, I enjoyed your trip data very much! Looking forward to seeing you down the road! Bob Bailie!
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