Dryden ON to Glenboro MB

A lot of the driving day looked like this

A raw wet and windy day saw us out of Ontario today, on our way into Manitoba. Manitoba has been in the news lately for lots of rain and flooding in some areas. Some of this rain has spilled over into Ontario too. As we left Dryden there was a sidewalk issue:

Later we stopped for a picnic breakfast in a nice little park in Vermillion Bay. 

The dock here was also flooded

The concrete dock was awash

Tilted by high water flotation

Also in the park, a bicycle that would give one some exercise:

Complete with training wheel

As the lead picture showed, it was a wet day for much of the earlier part of the drive:

Later though, we had some sun for our late lunch picnic:

Cheery beeps from some of the passing motorists

Off to the South at the same time, skies still threatening

After struggling a bit about where and when to land for tonight, we ended up at a Manitoba Provincial Park, Spruce Woods aka Kiche Manitou Campground. A nice campground that reminds us of Rondeau Provincial Park in southern Ontario. We needed a rest day, so signed up for 2 nights. It's lovely park, would be a great place to have our bikes with us. The main park drawback is poor cellular reception, at least for our Koodo phones, so our Wifi is limited to texts and short simple emails.

On a walk around the park, a family was fishing for pike. Dad said they had mostly caught seaweed. On our way back though:

A small unhappy pike, a happy family

There were weather warnings overnight, for high winds, rain and even large hail potential. Only light rain where we were camped though, thank goodness!

This morning we took a short drive around the area, doing some shopping in the pleasant little town of Glenboro:

The local bakery served up some fresh-made donuts we desperately needed (Not!):

Yummy!

We also topped up our tank with Esso diesel for $1.99/ltr, about the lowest pump price we've seen so far. Glenboro also has a nearby cell tower, so we're parked at the edge of town doing this blog. 

Marathon to Dryden Ont

Lake Superior view

Today started off quite foggy at the campsite. It quickly cleared up though, and the morning was lovely and sunny. It was cool when we started off, about 8C (46F), and it fluctuated quite a bit all day long, finally up to about 21C in Dryden.

At a view stop yesterday we were discussing the drive with a young couple. They asked us if we had done the drive before. When we told them our first trip was 1974, the fellow's jaw dropped a bit. He wasn't born until 17 years after that! He wondered (sincerely I think) whether there was more asphalt paving now than then. I think he visualized gravel roads for anything that old.

Today I realized we were likely doing our last drive out this way since that '74 trip, and I'm now 74. Fitting.

Some beautiful lookout views as usual along Superior. The views seemed better today since our earlier trips. We theorized that the lake views are better heading west than east along Hwy 17 from Wawa to Marathon. What do you think?

This trip we're stopping at places we've never stopped at before. Aguasabon River Gorge at Terrace Bay was one of these stops today. It's part of a major hydro-electric power generation project finished in about 1948, providing enough power for about 45,000 homes.

Fancy (long) walkway down to the lookout

On our most recent trip west in 2018, a new bridge was being built near Nipigon, and it's finished now. Not a real good bridge picture, it's quite striking in person (better pictures from our return trip, later in this blog):

Even though we've visited it before, we had to stop at the Terry Fox Memorial park. Even on the foggy rainy day it was by then, this is very well done.

Memorial building, new since we were last here 

Some ways after leaving Thunder Bay, we stopped at the site marking the change between Eastern and Central time in Canada. We find it kind of interesting to see this marked:

Remember, you can click on pictures to see a larger version.

Sault Ste Marie to Marathon Ont

Lake Superior view

We took things slower today. After a quiet comfortable night at Walmart we got the van filled with diesel ($2.19 at a PetroCan) and one of our 10 lb propane tanks refilled. Our little heater ran out of propane just before we got up, good timing as it got pretty cool overnight. 

Here's a shopping cart gatherer having fun in the water:

He had just taken the whole train through the puddle in front of the van. Could have been shocking, with the electric cart pusher!

Then leaving the somewhat hectic morning traffic of Sault Ste Marie behind, we headed north towards Wawa. It's a beautiful drive from SSM to Wawa on the Trans-Canada Highway. There was some fog early on, but things cleared up nicely later. We took our time, dropping in to several viewing areas and picnic spots. Water levels are high, so lots of little (and not so little) waterfalls around.

Cathie braved the sometimes slippery rocks

And of course lots of Lake views. The views of the coast from SSM to Wawa actually seem better than the ones across the top of Superior. There are fewer trees, and many stopping places through the large Lake Superior Provincial Park. 

One of the special stops on past Wawa is Old Woman Bay, with its beautiful beach:

Along the way we had a quick look at 2 Cranes (Sandhill?) along the road. They got quite skittish when we stopped, and quickly faded back into the forest:

We also came across a reminder of the hazards of the road. No tractor remains were visible, so we think only the trailer part of the truck rig burned, and hope the driver was ok.

And here we are, with an early camp in a nice park run by the town of Marathon, Penn Lake Park:

A few ducks are dabbling around in the little lake: