The Road Goes On…

2017 Northwestern Canada

  • Lake Louise, AB to Moose Jaw, SK

    After a luxurious breakfast, with heavy hearts we looked out of our hotel room window at the Chateau Lake Louise one last time and departed eastward.

    The second farewell was to the Rocky Mountains which very quickly turned to plains. The day was mostly driving with only a stop for lunch in Calgary at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  We were very determined to make it to Saskatchewan and we did. We made it to Moose Jaw and noticed some attractions that enticed us. Maybe something for tomorrow morning?

  • Moose Jaw, SK to Falcon Lake, MB

    The Walmart parking lot was a busy place. At least 20 campers, some looking like they were there for the long haul, and hundreds of seagulls.

    Now we were ready for the Tunnels of Moose Jaw adventure where history comes alive. We took two of the tours of the underground network of tunnels of the thriving Moose Jaw of the late 19th and early 20th century. We visited the secret city of Chinese living beneath the streets of Moose Jaw and learned about the difficult life of Chinese immigrants working in a laundromat. Then we became bootleggers in Al Capone’s empire and almost got caught for seeing and knowing too much. We truly enjoyed these two staged and interactive tours and highly recommend them to anyone visiting Moose Jaw.

    We were not permitted to take pictures on the tour, so you’ll have to come and take it yourself!

    After so much fun we had lunch across the street and briefly explored the historic downtown area.

    Al Capone was definitely following us…

    We thought it better to quickly leave town before we beginner bootleggers got caught and shot so we raced all the way to close to Falcon Lake in Manitoba and hid in a secret campground off the highway.

  • Falcon Lake, MB to Ignace, ON

    On our trip we’ve been woken by Pepsi, trains, a guy driving around the parking lot honking his horn but now it was a rooster’s turn. We got up and had a shower. Martin got to go first to check out the facilities and came back with a big smile and said the shower was very clean. Not more was revealed but he did suggest taking a camera.

    We left this kind of awkward campground as soon as possible and drove to Falcon Lake where we had camped on our outbound trip and stopped for gas, groceries and the dump station. Now we were ready to make it to Ontario.

    We stopped at a beautiful rest stop at a lake and made grilled cheese sandwiches which were served in the skillet on the picnic table outside.

    We drove to the Sandbar Lake Provincial Park where we spent the night and are looking forward to a swim in the morning.

  • Ignace, ON to White River, ON

    So much for the planned swim. Today it was raining cats and dogs and the mosquitos were taking cover under the window flaps on the van waiting for fresh blood.

    We decided to spend the day driving as far as we could but we still had some fun and we did get to swim. Think of a cold stormy, windy, rainy day. Then imagine Lake Superior looking almost like the North Atlantic ocean. To us it looked like a cool challenge. We glanced at each other, nodded in agreement, put on our bathing suits and headed into the big waves. What hilarious breathtaking fun it was.

    After this exhilarating swim and a couple of hours of driving along the shoreline of Lake Superior we deserved a nice dinner. Nothing in our fridge was tempting so we stopped at Drifters in Terrace Bay and had their Sunday night $12.99 pizza special. It was delicious but we only made it through half of the pizza. Lunch for tomorrow.

    We continued on to White River, arrived at 9:30PM, and decided to camp by the Visitor Centre with a couple of other overnighters.

  • White River, ON to Six Mile Lake, ON

    We got up at 7:00AM, gassed up the van, and had really fresh breakfast at the A&W next door. Now we were ready for a long drive.

    Today the weather was a lot better, starting cloudy and then turning into a great sunny day. When we saw Calm Bay on Lake Superior we decided another swim was in order, this time in calmer waters and with a sandy beach. It is so great to have a van that has a built-in change room.

    The drive through northern Ontario was stunning and we promised ourselves that we would come back and spend some time here again soon discovering, hiking and kayaking.

    The road had lots of construction which slowed us down a bit and in one place a rock slide had blocked one lane of traffic.

    After Sault St. Marie the picturesque rocky area was behind us and we moved through forest and farmland. A road sign promised a farm market so we turned off and found a Mennonite farm area. The farmer’s wife was dressed in very traditional garb and even her two little daughters showed up in floral bonnets. We bought some blueberries, tomatoes and pickles.

    The last stop was at French River for a milkshake and a look through the gift store.

    We are spending our last night on the road at the Six Mile Lake Provincial Park with a waterfront site. The water is about 50ft down a rocky slope, but it is waterfront.