After rushing to get everything ready and the van packed, we left left at 4PM on our way to Midland, ON. Traffic wasn’t bad at all, considering it is a long weekend, but there was an accident on the 400 which closed the highway and resulted a in detour. The detour was scenic, but we were happy when we were back on the highway. And, yes, our first night was at a Walmart. Needless to say, we bought some traditional items – chocolate, Pringles – and a Despicable Me DVD that was in a clearance bin for $5. The traditional T-shirt purchase has been postponed for a future visit.

Early breakfast with 2 eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast at Stacked was a Canada Day Weekend delight. Now we were fuelled and ready to go. The first stop was at the Art Barn, 8 kms away. This used to be a dairy farm and the barn now sells crafts created by local artisans. The owner of this 50 acre property also allows campers to stay overnight for a donation. Maybe on the way back…

We continued on north on Hwy 400 to Parry Sound were we enjoyed the Canada Day festival that was happening – Ribfest, artisan booths, log sawing. One of the artisans was from Düsseldorf in Germany. We walked to the harbour and ate a huge ice cream while sitting in Muskoka chairs watching the floatplanes taking off.

We continued our drive not knowing where we would stay for the night and came across Sturgeon Bay Provincial Park which happened to have two sites left. What a beautiful small campground, right at a bay with fabulous swimming opportunities. We talked to quite a number of people and Ruth fell in love with an American Bulldog. Martin talked to the park warden for a while and learned all about the training they undergo and why they need bullet proof vests.

After a long, enjoyable swim in warm water and dinner, it was time for Duolingo in the van.

Day 3 and our van needs some fuel. There are a lot of reservations in this area with cheap fuel for all – $1.39/litre today.

The next stop was at the French River Visitor Centre where we hiked to the Recollet Falls where the deer flies warmly welcomed us and extracted their ounces of blood. It was extremely hot and humid but the 1.5 km hike was definitely worth it. We had fun taking pictures.

After our hike we visited the museum and learned about the importance of the French River in the fur trade and the rivalry between the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company which later merged into one company.

We asked the very friendly museum staff for recommendations for a campground to stay for the night and they told us about Chutes Provincial Park. Chutes gets it name from the chutes that were built to help move logs over waterfalls.

The park has a lovely swimming area in the pool at the base of the waterfall with currents which we took advantage of.

While driving toward Sault Ste Marie, Ruth searched for some attractions along the way. Boy did she find something interesting! Entomica, an insectarium in the Canadian Bush Plane Heritage Centre. It was the right place for both of us. Huge flying insects for Ruth and old airplanes for Martin.

These huge bugs from Africa have velvety bellies and claws. Creepy, crawly, interesting, but not necessarily something you’d want to wake up with.

Not only did they have fascinating insects, but Willie Wonka, the chameleon captured Ruth’s heart.

Chris, the director and curator, spent quite a bit of time with us and showed some more unique insects and explained where they lived and why they are so special.

Once the insectarium closed at 3:30, we visited the bush planes and learned about the heritage of these airplanes and some of the people who built and flew them. Ruth was very happy to see a special exhibition of the history of women in aviation in Canada. It took a long time before they were truly accepted.

There was a movie covering the use of aircraft in forest fire fighting operations, which seems timely given the current wildfire situations throughout Canada.

A Canadair CL215 water bomber. I believe these were built at the Canadair facility that was close to where we lived in Montreal.

Today was mostly a driving day – we covered 551 kms, a good portion of which was behind our trucking friend from EMCO.

We stopped for lunch at Drifter’s Restaurant in Terrace Bay where we had been on a previous trip. Great food, same as last time!

We decided to stay at the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park as we had enjoyed it on a previous trip. This time, however, the black flies were unbearable and even just registering for our site cost Martin a pound of flesh. We skipped the walk and swim but watched a movie while the little buggers were desperately trying to come through the window screens.