Another driving day – 610 kms, breaking our record from yesterday. We chose to take Hwy 11 west of Thunder Bay towards Fort Francis, ON where we stopped for lunch. Fort Francis is right across the river from the US. Google Maps said there were two restaurants in town (besides Tim Hortons, etc) and we chose to try the CanAsian Family Restaurant. They offer a mix of Thai, Chinese, Filipino and Canadian cuisine. We went with two Thai options – a spicy curry and Pad Thai noodles. Excellent choices!

After lunch we walked through town and explored a few of the shops. First stop was a really neat art gallery with glass, pottery, paintings and jewelry. The next stop was called Betty’s the Pink Store and it had a wide assortment of craft supplies, fashion, shoes, sewing machines – pretty much anything you could think of. Betty’s was started by Betty Anderson who made a living as a seamstress and eventually saved enough money to open her own store which is still run by her descendants. Ruth found some beads she needed to have for an upcoming necklace.

The town has a nostalgic flair which today continued onto the street with a small collection classic cars. Unfortunately for Ruth, no 1957 turquoise and white Belair. We had to settle for a 1956 Ford Victoria.

Hwy 71 between Fort Frances and Kenora has a lot of hunting and fishing lodges and a lot of “8 miles” ahead signs, so probably gets a lot of American tourists.

Our original hope had been to make it to the Falcon Lake Campground in Manitoba, but with our excursions, time and energy didn’t permit. We debated staying in Kenora but chose the Rushing River Provincial Park instead. We were quite lucky to get a spot right at the beach which we took full advantage of with a refreshing swim.