Week ending July 25

Tuesday we left Manitoulin Island. Our intention was to spend Tuesday there doing some hiking and sightseeing. However the campground was very moldy and John's asthma kicked in. We didn't feel we wanted to risk staying another day, so we packed up and drove to Serpent River Campground on the North Channel of Lake Huron. The campground is open and clean and a big improvement over the last one. There is a lovely pool there, so after dinner we went for a swim. It was like having our own private pool.

Wednesday we drove the Deer Trail, a scenic tour of the East Algoma Region. We started with the Fire Tower Lookout at Elliot Lake. Unfortunately, it was too hazy for the promised long distance views of Lake Huron. Then we visited the mining museum, which has lots of information on uranium mining, and dealing with the tailing ponds after the mines have been closed. After a picnic lunch at the Elliot Lake Mining Monument we continued on the driving tour. We stopped at numerous lakes and along side the Little White River. Once we arrived back at our campsite we enjoyed the swimming pool. We where the only ones in it again.

Thursday we spent the morning cleaning and then spent the afternoon at the pool. It was a very hot day and the pool felt wonderful. We had to share the pool this time with numerous seniors who camp here in the permanent sites as well as a group of people camping here for a special VW camper's event. The owner of this campground "improved" his VW van by taking off the front end of one and the back end of another, and joining them together.

Friday was a travel day. We headed through Sault Ste. Marie, where we bought a dog. Since we have been camping it seems that everyone with a large trailer (and some without) has dogs. We felt very left out, so we got a beagle and her puppy. Of course with John's allergies we had to choose carefully and this one seems perfect. Perfectly hypoallergenic, no hair, no walks, no barking and it sit quietly by the front door. The only drawback is if we drop it we will break it.

We then continued along the shores of Lake Superior to a campground at Wawa. Saturday morning we visited the town of Wawa, then drove to Magpie High Falls,

Silver Falls and then spent some time wandering along the lakeshore at Sandy Beach.

After leaving the beach we stopped at Tim's for lunch, then headed back to the campground to suntan at the pool. Again we had the pool to ourselves. This was one of the nicer pools we have had, obviously catering to swimming rather than kids playing as it was deeper than most pools we have been in.

Sunday was a day of rest . We opted to stay at this location as we wanted to watch the Indy car race from Edmonton and the Regina vs Montreal football game. We were not sure we could get to the next campsite and get set up in time.

Monday morning we were on the road by 8:00 A.M.  We stopped at Marathon for an early lunch and experienced the 'it's a small world' syndrome again. In the same restaurant, Rick F., who worked with John at CP Rail a number of years ago was also having an early lunch. He was returning to Calgary from a motorcycle trip to Labrador and Newfoundland. What are the chances of running into someone you worked with in restaurant in nowhere Ontario?   After all there where only 5 customers in the place. This was also a great driver change location, a smart move on Joan's part. A short way up the road the heavens opened and the rain came down so hard the wipers could not keep up. For once John had the privilege of driving through bad weather. The weather cleared up by the time we got to Ouimet Canyon Provincial park. It is a day park, just a 1 km walk into viewing the canyon. Because the road was narrow windy and steep, trailers are not allowed in, so we had to disconnect the trailer at a spot they provide 3 km from the canyon.

By 4:30 we arrived at the Thunder Bay Koa for the night. We were able to get a spot that was large enough that we didn't have to unhook. We decided unhooking once a day is enough. It will make packing up tomorrow a real breeze.

Week of July 19

Tuesday afternoon we arrived at the 1000 Islands Ivy Lea KOA. After getting set up, the trailer leveled, satellite working and dinner planned, we headed to the pool. Not a pool large enough for swimming and full of kids. So we used the 'adults only' hot tub, and chatted with a couple from Sarnia.

The next morning on our way to Brockville, we stopped at St. Lawrence National Park visitor centre. They have a display about the snakes and turtles in the area. Most of the park is only assessable by water. We then visited the Brockville museum. Brockville is Ontario's first incorporated town. It is also the site of Canada's first Railway Tunnel, which goes under their present day city hall. After spending time learning about Brockville, we wandered their main street, stopping for lunch at a local pub. While sitting on the deck of the pub the heavens opened and the rain came down. After some time the rain let up a bit and we headed for the truck. On the way back to the campground and after a quick grocery stop, we visited Eagle point Winery. They have only been open for business since early May. We bought one of the wines that tasted quite nice.

Thursday was housecleaning day. Joan did bathroom, shower, kitchen and John vacuumed. Joan also made bread. In the afternoon we headed to Rockport to take a 2 hour boat trip through some of the 1000 islands. What a beautiful part of Canada. There are actually more than 1800 islands. To qualify as an island, a chunk of rock has to have at least one tree growing on it. Here is one of the smaller ones,

some kids jumping off one of the islands into the water

and a cormorant (we think), balanced on a rock which wouldn't qualify as an island.

Friday, we packed up and headed for the Bruce Peninsula. The drive was uneventful, even going through Toronto on the 401. But we knew that would be the case as John drives in the afternoon, and he never seems to hit excess amounts of traffic or construction. The campground we stayed at Friday night was a beautiful campground, however we were parked in a very treed site, so no satellite TV.

Since that campground couldn't give us a spot for Saturday, we moved to a campground closer to the Manitoulin Island Ferry. We set up camp and then headed into Tobermory. We got our reservations for Monday's ferry then headed to Bruce Peninsula National Park. The place was packed, as it was Park's Day. We picked up a trail map , got some advice about the various hikes, and headed out on a hike from the visitor centre to the Georgian Bay shore. On our way out, we were passed by a couple of park wardens hurrying along. A while later, a fellow coming the other way asked if we had seen someone with a broken ankle. After enjoying the views along the lake shore, we started heading on the return part of the loop back to the visitor centre. We ran into a group of EMS and park wardens with a lady with a broken ankle on a stretcher. They had the stretcher balanced on one wheel, which made it possible to navigate the trail as it was quite rough, with lots of rocks and tree roots In all the hikes we have been on over the years we have never encountered someone with problem this serious. After a quick stop at the beer store we headed back to the campground. John is in his glory. There were three football games on, one right after the other. Of course, he couldn't manage to stay awake through them all.

Sunday morning we did a hike to the "Grotto" in the National Park.

Somewhere along the way, Joan lost her glasses, which she had hanging from the front of her top. After checking back along our route with no luck, Joan went into the park office to leave them our contact information in case someone turned in the glasses. The line-up of people was so long that it went out the door, but someone waiting in line was kind enough to volunteer to leave our information with them. Fortunately, Joan was smart enough to keep an old pair of glasses, so she can still see and can legally drive. After lunch back at the trailer, we watched the Nascar race. After it was over, we went to Singing sands beach. It was amazing. The water was very shallow for a few hundred yards, and incredibly warm, like a bathtub. Here is a picture of the patterns that the waves make in the water.

About 8:00 we got an email from the people at the parks office. Another hiker had found Joan's glasses and turned them in, a big relief.

Monday we took the ferry over to Manitoulin Island. Once we got set up, we thought we would go for a hike. However it started to rain, and would not let up, so after walking along the harbour boardwalk, buying a rhubarb pie, we stopped to pick up groceries and headed back to the campground.

Week of July 12

After checking the weather forecast and determining that the next day would be a perfect beach day,  we headed for Charlottetown. We visited Confederation Hall.

Next door, we were fortunate to catch an hour long performance put on by the Confederation Centre's Young Company. It was a musical play called the Talking Stick which was based on the Mi'kmaq tribe's legends.  After the performance we did some window shopping and then headed to Gahan Pub, a micro-brewery, for lunch. After stopping at the Cows company factory store for an ice cream cone, we drove around the south shore, which is the Red Rock scenic route of the island, stopping at the Port Joli - Fort Amherst National Historic site, and then the Argyle Shore Provincial Park to enjoy the views of the red rock cliffs along the coast and the warm weather.

Wednesday morning dawned clear and sunny as predicted. We headed to Prince Edward Island National Park.  There was not a cloud in the sky, 30 degrees, the ocean was wonderfully calm. We didn't swim, but we waded a little bit, dodging the jelly fish, which we were told could leave a rash if they stung us.  On the way back to the campsite we stopped at a roadsite stop to get some new PEI potatoes, then looked for a spot to fill the diesel tank.  It took three gas stations to find one with diesel.

Then next morning, the drive across Confederation Bridge was interesting. The truck is tall enough that we had a great view over the wall of the bridge to both the PEI and New Brunswick coasts. We stopped at Hopewell Rock Provincial Park, on our way to a campground in Fundy National Park, and walked down to the ocean floor among the rock formations.

Friday morning we headed out to do some hiking in the National Park. Our first trail was a short loop to Dixon Falls.

Our second was to Coppermine.  However, the coppermine trail was closed, so we headed down to the Wolfe Pointe beach to watch the tide go out. It was interesting to watch the ocean floor appear. Since we were done earlier than planned, we went into Alma, the little town next to the park, and browsed the small shops there.  That evening after dinner we walked down to Alma to see what the area looks like at high tide. What a difference.  The fishing boats that were resting on skids in the mud in the early afternoon were floating at the docks, high on the tide.

Saturday morning dawned grey and damp, a good day to be travelling, so we packed up and headed west. (Well more north than west really).  Joan always drive in the morning, so it rained  all morning, at one time, so hard that the windshield wipers were almost useless. Fortunately, it cleared up a bit when we had to get out of the truck to buy groceries in Oromocto.(I expect everyone to dig out their maps and find this place).  John drove the rest of the day, so no more rain. In fact the sun shone in a few places.  After driving up most of the St. John river valley, We camped in a nice four star campground just north of Grand Falls. 

Sunday dawned sunny and beautiful. We went into Grand Falls, took pictures of the falls and walked along the river, at one point taking 250 stairs down to a viewpoint.

We came back to the campsite for lunch and then headed for the nice beach at the pond at the campground to get some vitamin D. We also became domestic and did laundry later in the afternoon. This campground is very large, so it has many amenities. One thing we have discovered is that a campground that has a large number of permanent sites also has cheap laundry. We generally have been paying 2.00 to 2.50 per load, but the cost here was only 1.25 per load.

Monday we headed for Ontario, but of course we had to go through the 'country' of Quebec. At the border there were Canadian flags on the road into New Brunswick, but only Quebec flags heading north, with not a Canada flags in sight.  We camped at a 4 star campground in Drummondeville. The site was so bad we couldn't level the trailer without unhooking the truck (we were too lazy to do that for an overnight stay). The internet signal was too weak to get on line. What a disappointment for a four star campground.  To rub salt in the wound, it cost us more than any of the other campgounds we have stayed in so far.

Tuesday around noon, we arrived in Cornwall (Joan got to drive through the freeway congestion in Montreal since that was the in the first half of the day), and stopped at the info centre there to find out some details about KOA's in the 1000 Islands area.  We will see if the 33% premium for staying at a KOA is worth the investment for a couple of nights.

Week ending July 4

On Wednesday, we went on a boat trip into West Brook Pond. It was a fjord many years ago, but a peat bog developed which separated it from the sea.  We had to hike 3 km in to catch the boat, fortunately the hike was easy, so it only took about 1/2 an hour.

What great scenery. The walls of the fjord where straight up, with lots of waterfalls and interesting rock formations.

We spent Thursday around Rocky Harbour. Walked the local trail and went downtown for lunch where Joan enjoyed some more fresh seafood.  In the late afternoon went to the pool for a swim.

On Friday we departed our campground in Rocky Harbour early. As it was Canada Day we didn't know what the traffic would be like. It was very light, hardly another vehicle on the highway. We had a reservation for the 6 o'clock ferry, (they require that you arrive 2 hours early) Because the traffic was light we moved right along and arrived at the ferry terminal just after 11:30 (Our 4 1/2 hour drive only took us 3 1/2 hours). Fortunately the ferry had space and they allowed us on the early ferry. We arrived in Sydney Nova Scotia shortly after 6:00, rather than 1:00 A.M., which was the original plan. We pulled into the Arms of Gold campground, for 2 nights. It is one of the nicest campgrounds of our entire trip. We were able to watch the Canada Day fireworks from across the lake. We think they were from Sydney Mines.

Saturday we did some grocery shopping, went to a local farmers market, and replaced our satellite dish. The wind had blown it over on its nose one too many times.  Luckily we got our TV working in time to watch the evening Nascar Race.

July 3rd dawned warm and sunny. We almost regretted leaving, but carried on anyway. We pulled into a campground near the ferry to PEI.  Because we arrived early we took advantage of the nice weather and spent some time on a very nice  beach by the campground. Hot sunny weather has been so elusive this summer that we both came back from the beach slightly red. 

Monday was again a cloudy day that promised rain showers, so it didn't look like a good day for the beach. We packed up and headed for the ferry to PEI. We left the campground about 20 after 9, the ferry leaves at 9:30. Since we are considered an oversized vehicle we could not make a reservation, and they want you at the ferry at least an hour ahead of time.  We headed for the ferry anyway, figuring we would wait for the next ferry at 11:15. The ferry gods again smiled on us, as the 9:30 ferry was late, just unloading as we pulled up, so they put us in line and when it loaded about 9:50 we got on. PEI ferries are good deals. PEI has an odd, but interesting practice of only charging you to leave the island, therefore you can do the ferry then bridge and only pay for the bridge.  It will cost us about 58.00, as opposed to the 135.00 it would cost us by ferry. It also was the shortest route.

Once we got set up in the campground, internet and satellite working we decided this was a good time to go to Anne of Green Gables house. 

We also went to the Cavendish section of PEI National Park. The red rock cliffs really are as spectacular as we have been led to believe.