So, have you been wondering whether Kate and Sandy ever made it home? Well, yes, indeed we did! Never underestimate how big our wonderful country is. It took us seven days to drive home from the Niagara Region (and over a month for me to get this final installment written).
Days 27 - 33, the journey home.
After three fun filled days with the ladies of Troop 16, we started the epic drive back to Alberta. We chose to come home over the north shores of the Great Lakes. This was a very, very long drive, with beautiful scenery … and kilometer after kilometer of trees, and lakes, and rock as we made our way across the Canadian Shield. This was followed by kilometer after kilometer of prairie fields. Along the way, we made a point of stopping at a number of unique, and some iconic, points of interest along the way.
Return day one: after stopping in Grimsby to visit Drue, a troopmate we hadn’t seen since the day before, we carried on passed Hamilton and Parry Sound, home of the great Bobby Orr. We spent the night at Oastler Lake Provincial Park, and were now along the north shore of Lake Huron.
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| Sunset, Oastler Lake Provincial Park |
Return day two: Carrying on, we stopped in Sudbury to visit the world’s largest nickel. Weighing in at 13,000kg, it would be a wicked item to find in one’s pocket change!
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| Sandy with the Sudbury nickel |
We spent the night at Blind River, and walked across the highway to view the Mississagi River, where we watched the water flow in two directions at the same time.
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| Mississagi River |
Day three: After over two days on the road, we finally made our way to the end of Lake Huron at Sault Ste. Marie, home of Dr. Roberta Bondar, Canada’s first female astronaut.
Click here for more info: Bondar info
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| Sault Ste Marie street art |
We stopped a few times this day to take in some of the unique sights as we began the drive around Lake Superior. The special stop of the day was in White River where the orphaned bear cub that served as the inspiration for Winnie-the Pooh was purchased by a military veterinarian from Winnipeg as he made his way to Europe to serve in WWI.
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| On the north shore of Lake Superior |
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| Sandy finds her place |
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| Canada goose, Michipicoten |
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| With Winnie the Pooh at White River |
We spent the night at White River Provincial Park. It was a little nerve wracking making our way to the campground as we had to drive quite a way off the highway and into the park, along a narrow, twisting road, through tall trees and thick bush as it was getting darker and rain started drizzling down. And we didn’t see any other vehicles. Finally, we found the campsites. There were other units, obviously set up for long term stays, but because of the weather, we didn’t see any other people about. It was rather eery, so we just parked, had our dinner inside Boxy, and spent the rest of the evening watching a DVD and reading. As soon as the sun was up the next morning, we were outta there!
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| White Lake Provincial Park |
Return Day 4: Our first stop this day had us take a short walk off the highway to Aguasabon River Gorge and its spectacular falls, which we found rather mesmerizing.
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| Aguasabon River Gorge, Lake Superior in the distance |
As we continued on, just east of Thunder Bay, we stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial. It is located close to the spot where he had to abandon his Marathon of Hope run across Canada due to the spread of cancer to his lungs.
In the month of September, most communities hold a Terry Fox Run to continue his fund raising legacy. The day we were at his memorial was the local Terry Fox Run and we watched as a group of runners started their event from the site.
Here is a brief summary of Terry’s story: Terry Info
We completed our trip around the Great Lakes with our arrival at the western end of Lake Superior and made our way through Thunder Bay.
We carried on and spent the night in Dryden, Ontario. The weather was still nice, sunny and 26C as we set Boxy up for the night. So nice, in fact, that I set to work on the blog (update 5) as we sat outside having a glass of wine.
Return Day 5: Well, so much for the nice weather. We woke up to a chilly morning of only 6C, and had to get into long pants for the first time the whole trip! We drove through Kenora and took in two interesting sights. The first was a giant spider made from a Volkswagen Beetle. The second was a deer standing on its hind legs to munch on apples in someone’s front yard. Due to the traffic we were in, we were unable to get a photo of the deer, but it was pretty cool to see!
Finally, we made it all the way through Ontario and into Manitoba. A few kilometers across the border, it was like we passed through a magic doorway. Instantly, we were out of the tall trees we had been in for forever and onto the prairie. As if on cue, we both stretched our arms out and announced how good it was to finally be back in open spaces!
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| Prairies at last! |
A little further west, and we found ourselves at the longitudinal centre of the country.
We carried on to Winnipeg where we spent the afternoon, and again checked out our favourite Vietnamese restaurant, T. H. Dang. This time, it was open!!! We happily went in. It is a tiny, family run restaurant. The service and food seemed even better than we remembered when we discovered it two years ago.
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| Really happy diner |
Return day 6: The following day, we caught up with Sandy’s brother, John, as he was taking a load of sweet potatoes to Calgary that he had brought up from the USA. We had fun making childish faces at one another as we passed on the highway, then met for a quick visit when he stopped to re-fuel.
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| In John’s truck |
After another stop to visit our cycling buddy, Heather, in Portage La Prairie, we carried on to Regina, Saskatchewan, home of the RCMP training centre.
There is a campground on the site, so Sandy thought we would spend the night there. Already mid-September, the campground was closed for the season. Fortunately, we were able to book a night in the barracks where members stay when they come back for various courses and further training.
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| Our room at RCMP training school barracks |
As you can see, our accommodation was like a small hotel room, with some interesting historic Mountie photographs for decoration. Here is a test of your observation skills. Exam the uniform of these North West Mounted Police officers, photographed in 1885.
I trust you immediately noted the likeness to the frock coat of the Blues and Royals that Prince Harry wore on his wedding day. As were were part of the British Empire at the time the NWMP was established, the resemblance of these uniforms is not a coincidence.
While in Regina, we spent the evening with our cycling buddies, Larry and Louise, who invited us to stay for dinner. They are really fun to be around, but I must admit, I was a little nervous when Louise was preparing our meal!
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| Dangerous meal preparation! |
Despite the chef's protective goggles, we had an excellent dinner as well as a great visit. Here’s looking forward to riding with them again next year when we meet up to do the next iteration of the Great Annual Saskatchewan Pedal (GASP).
Return day 7: Our last day on the road! Our final leg took just through Saskatchewan and back to Edmonton. As we made our way west during this week of driving, we noticed how dramatically the leaves were changing to their fall colours as the kilometers and days went by.
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| Fall leaves, outside Moose Jaw, SK |
Our last point of interest was the giant snowman at Kenaston, Saskatchewan. Boy, was that a harbinger of what was to come!
We truly had a wonderful adventure throughout our Epic Road Trip and hope you enjoyed sharing it with us. Our total trip distance was over 8,000 kilometers.
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| Our approximate route map |
A couple of days after we got home, we woke up to snow and realized that summer was officially over and our camping adventures ended for the season.
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| Our back yard, Sept 22 |
Boxy has been winterized and is in her storage place until spring. Here she is in Dryden. She made our Epic Road Trip a fabulous adventure!
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