Road Trip Day 3: Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay

I did not want to get up this morning.  By the time I fell asleep last night I only ended up with about 6.5 hours of sleep before the alarm went off.  It was not enough.  I’m one of those people that needs 8 hours sleep.

Maria proved just as hospitable in the morning as she did last night.  She had fresh fruit, orange juice, cereal, and toast all laid out for us.  It was wonderful.  She was such a great host.  I really hope we were able to convey just how grateful we were.

Shortly after leaving the Soo I lost service and continued to have no service until we reached Thunder Bay. It was kind of annoying, mostly because I could not use the map function.  On the other hand it was also kind of nice to be off the radar.

Also not too long after setting out I was making Barb some crystal lite and I was juggling two water bottles.  I was not so successful.  I managed to dump a bunch of water in my lap.  It felt like I had peed my pants.  Thank goodness it was only water and not the crystal lite mix.  That would’ve been worse.  Having a wet crotch for most of the morning played tricks on my bladder.  I ended up having to get Barb to pull over so I could pee in the woods.  I’ve now joined Barb and Sarah in the “pee in the woods club.”

Besides that water-spilling incident today’s drive was the nicest one yet.  It wasn’t warm out but it was sunny and that’s all that you really need when driving.  The area we were driving along was quite beautiful.  From the Soo to Wawa the highway followed pretty closely along Lake Superior and passed by many small lakes.  There were times that it reminded me of BC, just without the mountains.

The lakes we drove by had the strangest names.  My favourite were three lakes called Mom, Dad and Baby Lake respectively. There were also Pancake Bay and Old Woman Bay, which I thought were kind of amusing.

We stopped at Old Woman Bay to stretch and took some pictures.  It was nice.  While Barb used the washroom Sarah and I checked out the beach and put our hands in the lake.  It was freezing.  Sarah, who had been sleeping up until that point, really enjoyed her first view of Lake Superior.

For lunch we went to Wawa.  As we were driving into the town there was a giant statue of a goose, which I thought was strange.  I said as much and Barb quickly shut me down by explaining that wawa is the Native word for goose.  How did she know that?  Well she spent the first years of her life in Petawawa so she must of figured it out at some point.  I find it funny that she used to live in “Pet a goose.”

After grabbing coffee at Tim’s we looked for a decent place to eat a picnic lunch.  The only place we could see was the visitors’ center by the big goose but it was closed and barricades blocked off the parking lot.  That didn’t stop Barb from finding a way through the barriers.  We pulled out our cooler of food and sat down at a picnic table.  The sunshine was nice but the wind was cold so we ate fairly quickly and then grabbed a few pictures with the goose before continuing on.

Past Wawa the strangely named lakes and roads continued.  Some that stuck out were Desolation Lake, Fungus Lake, Yellow Brick Road, and Dead Horse Creek.

In White River we stopped at a Winnie the Pooh statue to take some pictures.  Apparently Lt. Harry Coleburn purchased the black bear cub he named Winnie in White River.  I hadn’t known that.  I love Winnie the Pooh!  It was cool to learn something knew about the history behind A.A. Milne's stories.

Between White River and Thunder Bay we didn’t stop much besides coffee/pee breaks and to take pictures of a waterfall just past Terrace Bay called Aguasabon Falls.  As we got closer and closer to Thunder Bay the more tired I became but I felt like I couldn’t sleep in case I missed something. 

For a little while we got stuck behind a couple trucks and going up the hills at times we were going as slow as 20km/h.  That was kind of frustrating, especially since we were used to going around 100km/h.

Just as we were arriving in Thunder Bay the gas beeped that it was nearly empty.  We filled up before heading over to my friend Aranka’s house.  To fill Stan from empty was nearly 70L and cost us $97.  I knew to expect it to cost a lot but being someone who generally hates paying for gas it hurt a little to see that big a total.

When we arrived at Aranka’s her mom had dinner all ready for us.  It was very nice.  She had even gotten gluten free flour/bread crumbs for the fried chicken to accommodate Barb’s gluten allergy.  Their house is rather small - the perfect size for 3 people – Aranka, her brother and her mom.  With the three of us over we doubled the occupancy so at times it seemed a little cramped but we managed ok.  Aranka and her family have been so hospitable.  I am very grateful they let us stay with them.

After dinner we took a tour of the marina.  Apparently it is quite controversial.  They spent or are going to spend $40 million on improving the area to attract tourists.  Sure the marina was kind of nice but I wouldn’t travel to Thunder Bay just to see it.  It’s not that nice.  The art they chose to art was kind of strange - teardrops that look more like sperm and granite balloon animals.  So odd!

That more or less sums up day 3.   I finished earlier than usual.  Wow for once I’m going to be in bed before midnight!

There is something not quite right about this art

The sleeping giant