Fall 2017: Destination Dakotas

Day 1: October 2

Go East? Go West? With hurricanes and storms still lurking in the Atlantic, we decided on West. When we woke up to the news of the killings in Las Vegas, I was nervous. But it was time to trust and to go.

First, we decided to go up the east and north sides of Lake Superior. We left at noon for a leisurely drive to Parry Sound. We made several trips this way in our kayak camping days. We had a lovely overnight stay at the Walmart there, with this lovely view from my chair:

Day 2: October 3

Our travels next took us along the North Channel of Lake Huron. we never did make this kayaking destination, but the drive was nice. We saw a Bald Eagle outside Iron Bridge, hay stooks and Amish/Mennonite farms and people, “Echo Bay: Worth Repeating”, and migrating Sandhill Cranes in one field.

Our first, guided, kayak camping trip was on Lake Superior, and we remembered the six-foot swells that kept us shore bound and scared!

We pulled into Wawa and found ourselves a nice little spot for the night near the Lions Beach Park, just behind the Health Centre.

And this was the view from my chair:

Day 3: October 4

Up early and out. If you know Wawa, you know the significance of Goose, Goose, Goose:

We saw some signs and sights as we travelled up the east side of Superior towards Thunder Bay:

• Manitouwadge: The Stompin’ Grounds that Stomp Right Back
• Marathon: Built on Paper Laced with Gold
• White River: The Birthplace of Winnie the Pooh:

• The Aguasabon Gorge/Falls:

• The Terry Fox Memorial (and Milepost 3339, where he was forced to stop his Marathon of Hope):

We decided to stay at the Fort William Campground (Site A1, $28.75 CDN, No Services) and planned on taking the tour of the Fort in the morning.

Here’s the view from my chair:

Day 4: October 5

I took a quick stroll down to the river and saw Eagles:

We walked a trail towards the Fort and saw many more swooping along the river.

When we got to the end, we ran into the start of the tour (it left an hour earlier than we were told) so we joined in and had the BEST time with the actual Curator, Sean, and only six others. He had keys to everywhere, even the places that were closed for the season.

Sean is an excellent storyteller, and we learned so much about the Fort (this is a re-creation of the original fort that was destroyed over time). In the 1800’s, this was the place for a three-week “Rendezvous” where Voyageurs arrived from Montreal with goods to sell and others paddled from the north with skins to trade. And where the Ojibway from the area also traded. It was fascinating.

Here are some pictures:

Later we visited the farm and met the Interpreter and a sweet Little Lamb:

Here’s Daddy:

On the hike back, we saw at least EIGHT Bald Eagles, amazing!

After lunch, we decided to continue west, and the landscape just kept getting more and more beautiful:

We got to Fort Frances and stayed at the little, noisy Walmart (so no view tonight).

Day 5: October 6

We woke to Frost on the ground! The Duty Free was a little building. You bought, handed the package to a driver, he drove to “no man’s land” before the border, and he handed the package back through the car window. Too funny.

The grumpy border guard (I swore we were going to get searched) quickly turned sweet and we were on our way!

We saw two Crows and a Bald Eagle eating a dead Fox in the middle of the highway! Then we saw our first Magpie of the trip.

There were a lot of bright orange toques, hats and jackets in all the pickups driving the highway. Yep, it’s that time of year!

Highway 2 in Minnesota, Mandy’s 24th state, is a great drive, paralleled by field upon field of asparagus, corn, soy beans and, we finally realized, sugar beets (which explained the Sugar Beet Museum in one of the small towns).

Best sign was the “On Site Fish Cleaning and Kennel” service at the hotel in Devil’s Lake!

The fields are full of ponds, so we saw thousands of waterfowl, obviously migrating south. Amazing.

We pulled into Jan’s RV in Leeds, a Passport America park (Site 1, $12 USD, Full Hookups). The sign at the registration building said: “Hunters, bags to use to double bag bird entrails”. Yay!

Here’s a sunset view from my chair:

NL #8: Final Roads and Reflections

Waterfront View

This is the is the view over the Riviere-du-Loup Marina (where we almost stayed for the night; maybe next year!):

Day 35: July 19, 2017

We were up and out early and enjoyed a great drive through New Brunswick on their fabulous and fast (110 km/hour) highways.

There were french fries at Florence-Bristol, the French Fry Capital of the World and a GPS failure at Riviere-du-Loup, though we did drive by Fu Xing restaurant (twice).

We got to the marina and found a lot of beachglass:

but no Belugas. Though we thought we might stay on the wharf for the night, we decided on the Walmart. There were 45 RVs when we arrived and we settled in for the free night and this Roadside View:

Day 36: July 20, 2017

We got up early among the now more than 60 RVs! We decided to try for Belugas again and were not disappointed. First, there were 20 or more Great Blue Herons on the mudflats:

then some white things in the water off the pier. Not icebergs! Not whitecaps! Belugas!!!!

A perfect end to the trip.

We took the Route de Navigateurs for awhile and enjoyed the fields (what has these blue flowers?):

but not the tight roads, bicyclists and busy tourist towns, so we headed back to the Trans Canada, and I finally got this long overdue photo:

We got home, unscathed, around 9:30 PM.

Here are my reflections:

David is an amazing driver, excellent travel companion and wonderful husband

Mandy is a great little traveller

We love our Roadtrek; we have a list of things to work on, but it is sleek and comfortable and suits us

Newfoundland is still our heart place, but the terrible roads may keep us away for awhile (don’t let that deter you from visiting, but be warned)

Canada is an amazing country, and Canadians are proud. We saw so many wearing Canada and Canada 150 t-shirts everywhere we went. We are proud Canadians.

Go to Newfoundland during Iceberg Season; they were amazing this year

After eight months at home, with some health issues and some worries, travelling with someone you love, and a pet that is cute, to a place that you love is the best medicine!

NL #8: Hello and Farewell to Nova Scotia

Waterfront AND Sunset View

This is the view from our campsite in Dunvegan, Nova Scotia:

Day 31: July 15, 2017

After a good sleep and a free RV Dump and Water, we hung out at the ferry chatting with bikers and RVers. Everyone agreed the province is beautiful and the roads are awful.

We had a smooth and uneventful sail, though our neighbours were very talkative! We got in around 6:30, got some food, and spent the free night at the Indian Cove Park right beside the ferry.

After a short beach walk:

we enjoyed this view from my chair:

Day 32: July 16, 2017

There’s always time for a final beachglass walk:

Then we headed to a free National Park Pass visit to the Fortress of Louisbourg, which we visited together 30 years ago. There was architecture:

.

…people:

…some noise:

…and some food:

It was a fun day, followed by a drive up to the Broad Cove campground of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the Cabot Trail. Here’s the view of our site (#92, $24.50 Unserviced): small, unlevel, and very close to our neighbours (the exact opposite of what the staff people told us!). But we had no reservations and some sites were larger and better (and booked a year in advance!). I walked, met Roadtrekkers from Woodstock, Ontario and joined the community campground for some blueberry tea:

Day 33: July 17, 2017

It was a gorgeous morning for an early drive on the Cabot Trail. we met a lovely man from Missouri travelling here for the first time and on his own. We convinced him, with road warnings, to spend as much time as possible in Newfoundland!

We headed up to the northern tip to Bay St. Lawrence and a whale watching tour. It was cheap ($25) and a fun ride in a small, lobster boat, but we were skunked on whales, though we saw Bald Eagles and Seals and interesting coves:

We drove some more:

and found ourselves at MacLeod’s Campground (Site 110, $41.40! Unserviced). I walked the gorgeous and peaceful beach:

And enjoyed the beautiful sunset view from my chair:

and NOT the view from the serviced sites (yay solar!):

Day 34: July 18, 2017

This day was all about driving, albeit on lovely highways! We pulled into the Amherst Shores Provincial Park (Site 31, $24.35 Senior, Unserviced) and enjoyed sitting outside in our new bug tent (goes up in seconds and will eventually come down as quickly when we remember how!):

Here’s another Cat’s Eye View: