Restarting Adventure

I said it before and I will say it again, the sign of a great life is when you are beyond thrilled at the prospect of travel and adventure, but every bit as excited when it’s time to come home! Seven weeks on the road… 8,373km traveled… 16 different stops (plus a couple twice) across four provinces… laundry galore to be done… cleaning and repairs (don’t think I mentioned we have been without our slide for the last week)… and zero regrets… but it is time to be home with our peeps!

Another Point A-to-Point B kinda day! Our four-hour drive turned into six hours as we were stopped on the highway for long (VERY long!) stretches of time for road repairs. We passed through Bruce Mine, a cute little town that was the site of the first copper mine in Canada, and Echo Bay, hometown of Robert Carmichael who designed the loon for our loonie. They have erected a giant monument of the sign in his honour. We also received a call (on one of the rare moments we had cell service!) booking us for grandparent duty – LOVE IT! Other than that, we left Lake Superior shores, turned right and drove through trees and rocks. Beautiful trees and rocks to be fair but after days of driving… We arrived at Grundy Lake only to discover that our reservations inexplicably were for tomorrow night and not tonight. I say inexplicably since I could NOT have possibly made such an error! A very patient young girl helped sort the mess and found us a site for the night. It has no hook-ups and is in a ...

For the first time on a travel day we weren't anxious to get on the road. I was not giving up a minute of this park before I had to, and there was time with morning coffee to wander and appreciate just a little more! Early morning mist Everything very calm this morning, even the inlet from Lake Superior. But all good things must come to an end,and by the time we were travelling along the shores of Lake Superior heading east, we were both far less content than we had been on our way out here. The views are still beautiful. Markers like the Wawa goose are still amusing. The road is dry and visibility is good. Destinations like Pukaskwa are more than worth the stop, but with a KOA to look forward to, we just want to get home! Poor David is having so much trouble getting comfortable with a third of his torso blistered with shingles, that's it's hard to be just content to drive along. Thankful though to now be tucked into out spot in Sault Ste Marie. We are two days from home!

Driving once again on the shores of Lake Superior we are reminded of the drastic geographic difference in just a few hundred kilometres. The prairies are pastoral in their beauty. Driving along the Canadian shield and looking out over the sparkling expanse of Superior is majestic in its splendor. Colourful magpies make way for huge, shiny black crows. Rolling waves of crops give way to jagged cuts of rock, and the colourful fields of wildflowers are replaced with forests of trees that also appear to go on forever. The Trans Canada Highway, the good old TCH, remains the constant. That quirky ribbon of 7,500km highway that connects Vancouver Island with the island of NL gets you where you need to go. It certainly isn’t the Autobahn though! While crazy speeds are unlikely to cause you an issue, drivers pulling out to pass logging trucks on double-lane roads are to be noted. The abundant wildlife constantly demands your attention. The left-hand turns from active traffic lanes are still not...

The day from Dryden to Thunder Bay was delightfully uneventful. We stayed here on the way down so knew exactly where we were going and what to expect. It may not sound like a marvelous adventure, but it’s a great travel day! The smoke was greatly reduced and the rain stopped so we were all good! Just a pretty little stroll before bed!

Up and on the road this morning to cross over into Ontario. My goodness you are not far into the province before you hit the shield, and the prairies are but a distant memory. We are back to a two-lane Trans Canada watching for drivers taking unnecessary chances, but the road is dry, there is little smoke, so it’s all good. We are spending the night in Dryden, in a little private campground, and while it is a nothing extraordinary, it’s a lovely little spot. We had to go into some lady’s trailer to register. She was out watching for us, so I assume there are not tons of strangers here. I suspect most are seasonal sites, but everyone is very friendly, and they left us a spot with a perfect view of Wabigoon Lake. Dryden is a city of just over 7,000 people, and it was clear from the smell as we drove through, it’s a pulp and paper town. Our new home - for the night Desperately in need of a leg stretch, we wandered first around the waterfront (the campground is next to a marina), and t...

Settled into Winnipeg once again after a long day of travel. This morning when we were getting ready to leave Moose Jaw, I realized it was time to go home. To be fair this happens at the end of many wonderful holidays. I am having such a wonderful time I don’t want it to end, but when it’s time to go home, it’s time to be home! Camping is not for everyone, but I love it. I love the simplicity. I love the problem solving. I love the adventure. I even love how you need to work for everything you have, and what you want becomes less. This morning as we had breakfast and prepared to move on, I found myself thinking – this will all be much easier to do when I get home! I was feeling grumbly! A sure sign it’s time to be home! Our travel was much better today. There was still significant smoke for our entire drive, but no rain. I can’t bring myself to complain about the smoke realizing that people here have been living with this all summer, and yet even those people are so much better off...

After more than six weeks exploring together, today was the day we parted ways with Jonathan and Jenna. They begin to make their way north-west to start their year long adventure in the Yukon, and we head home. It is such an incredible privilege and blessing to spend this kind of time and experience with your adult children. Jonathan and Jenna are fabulous company and fun adventure buddies. They have been so incredibly supportive, especially over this last two years, I quite literally don’t now how we would have made it through without them. I will dearly miss the daily-them, but I am so thrilled for them, that they are setting off on this grand adventure. I am sad our adventures have ended for now, but I am happy to go home. I am so sad to leave Joanathan and Jenna, but so happy to get home to everyone waiting for us there. I am currently a mess… which should come as no surprise to anyone! Our send off party, in the pouring rain For the first time in almost seven weeks of camping tr...

Today was our last official day before the trip home begins. It was kind of a funny day because the weather was not great, and Jonathan and Jenna left for Red Deer to visit with Jenna’s cousin and his family on their dairy farm. David and I set out without too much intention, other than to explore the area. We decided to start with the hoodoo hike on the opposite side of Drumheller. We found it without much problem, but while we enjoyed the cool geographic features of these - towers of soft rock topped with harder stone, that helps protect them from erosion, I was a bit surprised with them being billed as the best site for viewing hoodoos. We have seen hoodoos before in the Dakotas, and they seemed far more plentiful and less commercial. The area was very busy today with people behaving poorly. It is difficult to enjoy a time looking at incredible natural formations while people next to you are carving their names with sticks into eroding rocks! We did our best to enjoy the time there,...