Ontario driving day
Tuesday - 15 June 2004 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario,
Canada: A big driving day. We woke to warm sun and clear skies. The
entire campground was a mess with mud and broken branches from the storm
last night. Tenters had miles of belongings draped over any sunny spot. We
had gallons of rain trapped in the awnings over our slide-rooms, so had our
own version of Niagara Falls when we brought them inside. But DT was in
heaven with kilometers and kilometers of soft hiking trails. He went for a
long run, which turned into a very long run because he became a bit lost in
the nearly 900-site campground. As we left the park, we stopped to fill our
fresh water tank, only to read their fresh water contained parasites and
needed to be boiled for 5 minutes before use. Never-mind - guess we don't
need water after all.
As we continued around the northern shore of the Great Lakes, we finally saw
a moose! A female. Dead, on the side of the road.
For your trivial fact of the day: the Province of Ontario holds 20%
of the world's fresh water - in interior lakes and rivers, and in
the Great Lakes on Ontario's shores.
We stopped for lunch in Sudbury, where we visited
Dynamic Earth - a museum dedicated to all things underground. Under
Sudbury is nickel, tons and tons (or tonnes and tonnes) of nickel. Where
else can you see the Giant Nickel? The Giant Nickel
is the largest nickel in the world. Fitting, as Canada is the largest
country in the world (2nd trivial fact for the day). (Giant Nickel aside,
Sudbury is a big, ugly, mining mess of a town.) I put up the satellite dish
in the museum parking lot, uploading yesterdays journal and checked the
weather west. This time, I didn't even bother using the noisy generator -
but used the 6-pack of house batteries through our inverter. Worked
perfectly!
It's a nickel, a Giant Nickel
I keep forgetting to mention the lilacs! Because we keep
traveling north, we are continuing to enjoy lilacs in bloom! The entire trip
from April in Utah to June in Ontario - lilacs are in full bloom in
everyone's garden. I adore lilacs!
After a drive through downtown Sudbury, we continued west on Canada 17.
About 30 miles east of Sault Ste. Marie, we drove through several Old Order
Mennonite communities. We saw a "school buggy" - just like a school bus,
only better! Imagine going to and from school in a horse and buggy?! There
were four rows of seats, filled with waving children as we passed - pushed
by our 400 horses!
And so we are in Sault Ste. Marie. Long-time readers will
remember that
two years ago, we were in Sault St. Marie, USA (across the bridge) to
revisit DT's boyhood home. When DT was a boy, his Dad was
stationed at a SAC base across the border, and they used to come to Canada
to shop, etc. Isn't it a small world (when you are in a RV)? We are in a
nice campground, filled with German and Dutch tourists, watching the NBA and
Big Canadian Political Debates. As much as I dislike the NBA, I find the
game more interesting than the debates. Last night they debated in French,
tonight in English. What a country!
RV Park:
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario KOA - very friendly owners!
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