Ottawa to Sault Ste. Marie

---

THE BASICS
We left Ottawa on Thursday, July 22 and arrived back in the U.S. today, July 28. We had generally glorious weather the whole time - sometimes a bit hot, but sunny and fresh. Ontario is HUGE. We only drove across the southern part of it, but the rest of it on maps is awesome. The terrain we traveled varied - some areas were forested, some had plenty of rock showing, and some were idyllic farmland. When hilly, just gently rolling ones. We followed the north shore of Lake Huron, including the large Georgian Bay which locals claim should be the sixth Great Lake.

THE FLUFF
- We have been playing cat and mouse with various summer festivals and fairs. Generally, we are not looking for entertainment and we would prefer to avoid the mob scenes. The only time this has been a problem so far was on July 22, when a lovely campground in Matawawa was solidly booked for a rock festival that weekend. Tonight we are missing the beginning of the Finnish Festival in the Canadian Sault Ste Marie, including the wife-carrying contest.
- The Provincial Park where we did stayed on July 22 reminded us so much of New Hampshire that we have taken to comparing what we see with NH.
- Our next stop was a campground a bit south of Sudbury, on a lake, with plenty of active families. John wanted very much to learn about Sudbury's mining history. And we had an excellent chance to do so, at Dynamic Earth, a wonderful museum which would appeal mightily to both adults and kids. We learned about the nickel mines in Sudbury, at one time the largest nickel producers in the world. One use for nickel is to add it to iron, which produces stainless steel, which is used more than anything else for kitchen sinks. There was a facsimile of a mine which presented experiences with mining back in the 1800's as well as today. And a film showing various extremely sophisticated modern mining operations throughout the world.
- The area around Sudbury became so destroyed by acid rain from the sulphur produced by the mining that astronauts actually came to train here because it so resembled the moon's surface! To get rid of most of the sulphur, they built the tallest smokestack in the Western Hemisphere, and second largest in the world. And Sudbury is deeply involved in reclaiming the land. Armies of volunteers have spread lime on the ground to counter the acid, and then they plant tree seedlings. Photos show dramatic improvements.
- The downtown of Sudbury leaves much to be desired, though. And it was not the only city center we've seen that had lost its zing.
- Many ethnic groups have settled in Canada. We went to a Greek Festival in Sudbury, but just bought one baklava which Linda promptly devoured. Back at the campground, there was a Christmas in July celebration, with lights, a gospel group singing carols, and free ice cream,
- Below Sudbury is the huge Georgian Bay area, which is reasonably accessible to Toronto and Ottawa, so has become a vacation paradise. There are huge numbers of tourist attractions and opportunities for hiking, kayaking, camping, etc. etc. On Sunday, we drove for over an hour on a boring road out to Killarney, a small town on a peninsula at the northern end of the Bay. We hardly saw any other cars the whole way, but one moose did amble across the road in front of us.
- We went on a small hike in Killarney out to a lighthouse, and were relieved to find that there was actually a road out to the lighthouse and we did not have to retrace our up and down steps over rocks on the trail.
- We "had" to have fish and chips at "?world famous?" Herbert's in Killarney. Herbert's serves fish. And chips. Period. In an old bus painted red. When you get your food, you must find a spot at a picnic table on the dock. We thought of Chauncey Creek Lobster place in Kittery, ME, which is a lot more sophisticated but not busier on a bright summer Sunday.
- We passed trees and rocks and farms and water en route from Sudbury to Sault Ste Marie. No big box stores. Linda noted that there were not a large number of churches. John noted a lack of UPS and FEDEX trucks. There were many, many small wagons selling fish and chips, all of them claiming to be the best. We think the fish might have been pickerel.
- There were also hundreds of people selling blueberries along the roads and none had prices posted. We didn't buy any, so we don't know whether all charged the same or prices were negotiable.
- Our next campground was a KOA and very nice and family-friendly. We actually visited the pool but skipped the free miniature golf course.
- Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, has a long boardwalk on the St. Mary's River which connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron. We had hoped to see the locks, but they are over in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. John saw them today, Wednesday, as he drove over the tall bridge connecting the two "Soo's" (Linda, who hates heights, especially on two-lane bridges, was lying on the floor of the RV working on puzzles to distract herself. But she has seen locks elsewhere...) There were no boats to be seem in the locks.
- Back in Ontario yesterday, we toured an "Old Stone House" which had belonged to a Canadian entrepreneur back in the late 1800's. It is absolutely amazing how many different businesses those folks would develop; this particular fellow established a steel plant, paper mill, lumber company, mining company, street car system, an inland railroad and a shipping company, all in less than a decade from 1894 to 1902. That house as well as the local museum had posters throughout, and we were nearly cross-eyed from reading to become very fully informed.
- We did not see one single other New Hampshire license plate the whole time we were in Canada. Their gas does cost half again as much as ours.
- People on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan call themselves "yoopers."
- We are now settled in a small but cute campground on a small lake, and will drive a few dozen miles tomorrow to spend the day on Mackinac Island, a major tourist draw. This afternoon, we decided to seek out a coffee shop for a small treat; we haven't visited many of them on this trip and were eager to. We drove a bunch of miles, to the Dancing Crane Coffee Shop, which is actually on an Indian reservation not far from a casino... The coffee shop was wonderful, though, with local crafts, toys on the tables, all sorts of artifacts, laptop computers and the Weather Channel. And the chai was perfect! I guess it was a yuppie yooper place...
- We appreciate amusing signs. Seldom Seen Road. Elderly Crossing. La Tea Da Teahouse. It's All About You Beauty Salon. 50 km/h above speed limit, $10,000 fine (did I really see that right?) Lots of (caution) signs with horse and buggy; many Mennonites settled west of Sudbury. Bishop, Trucker Randy, for State Senate (how would that moniker go over in NH?)
See you later, folks. Linda and John

---

Comments

[Jane]

I will vote for the randy trucker
Hi Linda and John, So did you find the randy trucker that wants to be a state senator? Wouldn't that campaign be interesting? Your blogs are so much fun to read, I like traveling by osmosis, especially not having to pay the Canadian gas prices. Sounds like you two are having a great time. We are well, still no baby. Will keep you posted. Jane and Rick

[Bill Sr.]

Keep on having fun and be glad you escaped the heat!