Road Trip - Roadblocked

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It seems that in Ontario they don't believe in alternative routes. There is 'the way', or there is 'the long way' and thats it. No back roads, no secondary highways. The road closes and you are stuck! Which is what we are. We left Thunder Bay this morning and made it as far as Nipigon, where the highway to Sault Sainte-Marie had been closed due to an accident between two semis. Trucks had been getting stuck on the hills all morning because of slippery road conditions so when the collision occurred the roads were shut down. Traffic was being redirected to another highway which goes north and then east. We turned back to the town and debated whether to take that route around, or stay in Nipigon until the road opened again...which given the amount it was snowing could be overnight. My sister was not keen on staying put, and on the advice of two ladies who had just come from the other highway and a guy who was going to take that route as well we decided to take the detour. The highways were wet, but not icy or even slushy. After an hour or so there began to be some snow drifting around lake areas and the conditions were a little patchy, but not so bad. However, we came across another roadblock! There was quite a line of cars and trucks pulled over to the side of the road. It didn't look like things were going to be moving anytime soon. I don't know if there was another accident on this highway as well, or if conditions just deteriorated that much to the East. After a few minutes we decided to turn back and stop in the little town we had passed about 15 Km back. The highway going back was worse than it had been even half an hour before. Back at the town a roadblock had been set up preventing anyone from travelling past the edge of the village. Even now there is a long line of vehicles sitting at this roadblock waiting for it to open up...it was set up over two hours ago. They'll be sitting for a while! Luckily, there is a gas station and a motel in the little town of Longlac so we've set up shop for the night. I'm happy we didn't have to backtrack all the way to Nipigon. That would have tested my patience for sure. I'm actually good with being stormstayed. This motel makes me happy. Its so retro and the guy working here is so chilled out. I think he probably has some pretty quiet days here. Today will be busy though! There were other stranded travellers checking in at the same time as us and I've seen a few more vehicles pull in since then. It will be full soon if it isn't already. For us though, we just get to relax and watch the snow fall...like its February!

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Photos

the trans canada highway
Clear roads to start...they didn't stay that way for long