Before we departed Falcon Lake, I did a morning run through the campsites, along the lake and waterway. One the way back, I took a break from running for a quick and refreshing swim. (Lake swim #2!) Then we packed up and headed into Ontario.
Many people had warned me that the roads in Ontario were windy and slow. Now that I was driving those roads, I realized that the people telling me that were all from the prairies. There were many curves here, but very few for which one had to slow down, and for the first time on the trip I was able to maintain the very reasonable speed limit of 90 km/hr. I was still the slowest vehicle on the road, but proud to be finally doing the maximum. The Jeep has been fabulous – strong, reliable and comfortable, everything I could ask for in a vehicle.
We stopped in Kenora for breakfast and my Internet fix, then in Dryden to get groceries for a picnic supper and a scoop of ice cream. Along the way, we saw signs for Red Lake, Balmertown, and Sioux Lookout, towns where my ex-husband and ex-in-laws once lived and often spoke of.
The Lake of the Woods area is classic Canadian scenery: small lakes surrounded by trees and rock, everywhere but the lakes thickly wooded or swampy -- the land of Farley Mowat, Margaret Atwood, and Timothy Findley. Unlike B.C., the trees are short and often spindly, but grow as thick as grass. The woods look impenetrable. Human habitations are almost completely restricted to the few towns along the highway. This is moose country. Turkey vultures now replaced the hawks of the prairies and the eagles of the west coast.
After Dryden, we drove through to Thunder Bay. It was a long day, and late by the time we started to look for a campsite. I was tired, happy to settle for the first site outside town, attractively named Thunder Falls Campsite. As we settled in and ate a very late picnic supper, loud music began playing at a neighboring site. I went over and asked them to turn it off, which they did, but it soon became apparent that other sites were also in party mode. Poor judgement on my part: I should have guessed that a campsite near town on a Saturday might be a haven for drunken teenagers. We put in earplugs and made the best of it.
Copyright © 2010 Lynn Thorsell, All rights reserved.
Checking into the blog. I liked the fact you are stopping at interesting places and writing about it. Keep it up, Lynn. ♥♥
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a run and swim. Sounds fabulous and beautiful and I am envious and grateful for what you are doing all at the same time - especially the time with your mother. Thank you so very much for sharing with us. I miss you and look forward to your postings.
ReplyDeleteLove you, Carol