Ontario

When we first started planning the trip out to Alberta, the US-Can border was still closed to unnecessary travel so we had to plan on going out through northern Ontario. Well, it's not really northern Ontario, just "near" north as we called it, but it's a route that goes up around the Great Lakes.  For my American friends, Ontario is larger than Texas. It took us seven days to get through Ontario, not counting those days we spent camping at some locations. You can drive it faster but towing a trailer really slows things down.

The first stop was at Emily Provincial Park near Peterborough, a short drive for my sister and brother-in-law and about a 3 1/2 hour drive for me. We stayed there two nights which turned out to be a good thing as poured rain while we were in Emily. We did get a chance to drive back into Peterborough and see the lift lock and luckily even got to see it in action.

Luckily, Maureen and Steve are experts at tarping a campsite when there's rain so even during rainy weather we were able to sit out and have our meals or campfires.

Our next stop was Killbear Provincial Park where we would again be staying two nights. We stopped in Parry Sound for some gas and groceries before driving out to the park. Killbear is on Georgian Bay which is part of Lake Huron.  It is famous for a leaning pine tree. We went in search of that pine once we got settled into our campsites, only to find that it is dying and now sadly has to be supported. 

Killbear campsite

The famous tree

Lighthouse trail

Georgian Bay in the evening

After Killbear, it was one night in Chutes Provincial Park. On the way, we made a quick stop in Sudbury to see the Big Nickel. 

Sudbury, The Big Nickel

Camp site at Chutes

The water falls at Chutes Provincial Park

Our next stop was in Sault Ste Marie, On. Here, we would stay for three nights at the KOA. The sites were small but we were glad for the amenities and took advantage of the dog parks, the laundry, the campers' kitchen and patio.  We also played tourist in the town visiting the locks and the boardwalk downtown.

Emergency Dam

The next three nights would be three one night stops to get us up and over Lake Superior and through the rest of Ontario. We had some beautiful views of Lake Superior but there really wasn't anyplace that was easy for us to pull over, most of the pull outs were on the east bound side of the highway. Once we got past Lake Superior, I found that Ontario has a lot of trees.

We stayed in White Lake Provincial Park. It was funny arriving as there was no park office staff available on Tuesday's. We were only there the one night and were leaving Wed morning; the staff just waved at us as we left. It's a self registration honour system; had we not had reservations we probably could have stayed for free. 

White Lake Prov Park campsite

White Lake

The next stop was Trowbridge Municipal campground in Thunder Bay, On. Before going to the campground, we stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial. If you've never heard of Terry Fox, he lost a leg to cancer and started the Marathon of Hope where he tried to run a marathon a day across Canada to raise money to fight cancer. He lost his battle with cancer and had to stop the marathon near where this memorial is located. Every year now, there are Terry Fox runs held across the country in his memory that continue to raise money to fight cancer.

Terry Fox Memorial

Terry Fox Memorial

Trowbridge Campground

Trowbridge Falls

The last stop in Ontario was Aaron Provincial Park near Dryden, On. It was damp and cold here so this was the first place on the trip where we ate our evening meal in a restaurant. The sun did come out in the evening for some nice pictures over Thunder Lake.

Sunset over Thunder Lake

Aaron Provincial  Park campground

 The next day would see us finally leave Ontario and head across the Prairies.  We left on the 6th of June and would only be leaving Ontario on the 17th of June. It would only take four more days of actual driving to reach Alberta. The Prairie journey will be the next installment.