20030905

September 05, 2003
Friday


Start:   Traveller's RV Resort, Winnipeg MB
End:     Pither's Park Municipal CG, Fort Frances ON
Miles:   257
Hi Temp: 88.3
Lo Temp: 55.6


We got out of Winnipeg in the cool of the morning and headest east on TC-1.  This part of Manitoba is as flat as anywhere.  We went through a forest park and it was flat, too. The trees were small and all of the same height. The road was four-lane almost all of the miles in Manitoba, so the driving was easy even if it was boring.

We entered Ontario, the road went to two lanes, changed its number to TC-17, and the speed limit dropped to 90kph.  A few miles later, we started noticing rocks, then hills, then some ponds and lakes. We went around Kenora on the bypass and shortly afterward, turned south on ON-71.

This was a nice drive. It's winding and turning with hills and lakes and rock bluffs. When you get to Lake Of The Woods, you're into cottage country - lots of cottages on the lake with boathouses for the boats. There are quite a few resorts for fishing in the summer and hunting in the winter. The convenience stores and gas stations are far between.

During this stretch, we finally had to put on the air-conditioning to counteract the sun and warmth. 

Then ON-71 joins ON-11 just west of Fort Frances.  We drove into town and through it, looking for our campground on the east side of town. We couldn't find it, but found the municipal campground on a lake in a great location.  A sign said someone would be there at 3:00pm, and to take a site. We did.

A public works truck drove up as we were walking around a few minutes to 3:00. The man in it came over to say hi, and introduced himself as the head of public works, checking on things.  He said Penny would be there shortly.

Then Bruce gave a short history of the town, including the fact that the campground we'd been looking for had closed this year. That's why Bruce decided to stay open to the end of September to accomodate visitors. He says they're trying to get up a web site to publicize the place for next year. It ought to do well if they do that. There's a playground and big empty fields, the beach on the lake, and picnic tables under the trees. There's a shower and washroom building.  The city has a ballfield in one corner of the complex, near the railroad bridge. Nice place.

It was warm when we set up, so we put on the air conditioning while we were talking with Bruce.  Then we went downtown to find the church he had given us directions to. On the way, we passed the local Safeway. We found the mass times for Saturday evening, then parked on the main street. We walked back and forth and looked in a few shops. We'll do more of that tomorrow.

We went to Safeway and got groceries, returned to the trailer, and put everything away.  We got out the steaks, made salad, nuked the potatoes, grilled the steaks, opened the wine, and ate. Dessert was a carrot cake piece from Safeway.  Very good.

Bruce was right when he said the train track across the ballfield is the heaviest trafficed line between Canada and the US.  There have been several grain-car-only trains headed for Duluth this evening and the equivalent coming back empty.

Now we're going to hike around, read, and otherwise take it easy.

20030906                  Open new window with today’s pictures.

September 06, 2003
Saturday - last day in Canada for this trip


Start:   Pither's Point Municipal CG, Fort Frances ON
End:     same
Miles:   0
Hi Temp: 78.8
Lo Temp: 54.0


We loafed for a bit this morning while all hell broke loose outside the trailer.

The "Pet Parade" was the big thing in the park.  About 8:00am, the leaders came and started setting up the prize tables and registration area. About 9:00am, people started showing up with dogs.  Of course, the dogs wanted to talk with each other and do some sniffing, so there were a bunch of dogs at the ends of long leashes, barking.

More dogs and people kept showing up until 10:00am or so.  Then the organizers got onto a PA system and started explaining things.  That took a while.

Then the actual "parade" started; the owners walked their dogs around the perimeter of the park.  It took the leaders some 25 minutes to traverse the distance. They were observed (and pictures taken by the local paper) during this walk.

When they finally all showed up back at the prize table, the winners of the various categories were announced and prizes given, then the door prizes were awarded, then everyone had pizza and soft drinks.  The event finally ended about 1:00pm.

We took some time then to run around town and get a couple of things (flyswatter among them, we're back in the land of flies).  In the process, we called our daughter Susan and son Bill, both of whom are doing well. Later, I dropped Dolores off at church while I scouted out a location for our last dinner in Canada this year.

I picked up Dolores and we went to the restaurant next to the Pither's Point park - it was the nicest looking and had some interesting things on the menu.  Dolores had her mussles and a grilled seafood thing - small parts of grilled swordfish, halibut, and salmon.  I had a wild rice soup and past - linguine con pollo. The Ontario Reisling (?) wasn't bad and the food was good.  We paid for dinner with the last of our Canadian currency.

Then we came back to the trailer to find a big motorhome next to us, and encroaching on our space just a little. The owners came back while I was outside and apologized, saying he hadn't noticed it until he was all set up (selective vision at work) and didn't want to undo it. I told him I could get out of the narrow space he left without any big problem.  They're leaving tomorrow also, so maybe he'll move out first and make it easy for me.

We're putting things away and getting ready to move to Wisconsin tomorrow.