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Day 41: June 29 – Timmins, ON to Deep River, ON

Today we shall complete our Hwy-11 journey and join Hwy-17 at North Bay for the journey down the Ottawa Valley.

We pass through Earlton and wave at ‘Earl’ the bison on the way past. We stop for lunch at a quiet rest area a little North of North Bay and find an amazingly tranquil lake.

North Bay seems overly congested after the past few days of driving. The return to civilization is a little jarring. We leave the Toronto-bound traffic and continue Eastward on Hwy-17 towards Mattawa.

At Mattawa we spot Big Joe Mufferaw and turn towards Ottawa. Our destination for the night is Driftwood Provincial Park near Deep River as it will leave a short drive for tomorrow, our last day.

We snag an amazing waterfront site and settle in for a relaxing afternoon in the sun. The view is incredible across the Ottawa River and the sun is warming but not hot.

Day 40: June 28 – Geraldton, ON to Timmins, ON

Although last nights weather forecast was only for light showers, we actually had an all out thunderstorm for about an hours or so around midnight followed by light rain the remainder of the night. By this morning the rain had ended. Yay.

We traveled East for a few hours through the Northern Ontario wilderness and then stopped for fuel in Hearst. A short drive further and we arrived in Kapuskasing where Barb got to satisfy her desire for chip truck poutine from Nicky’s Chipstand. It was delicious (Yes I had some too).

Leaving town we stopped at the Fromagerie Kapuskoise to buy some wonderful cheese products made with locally sourced milk (cow, sheep & goat).

Driving along Hwy-11 you see some unusual sights; however, the flying saucer in Moonbeam probably has all others beat. We had to stop to take a photo.

Our destination for the night is Kettle Lakes Provincial Park just East of Timmins, ON. A large park with lots of smaller lakes throughout, the campsites were roomy and separated from each other nicely. The mosquitoes are very abundant.

Day 39: June 27 – Dryden, ON to Geraldton, ON

Aaron Provincial Park was wonderful. Quiet and quite large sites. If you’re driving past it’s worth a stop for the night. We highly recommend.

Slow start to the day it seems as we didn’t get rolling until about 10:00am. Today we are targeting Geraldton, ON along Hwy-11 from Thunder Bay. We’ve never driven along the northern branch of the Trans Canada highway and thought this trip was a chance to do so.

Before we got to Thunder Bay we stopped at the marker for the crossing into the Eastern Timezone at 90degrees west. There is also a couple of plaques describing and memorializing Sir Sanford Fleming as he invented the concept of Standard Time.

Our next stop was the Terry Fox lookout just East of Thunder Bay along Hwy-11/17. Not only is this is a wonderful place to lookout across Lake Superior it is also a fabulous memorial to an amazing Canadian. Driving here? Do not pass without stopping.

At Nipigon we topped off our fuel, turned North onto Hwy-11 and headed toward Geraldton. The first hour is gorgeous with the road winding alongside lakes and traveling down valleys between rock outcroppings as tall as the Niagara escarpment. Eventually the road turned East again and we were now driving through the true Northlands of the province.

Eventually we arrived at our destination for the night, Macleod Provincial Park. Again no reservation but they had an unserviced site next to the lake for us. It took a few boards to level the van but the view is worth it.

Crossing back into the Eastern time zone

Day 38: June 26 – Portage la Prairie, MB to Dryden, ON

After a great nights sleep at the Walmart, we headed to Tim Horton’s for breakfast. Disappointment awaited. Barb’s breakfast sandwich had eggshells in it and my Bagel BELT arrived without L or T. 😒

We made a quick stop at the White Horse monument just West of Winnipeg as we had stopped there on our last trip West in 2003 with the kids.

We also stopped in Winnipeg for fuel and to look for a specific alcoholic beverage sold at the Manitoba Liquor Marts but not back home at the LCBO.

Accessing the liquor mart required us to handover photo ID. The staff then checked the image on the card against each of us (I had to remove my glasses which were slightly tinted because of the sun). They then scanned the cards and returned them before unlocking the door to allow us to enter. Tighter security than any airport it would seem is required before you can buy your bottle here. Wow.

The drive out of Manitoba saw us leave the prairie and enter the boreal forest. We then crossed back into Ontario 32 days after we left. We stopped to enjoy lunch at the ‘Welcome to Ontario’ information center and then continued toward our destination just past Dryden, ON.

Our stop for the night would be Aaron Provincial Park. We have no reservation but they had some sites and ours was close to the brand new shower block. Shower first, then dinner.

Day 5: May 24 – Exeter, ON

A sunny and cool start accompanied me on a 5km walk about the town of Exeter today. The Victoria Day weekend over, the town returns to its normal routines and the streets are quiet as I walk while enjoying the flowerbeds so carefully prepared in the recents days.

We also spent some time planting tomatoes and hosta’s with Barb’s mom to help kick off the growing season.

Tomorrow we leave Ontario and cross into the US heading South in the direction of Indianapolis. Stay tuned!