Ontario, Canada

This is the slider swing from the Driftwood Campground we stayed at last night. I thought it was very cool, and reminded me of my childhood when these swings were all over the place.

Well, we have internet tonight at the Renfrew KOA, but it is V E R Y slow so I'll try to upload pictures tomorrow night at hopefully a faster connection.

The Spragge KOA was right off of busy highway 17, so we passed it by and went on to the Chutes Provincial Park. I guess the KOA's cater to the big rigs (I don't think we qualify) who have some soundproofing. The picture to the left is taken at Chutes Provincial Park as we were getting ready to leave.

We started out yesterday with a visit to Big Spring State Park in Michigan, Kitsi-itsy-bitchy- or something like that in Ojibiwa. We were the first to arrive at the park, and the ranger tasked us with feeding the fish while he went about his other morning chores. It was a very cool park, had a manually operated raft that took you out over the Big Spring that you could see 50+ feet under water with an artesian spring literally erupting from the bottom of the pond. It wa almost volcanic, except it was at 45 degrees fahrenheit.

After feeding the biggest trout I've seen for a while, we continued on our trip and crossed into Canada at Sault St. Marie. Northern Michigan was very windblown and bleak (Steve says it would have been nicer if the sun was shining), but by the time we got to Ontario, the sun was out but it was windy. We had a great lunch overlooking the Soo locks, and then traveled on east on Hwy 17.

Wow, the semi's own the road! They were all barreling down the highway at 10 or 20 klicks over the speed limit. One obviously missed a turn, and when we came by they had three tow trucks trying to get him out of the ditch on the opposite side of the road.

Chutes Provincial Park was about 1/2 mile out of Massey where we had located the local LCBO (local govt. liquor store) and restocked our cooler with yummy beers. After setting up the tent, we took a stroll around the campground and met a very nice couple with a beautiful wooden boat that they were taking to Lake Superior. They had a Ford Ranger like Jamie's only it was blue and had the niftiest pop-up camper in the truck bed! He had searched all over for a camper that would fit his truck, and found a manufacturer in Chicago. He had driven down to get it from upper Ontario, Canada.

It rained last night, but we stayed dry in our camper. Unfortunately the blower fan on our heater had died, so today we stopped at Home Depot in North Bay and got another. Boy does it generate the heat!!! That's good, because things were a little damp from yesterday.

Today we went past Sudbury and its nickel smelters. Steve said it looked a lot better than the last time he had seen it, but the trees and shrubs were still stunted from the acid rain from the smelters. I guess they have cleaned them up some.

We spent most of the morning in heavily wooded landscapes, and then suddenly....cows and pastures and farmland! I think I prefer the farmland! Certainly the smells.... reminds me of my childhood visits to my Uncle Adolph's farm in Minnesota.

We finished our day with a trip to a super Walmart to restock some supplied. We had a heck of a time finding any grocery stores today, so we finally gave up and got some directions from the KOA manager to the closest grocery store...Walmart. We finished our day with soup and salad.

Tomorrow we continue on our trek east, but we have decided to quit as close to 4 p.m. as we can, either in a motel or camping park.... so, we'll see what happens. We'll certainly try to post pictures tomorrow.