Le Voyage

The map shows ~ 10,600 km traveled ... but I had to fudge it in google as there's apparently a limit on the number of waypoints you can use ... the odometer shows that I did 13,500 km over 25 days.

What a drive

I visited 8 (of 10) provinces and 2 (of 3) territories ... Canada is beautiful ... and HUGE.  There's still so much of it that I haven't seen!  I met some amazing people on the trip and saw some incredible things.  I don't know if I could name a favorite ... but I do know that I never want to drive along Lake Superior again (except the section from Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie ... that was gorgeous).

I am very happy to be home ... even though it's rained every day except 1 since I've been back.  Most of my plants survived my absence!  Dwight did a great job of keeping them (mostly) alive.  

I don't know if I found what I needed to on my adventure ... but I do feel some stillness where there used to be restlessness.  Maybe I'm not quite so lost anymore.

And, I have a new job!  I start on the 17th!  I'm staying in renewable energy, working on another tidal turbine project in the Bay of Fundy.  Exciting!

Thanks for keeping up with my wander about Canada.  I hope you enjoyed the photos and random musings of this American as I explored my adopted home.

Day 25 -- The Road Home

Summary:

• get to Halifax!
• Distance Traveled: 800 kms
• Time on the road:  10 hrs

Photo by D

How is it that the last two nights on the road are the worst AirBnB experiences!?!  We stayed the night in a very eclectic place ... that smelled like it hadn't been aired out in a few years, had a toilet less than a foot from the bed without a functioning door and had such a soft mattress that even now, 4 days later, my back still isn't right.  But, Denis, the proprietor, made some delicious homemade bread for us for breakfast.  So that was something.

We got on our way early given the poor sleeping conditions and the noisy neighbors that were also staying at the BnB.  Northward to Sainte-Flavie and the weird art!

"the gathering", stylized by google

 You thought I was kidding, didn't you ... I don't know why this is a thing ... these statues started in the late 80s ... and more continue to be placed here over time ...  Some of the statues have faces ... some don't.  Some are very phallic looking ... others not so much ...   We were there close to low tide ... at high tide, some of these are "emerging" out of the Saint Lawrence ...

photo by D ... 

After enjoying this piece of art, we continued on our way ... onward to New Brunswick and then home.  I suppose it says something about Atlantic Canada ... but the worst weather I had on the entire trip was on the last day ... dreary, drizzling rain almost the entire drive.  Summer will arrive in Halifax eventually,  right?

A colorful boat

A random barn ... pretty countryside

Along the way, we did have a couple more stops to make.  We couldn't drive right past a giant lobster or huge blueberry and not stop, could we?!?

Shediac, NB, stylized by google

Oxford, NS

We did try to see the sinkhole in Oxford too, but it's blocked off (safety, shmafety ... grr!)

Day 24 -- Rural Quebec

Summary:

• Distance Traveled: 950 km
• Time on the Road: 13 hrs
• Random things seen:  A LOT

After a terrible night on a very hard mattress (one of the worst AirBnB experiences of the trip), I at least got to have coffee in a nice garden before getting on the road.  With a goal of getting some kilometers behind us, D and I got on the road early and made tracks toward Quebec.  We drove almost 1000 kilometers from Ottawa up to the Gaspé peninsula.

typical church of rural Quebec

Rural Quebec is quite beautiful.  It was weird though; every little town we drove through (and it was a lot ... I'll get to that later) had a huge, ornate, relatively new church.  Almost all of them had a shiny silver spire (or two or three) on top ...

We were on the scenic route so that I could try to track down another lake ... I don't know what my deal is with lakes on this trip ... this one took some hunting because, again, no signs.  It was in an old quarry that I was hoping to be able to get a peek at.  It took us a while (and maybe 50 kms of back tracking) but finally we found it.  Sadly, the road had been blocked off so we couldn't get a great look.  This was one of those times were I wished I had more than just my cell phone camera to take pictures ... quelle dommage, non?

Quarry Lake, photo by D

Along the drive, in some little town

After our little walk about (or drive about, I suppose), we pushed agian to make tracks toward Halifax.  I wanted to be home by Sunday evening ... I guess I reached the point where I was ready to be done and off the road.  The drive along the Saint Lawrence was really beautiful.  Again again, I am amazed at how gorgeous (and different) Canada is.  I had an art installation that I wanted to go see in Sainte Falvie so were weren't going to take the TransCanada into New Brunswick and on back to Halifax ... so a slight detour was necessary in order to get a few photos.  The first being ... Saint-Louise-du-Ha!Ha!.  This is the actual name of a town ...

Ha! Ha!

As is ...

I prefer to say "Piss-toll-es"

A pretty sunset

 After some more photos of the gorgeous sunset, I realized it was way later than is polite to check into an AirBnB and we hurried to Saint-Fabien, were we holed up for the night.

From the pier in Trois-Pistoles, stylized by google

Day 23 -- Ottawa River Valley

Friday's drive took me from St Joseph Island (outside Sault Ste. Marie) to outside of Ottawa.  I got a late start to the day because I was up late Thursday night to watch the Raptors win!!!!!  My AirBnB hosts had been super nice and let me watch the game with them on the big screen instead of on the tiny TV in my room.  Nancy and Benn were very sweet and sent me on my way Friday morning with a vegan blueberry muffin (suprisingly very good) and well wishes for my last few days on the road.

Giant Nickel in Sudbury, ON stylized by google

It was a long, long boring drive ... I had a few stops along the way ... but I mostly just kept driving.  Of course, I had to stop outside of Sudbury to get a photo of the Giant Nickel.  I mean, I was almost driving right by.  They've actually built a mock mine and geological centre geared for kids at the site, which is kind of cool.  There were a bunch of munchkins running around and having a good time.  I stopped long enough to get a photo and then got back on my way ... I needed to keep driving!

I did, in a moment of weakness, as D to fly out and meet me to help with the last days of driving ... after 22 days on the road, I wanted to be done.  Luckily, things worked out and D was able to fly into Ottawa Friday night.  I wanted to be home by Sunday evening and he was confident that we could make it. 


One of the trading posts along Route 17 had a great weather report for me ...

The rock was "cool" on Friday

As I neared Ottawa, I did actually start to realize that the Ottawa River Valley is a very pretty area.  Had I not been so tired of the road trip, I probably would have enjoyed this portion of the drive more.  I spent a lot of time in Ottawa itself during my first few years in Canada ... but I never actually got out of the city and explored the trails, etc.  At least now I know, if I ever end up back there, right?

Along the drive.

Stylized by Google

Update -- Back in Halifax

Hi all ... I've had spotty-to-no internet the last two evenings.  After two horrible AirBnB experiences and a whole lot of driving, I'm finally home in Halifax.  I'll get posts up from the last few days tomorrow, hopefully.  Thanks for keeping up with me and check back in a day or two for the final posts.

Day 22 -- Lake Superior goes one forever ... and ever

Continuing eastward

Summary:

• Continue Eastward along Lake Superior ... the largest freshwater lake in the world
• Distance Traveled: 750 km
• Time on the Road: 12 hrs
• Random Oddities Seen: (3)
• Wawa Goose
• Huge Dinner Table & Chairs
• Giant Loonie

Today was a long day on the road ... the first few hours from Thunder Bay were incredibly boring.  Ontario, what's the deal with the 90 km/h speed limit ... on a 4-lane highway?!?!  There were a few scenic stops along the way ... but they were few and far between.

Aguasabon Falls

Once I got past the Goose at Wawa, things got a lot better.  

Could this be more Canadian?  Wawa, ON

Shortly after I entered the Lake Superior Provincial Park, I actually saw a moose ... at 2:30 in the afternoon.  Just chilling by the highway.  A semi scared him away before I could get a picture.  Oh well.

I have to say, hearing waves lapping on the shore when I'm in the middle of Ontario is a bit disorienting ... if it wasn't quite so cold out (~ 55℉; an adjustment after my 75℉ degree day yesterday), I could have mistaken this for the Pacific Coast Highway Drive.

Katherine Cove

I had a good dinner and respite in Sault Ste. Marie ... a brief stroll around town was much needed after my Miuo dinner.

Any idea why there's a giant dinner table and chairs in Sault Ste. Marie?

On my way to my AirBnB for the night, I saw a sign for Echo Bay ... and had to go see the giant Loonie.

Giant Loonie in Echo Bay, ON

Day 21 -- The Scenic Route

Made it to Ontario (and the Eastern time zone!)

Summary:

• Drive from outside Winnipeg, MB to Thunder Bay, ON
• Distance Traveled: 850 km
• Time on the Road: 11 hrs

a lake in Minnesota

Lake Superior, Susie Islands

In an effort to avoid what everyone warned me was a forever, boring drive along the trans-Canada, I decided to take the scenic route through Northern Minnesota today.  I'm not 100% sure it was worth the extra 2 hours as the views weren't breathtaking ... but I am sure that it was a more interesting drive than the main highway.  The drive was mostly fields and forests ... I was along the Rainy River (US-Canada border) for a while, which was pretty.  The last bit of the drive in Minnesota was along Lake Superior, which was really amazing.  

Along Lake Superior

For a bit of the drive today, the only radio I could get was a comedy show on CBC radio called "The Debaters" ... as comedy isn't normally my thing (one must have a sense of humor for that), I wasn't sure if I could tolerate it and was about ready to break out a new audio book ... but to my surprise, I found myself laughing out loud ... does this get me closer to Citizenship?!?

I don't really have too many thoughts today ... it was basically just a day of driving.  While in Minnesota, I was surprised, and then angry, at how cheap gas is in the states.  And how expensive it is in Ontario!  Seriously, 30 cents more than Manitoba (which is still almost twice as much as the states) ... what gives?!?!

along Lake Superior

Tomorrow will be more driving ... mostly along the lake all day.  Hopefully there's a bit more scenery than today.