Loons, Moose, Bugs, Gout and the Canadian Shield.

We both understood that probably the most difficult portion of this drive would be getting through the Canadian Shield.  For anyone who hasn’t driven around Lake Superior, here’s the scoop.  It just seems to go on for ever and ever. With only trees to look at in between the tiny northern communities that are dotted along the lake.
That said, I knew if I were to see a moose and hear a loon it would be in and around this part of Ontario. But I am getting ahead of myself, we first had to drive from Cypress Hills Saskatchewan, thru Manitoba into northern Ontario.
Our first stop was Swift Current, only two hours from Cypress Hills but we had an extra special reason for going there. My brother, Ken, who lives in southern Ontario, works in southern Saskatchewan and just happened to be in Swift Current the day we were driving through. We agreed to meet for dinner then carry on to our next destinations. He has driven through more of Canada than any other person I know, so he made some great suggestions which we gladly took his word for.

I also asked Ken about a strange goat I saw on the highway on our way through the prairies. He asked if it had long straight antlers and a white chest, to which I nodded excitedly. He says “That there is a speedy goat (aka antelope)”  I should mention that Swift Current’s nickname is Speedy Creek so I wasn’t surprised to hear they have speedy goats in Speedy Creek, I am just a bit embarrassed that I didn’t realize we had antelope in Canada. Oh the fun facts you learn when you travel.

Joe made the executive decision to drive as far as he could that day until he was tired. Ken had suggested we stay at Broadview Sask. truck stop, then get on the road at first light. It’s called boondocking when you stay somewhere for free. There is even a website called boondocking.com where you pay a small fee and become a member of a club of like minded travellers who offer up there homes to park your rv for free. We were originally going to stay in Brandon MB, at one of our boondocker’s homes but decided we needed to push a little farther after leaving Broadview. As a matter of fact we made the choice to just drive right through Manitoba altogether. We left Broadview at 6:30 a.m. and pulled into Kenora Ontario around 4:30 p.m. 

I had mentioned in my last post that Joe and I have some health issues (none of which are life threatening but something to be mindful of) For Joe it is gout. For those of you who have no clue what gout is, it’s an excruciating form of arthritis that affects the joints, mostly in your toes and ankles. It is hereditary and Joe has had it for about 20 years. We have avoided a large majority of flare ups by maintaining a gout friendly diet (no red meat, very little red wine, and shellfish only occasionally) Being sedatary is very bad for gout as the uric acid crystallizes in your joints more rapidly when you are sitting idle...like when you drive for 10 hours in one day. 

Suffice it to say, our first stop in Kenora was the emergency room at Lake of the Woods Hospital and our second stop was the pharmacy for the prescription. By the time we got to the campsite, Joe could barely walk and fell exhausted into bed by 8:45

I can’t tell you how amazing the staff at the hospital were. As a matter of fact, I wrote the hospital a letter telling them how impressed we both were at how efficient and unbelievably cheerful everyone we dealt with were. We were in and out of emergency in 45 mins! Yeah LOTW hospital!
We found a great campground called Anicinabe Park and our campsite overlooked the lake.

As I made dinner, Joe sat quietly looking out at the lake, and it was at that point we heard our first loon. I don’t know why this makes me so happy but it is a sound from my childhood and I miss it. So much so, I started crying for joy. Some may say I am overly sensitive but I like to think I am just a very sentimental person and small things give me great joy.
We still had 20 hours to drive to get to our next destination so we got up early again and hit the road. Thankfully, the gout was in Joe’s left foot which made it fine enough to drive and seeing as it was painful to walk, he pushed another 10 hours from Kenora, to Wawa Ontario without it causing too much trouble. Wawa is famous for this giant goose.

Not much more Canadian than that I’d say.

We rolled into Wawa around 9:30 pm, found an rv spot just before town and fell instantly asleep. We knew we had 2 days before we had to meet our friends near Algonquin park so we felt we had covered enough ground so the next leg should be easygoing. We awoke to some rotten weather and although we thought we would stay near Sault St Marie, by the time we got there, Joe said he wanted to keep going and get to Silent lake a day early.  After driving for hours and hours, and seeing sign after sign for moose crossing I got a little discouraged that perhaps we may not see one after all. No sooner had I said that when I spotted one in the forest! I practically jumped out of my seat, but poor Joe didn’t see it and seemed genuinely disappointed. We drove for maybe 20 more minutes when I spotted another in the wide open. A huge buck with gigantic antlers. This time it was Joe jumping for joy! We ended up seeing 3 altogether which made this arduous part of the journey worth it for both of us.
We arrived at Silent Lake provincial park just as the sun was setting...and the mosquitoes and black flies were on their way out for dinner. Joe laughed at me for buying a bug suit at the dollar store before coming on this trip but once he saw the swarm that awaited us, I was the only one laughing.

Apparently, bugs don’t like Joe’s Scottish blood and I was and still am, at the time of writing, their favourite snack of all time. The black flies found a way in under that bug suit and ate me alive. This is another thing from my childhood I won’t forget, but reminds me why I love living on Vancouver Island, no bug suit required.
Not long after we arrived our friends Linda and Patti and their very sweet dog, Bella, came to join us camping for one night. Linda and I were roommates in 1982 in Banff when worked at the Banff Springs Hotel.
They had brought their canoe so we rented one and went for a paddle as soon as they arrivedWe had a great evening potluck dinner including a fire inside our screen tent where the bugs could only look at us longingly from the outside.

This is cottage country and it is spectacular. Now if they could just export the bugs to somewhere else...