After Sudbury

Okay, so the blog readers are getting restless, and threatening to send search parties out for us.  But all is well, we are still cruising the highways and byways looking for scenery and adventure.  It’s just been a bit too busy at times when wi-fi is available to sit down and get updated.

So here goes with an update! 

After spending a good part of the day at the Science centre in Sudbury, there was not a long day left over for travel.  Nevertheless, we set out to put a few miles on.  After hardly seeing any enforcement presence at all on the highways of Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Manitoba, it was a bit of a change to see many OPP cars out in the area west of Marathon, all pulling cars over, likely for speeding?  With me going as slowly as possible without impeding traffic, there was no danger of us getting pulled over, even with no front plate (not required in Alberta).  But it was getting that time in the evening when we started to look for a good overnight spot, when we happened into Marathon, Ontario.  There were booths and vendors set up all over, an OPP command trailer, and security folks everywhere, so it was obvious that something was going on.  Turns out it was ‘Voyageur Days’, complete with a three day outdoor music festival.  I found a parking spot on the side of the road pretty close to the main stage, so I got to hear the headline act for Saturday nite – George Thorogood and the Destroyers – right from where I was parked. . Later on, my parking spot became my camping spot – surprisingly quiet after the final encore ended.

I did a drive-through of Driftwood Provincial Park in the morning to check it out for future reference, and found a scenic spot for a short flight near Mackey.

At Arnprior, the highway was twinned, so the speed limit finally went up to 100km/hr, so we were just racing into the nations capitol. 

(Parliament buildings just visible in the background )

 

I was unable to make contact (on short notice) with any of my friends or relatives living there, so crossed the river into Quebec and drove by the Parks Canada HQ in Hull.

 

It was closed on Sunday, of course, and I didn’t have any eggs or tomatoes to throw at those who would ruin the federal parks in Canada, so I honked the horn and kept driving.

I was following the north shore of the St Lawrence river at this point, when it became time to find a camp spot.  There did not seem to be any good opportunities along the river because of private land, so we ended up on the side of a teeny back road between some fields of corn and beans, I think.