June 11/12
We awoke to rain but was clearing when we left Quebec City at 10:00. We started out on the scenic route Hwy 138 but with so much road construction got diverted onto Hwy 40 (freeway). We passed lots of huge dairy farms, corn & grain fields. Sumac, maples & evergreen trees aplenty. Temps reached 38C in Ottawa so was extremely hot when we got to cousin Eleanor Sue's in Gatineau but fortunately she has a lovely pool in her back yard. We had a great chicken BBQ and visited outside until late into the evening. We hadn't seen each other in many years so there was lots of catching up to do.

June 12/12
We left Gatineau in the rain. We navigated our way across the Rideau River and through the outskirts of Ottawa. Passed through Mattawa and enjoyed several wood carvings of  explorers and native Indians. We drove through Sudbury and stopped to see the "Big Nickel". This is the largest nickel mine in the world. Was formerly Inco but has been bought out by Vale from South America. We checked into a lovely lakefront site at Lake Apsey Resort at Espanola. Enjoyed tortierre (French pork pie) and a Greek salad dinner overlooking the lake at dusk.

June 13/12
Away from Apsey Lake in clear sky and sunshine. Drove through Espanola, a paper mill town, then along the north shore of Lake Huron. Did a grocery shop at Saulte St Marie then carried on north along the east side of Lake Superior. The country is full of small lakes, islands and veery dense forests. There are warning signs for moose everywhere along the roadways but we never saw one. Did see the odd deer and a couple of coyotes, but noticeably few ducks and birds. We spent the night at the Wawa RV Resort and had our first real meal (pork chops, corn, rice & salad). Wawa is home to the giant Canada Goose.

June 14/12
We met a couple from Ft St John -Troy & Trudy- so had a lenghty visit with them before leaving Wawa at 10:40. Another bright sunny day. We drove through White River, the birthplace of Winnie-the-Pooh, so saw the park in his honour. We passed the big Newmont Mines/Barrick Gold before we got to Marathon, where we checked out the downtown and Pebble Beach, which is covered in multi-coloured round rocks polished by the tides. Marathon was a big pulp mill town but appears that everything has been shut down so lots of properties, etc for sale. It is the home of Chris Wirtz, the Canadian pairs figure skater. Passed some interesting red and white layered rocks before Nipigon, the start of the Terry Fox Courage Highway which runs 100 miles to the west. Lots of amethist mines in the area. Stayed at the Thunder Bay KOA and now remember why we seldom use those parks -$46.33.

June 15/12
Overcast skies when we left Thunder Bay. We passed the Terry Fox scenic lookout with his bronze statue. Apparently there has been serious flooding in T Bay and they are just in the mop up stages and getting people back into their homes. All the ditches along the roads are still full. We gained an hour today.Mile after mile of bog, tall skinny trees, lots of them dead possibly by drowning, and it looks like bug kill in the spruce trees. The power poles are being supported by tri-pod timbers and large culverts filled with rocks.Hunting and fishing camps aplenty along with native Indian villages and reserves. Still lots of road construction and swarms of black flies and deer flies. We are now into moss and fern country. We saw the giant moose at Dryden then drove through to Kenora and checked out their downtown. Large native population. Beautiful homes on the lake. The big Kenora Forest Products all shut down. We checked into Rock Garden Campground (PA) 26 miles east of Winnipeg in 25C. They had a special on BBQ chicken wings so shared an order with our happy hour then did a long walkabout.

June 16/12
Woke up to pouring rain so sat it out until 10:30. We passed the Longitudinal Center of Canada just east of Winnipeg. We bypassed Portage La Prairie. We fuelled at Brandon Husky at $1.099 for diesel. Checked into Turtle Crossing RV at Brandon where our friends Bob & Jutta Tokaryk treated us to happy hour and a BBQ chicken dinner. This park is still under reconstruction after being under 12 feet of water through the big flood last year. After dinner we enjoyed a lengthy campfire and were entertained by a couple living in the park. They are a singing duo and he is a songwriter for several well known artists. A fun time was had by all.