From The Pacific To The Atlantic - A Photo Record

Day 7 - Wawa to Parry Sound

As ugly as T. Bay to Nipigon was, the drive from Wawa south is proportionally gorgeous. The East coast of Lake Superior is amazing. It reminded me a lot of the West coast of Vancouver Island, albeit with smaller waves. Day 7 was the worst day for photography; it was foggy in the morning, and then every picture we tried to take afterwards had a guardrail or a stupid tree in the way. But we did stop for a very private and secluded swim in the big lake, and that made the rest of the day a delight. Plus we were headed to Parry Sound to see my dad and Nancy, and to revisit the place where we got married. Lovely. On the way we stopped in Blind River, where my mother was born and where her father, the grandfather I never met, along with some of his buddies, built the Legion hall. It is pictured below.

From The Pacific To The Atlantic - A Photo Record

Day 6 - Dryden to Wawa

When they say that a drive across Canada is mostly Ontario they aren't lying. It's wilder, more remote and the road is curvier than anything we've seen yet. From Thunder Bay to Nipigon is also the ugliest and my least favourite of part of the trip so far. So many 'homes' are junked out scrap-heaps, crapped on the side of the highway. It was depressing, and were it not for Terry Fox, it would have been a miserable day. We stopped at his memorial spot just outside Thunder Bay and I tried not to bawl like a little girl. I'm such a suck when it comes to Terry Fox, and Suzanne and I decided to do his Run this year and every year from now on. The man ran a marathon every day on one leg fer' chrissakes! We can do 10K on two good 'uns!

At this point I would like to explode a myth. People say, and indeed they advertise, that you can drive across Canada stopping at Tim Horton's all along the way. I say bollocks. We saw one in Golden BC, and then nothing until Sault Ste Marie. We were absolutely dying for one when we go to Nipigon, but all we could find was a stinking old Robins Donuts and Deli. It was extrememly disappointing and probably went a long way to making it the worst driving day. But when we finally pulled up to the Wawa Motor Inn, all was forgiven. We stayed in a log cabin, and had to endure a hypnotist in the restaurant that NO ONE was listening too. When the guy says 'Who wants to be hypnotized tonight?' and nobody puts up their hands, it's going to be an uphill battle. We paid $70 for the worst meal of the trip, and passed out quickly.

From The Pacific To The Atlantic - A Photo Record

Day 5 - Regina to Dryden, ON

Today I got to drive for the first time. We figured since the road was pretty straight I couldn't mess things up, and since the flat tire we got near Vermillion was the only mechanical trouble we expected, things would be fine. And they were until I got pulled over for speeding. I was going 120 in a 100 zone, and I saw the RCMP cruiser, but he was coming the other way on a divided highway, so I thought there was no problem. Turns out we had just gone past one of those u-turn things they put there just for such an occasion. 200 bucks! But I don't care. I'm not one of those cry-babys that complain about speeding tickets and parking tickets; I figure if you do the crime, you'd better be prepared to do the time. So to speak.

Anyway, the drive was a good one. Not as nice as through Saskatchewan, but nice. I was pretty tired by the time we got to Dryden, so we stumbled into the Timberland Motel, checked in, then walked across to the 'pub'. It was a trucker place, and as we walked up to the bartender, the first thing she blurts out was, 'We ain't got no Bud!', like we had 'Gimme a damn Bud!' written on our foreheads. No problem we said; just gimme a damn Blue! After a few of those, I posed for the last picture in this series...

From The Pacific To The Atlantic - A Photo Record

Day 4 - Edmonton to Regina

note: Suzanne and I agree that the Prairies get a bad rap when it comes to beauty. Everyone warned us that it would be flat and boring, but we found it just as pretty as the Rockies. But the immensity of the landscape is hard to capture at 120km/h and with our little camera, so most of the best pictures are of the grain elevators, which I find as fascinating as any mountain.

Day 3 - Edmonton/St. Albert

Day 2 - Revelstoke to Edmonton