Onward

This section of the blog is a catchup, as I hadn't posted for a few days while visiting and exploring in Sault Ste. Marie area. We did manage to have a giant brunch with Jarrell, Marla, and Katie and compared notes on our family trees, before bidding adieu and driving east again. We stopped into Desbarats to try and find more information on a book prepared by the Women's Institute some 30-40 years ago, relating the pioneer stories and area history, but were unable to track it down......so off we went, eventually bound for Sudbury. Approaching the town of Blind River, we saw our first moose of the trip, so we stopped and photographed her as she munched on the new reeds and grasses in a slough beside the highway. It was a relief to me to finally find one, as I'd been telling Linda since Kenora that we were bound to see lots of moose in northern Ontario, and when the bears showed up yesterday, she reminded me that she still hadn't seen a moose! Halleluja - here was one!


Our first Moose sighting











We continued on, stopping at Espanola to try and call an old buddy, Charlie, who I'd tried to get earlier, but the phone refused to put me through. I was also having trouble finding a number for another old friend, Bill, who as far as I knew, still lived and worked in Sudbury as a noted environmentalist and bushman. With Tim Horton's right beside me on the highway, I was able to pull out the computer and get reasonable WiFi, so I tried Googling Bill's name, coming up with dozens of his papers, but no contact info. I finally tracked him down, and was able to telephone him at work. I hate to impose, or descend on someone without warning, but it is not possible for me to go through or into Sudbury without at least trying to get hold of Bill. He insisted we come over, and it was like the last 28 years or so hadn't existed. We had a great visit, with pizza and beer, and a sauna in Bill's renovated Homestead home.



Don relaxing with Bill in Sudbury










Being a Tuesday evening, it was again a day of reckoning, ending our 4th week on the road. The numbers for the week came out as follows: Distance driven - 1255.4 Km (not counting the 300-500 Jarrell drove when we toured the cemeteries) Gas - $109.00 Food - $289.84 Accommodation - $134.92 Other - $99.21 for a total of $633.17. So again, we've made it on less than the $700.00 budget, and added a $67.00 cushion for later expenses.
We stayed overnight at Bill's place, and then headed east again, through Sturgeon Falls where we stopped for gas and groceries, then North Bay, then heading south for Huntsville. The price of gas had jumped as we left the Sault, with 94.3 jumping to 102.9, then to 107.9 in Sudbury. By North Bay it was back down again to 101.9, and then in Huntsville we were back to a slightly more reasonable 94.3/litre.
Huntsville is close to the western edge of Algonquin Park, which we plan on driving through, on our way toward Ottawa. But first, we had to take care of some laundry. We found a laundromat which was huge - in fact, it is apparently the largest one in Canada, and takes up a full city block, with a lounge, and WiFi, free coffee, tea and popcorn, and lots and lots of laundry machines. I was able to get restarted on the blog, and got the Soo portion uploaded with the pictures finally into the computer. Then it was time for a long-overdue haircut, at the local barber shop. The forecast is for rainshowers and thundershowers tonight, so there is a big temptation to try for another Kamper Kabin.....but none can be found in our meagre price range. We finally found a 150 acre campground with tentsites with a nice treed canopy, so we ended up with that. They also have WiFi, so I am now able to do this portion of the blog, and get caught up totally again. This puts us in range to find some more of our dead ancestors, about 40 KM south of here, in Baysville. Then we hope to meet up with some old friends from our sailing days in Cyprus, Bent and Anne, who insist on our coming over for lunch tomorrow (and supper and staying, but we're not sure about that.....we still have to get to Newfoundland, via Algonquin Park and Ottawa).