Category: Road Trip to Ontario July 2019

After lots of terrific organizing by Susan, we picked up the U-Haul trailer without a hitch! (bahahahaha!) We “saran wrapped” several pieces, grabbed all the boxes, then loaded up our 5’x8′ trailer! Couldn’t have done it near so fast or so well without the help of Haydn, Ethan and Zoe! And the fabulous packing skills of Brian, Haydn and Ethan – wow!! Got ‘er all in, well stacked and strapped.

Here’s Brian and Ethan strapping in the load:

Ethan, with the well-packed trailer:

Dolly Ride!

The loading crew:

Fully Loaded!

And Locked!

The Last Supper!

Sad for Susan to say “Good-bye” here in Calgary, but she said she’s excited to heading to this new chapter in her life!!

We are “off” early in the morning, heading to Minot, ND.

We left Susan’s at 5:00 am, just as the rain stopped in Calgary. We drove with cloudy skies until Brooks, so no sun in the eyes with the sunrise!

Sadly, my cell didn’t do a very good job taking photos today! But, sharing what I did get….

Good-bye Alberta:

Helloooooo Saskatchewan!

Western Saskatchewan Sky:

Susan: “Look! Is that an emu?” Brian: “That’s a llama!” Susan: “Is there much difference?” Brian: “One a bird, the other’s an animal!” One of many, many laughs along the road! Susan figures Brian will never let her forget it! Seems to me we saw lots of “emus” along the road!

Salt Flats Near Chaplin, SK:

We stopped in Moose Jaw – to find the moose!! And to have lunch! 🙂 Found the moose, and a Tudor Fighter Jet (like the Snowbirds’ planes):

At the Visitors’ Center, Brian asked “Is there a Gluten Free restaurant in town for my wives?” 🙂 Without a blink the young woman said there were several restaurants with GF options; the older woman behind her was having a good giggle!

We got through the Border without too much trouble… a few more questions than we usually get… musta bin that U-Haul! 🙂

The drive from the Border down to Minot was beautiful – through a lush river valley (the Des Lacs River). We arrived in Minot at 6:30 pm CDT… a long first day, but it went quickly – at least for Susan and me! Brian did all the driving and Susan & I chatted, so maybe not so quick for him!

It was another beautiful day! We left at a very reasonable 8 am! Before leaving ND, we went by The Geographical Center of North America!

We crossed the Red River… Good-Bye North Dakota, Hello Minnesota!

We made a very worthwhile “detour” off of US 2, down to the headwaters of the Mississippi River!

Lake Itasca, Headwaters of the Mississippi:

Lots of the plants (flowers, trees, shrubs and weeds 🙂 ) were the same as at home:

We arrived in Duluth about 6:30. What a beautiful little city!!!! We had supper in, then wandered around, the Downtown Waterfront Area:

We Ubered for the first time – Wow! Does that ever work well!!!!!! Doubt it would work in Caroline, though! 🙂

The entire drive was very scenic! It’s green and lush looking, crops look terrific – they’ve definitely had some rains this Spring!

We were off again shortly after 8 am. Within 5 minutes of leaving the hotel in Duluth, it was “Good-Bye Minnesota, Hello Wisconsin!” And two hours later it was “Good-Bye Wisconsin, Hello Michigan!” Again, the drive was beautiful! Very green, lots of trees, lots of lakes, wonderful little towns; it was all very rural and small town.

Several times we were along the shore of Lake Superior – what an incredible lake!! At a surface area of 31,700 square miles, it’s the largest freshwater lake on Earth, with a maximum length 350 miles and a maximum width 160 miles. It is a gorgeous lake!!

We left Michigan from Sault Ste. Marie, MI, crossed the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, and entered Canada in to Sault Ste. Marie, ON.

Here are a couple pictures crossing on the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge:

After a wonderful supper of smokehouse ribs, we went down to the Boardwalk along the Canadian side of the St Marys River to watch the Fourth of July fireworks shot off from the US side.

There was a crescent (fingernail) moon out tonight!

The fireworks were spectacular!

We left Sault Ste. Marie at our usual departure time of 8 am ish. It was a lovely drive down to Collingwood! Lots of beautiful lakes and rivers! We stopped for a great lunch in Muskoka country near Parry Sound.

We rolled into Collingwood about 4:30… Mark was home to meet us! It was fabulous to see him!! We unloaded the U-Haul in no time, and returned it here in Collingwood. We had a quick tour of town, then wandered down to the Marina and Club House in his community (Blue Shores)…

We started our Saturday having breakfast on “Main Street” in the old part of Collingwood, with our great friends, Jim & Karen:

After breakfast we wandered around the corner to Collingwood’s Saturday Farmer’s Market! What a great Farmer’s Market: lots of vegetables, crafts, local wine, maple syrup, and … local Cider samples before noon!!

It was cloudy, threatening rain, got a little foggy all morning; then poof the sun was out for the afternoon!

We went to Blue Mountain Resort for the afternoon.

Brian, with “A Wise One”:

From the top of the escarpment:

In the big adirondack chair:

Down to the pool before supper:

We finished the day walking through Blue Shores, along Georgian Bay, to watch the sunset over the Marina!

Sunday was another glorious day! We spent the morning over near Blue Mountain Resort at Scenic Caves Nature Adventures — we went on a beautiful hike in the woods and into caves and caverns.

Here’s a panoramic, looking down to Collingwood and Georgian Bay:

A peak through the rocks:

In the caverns:

We went to Thornbury for lunch – a beautiful town west of Collingwood. We went to The Dam Pub – which featured over 1000 different whiskeys!! Brian and Mark were in heaven!! The Pub was on Bruce Steet – the three of us were as together as we could be! 🙂

Back to the pool before supper:

And, another walk in Mark’s neighbourhood at sunset:

Another beautiful day in paradise! We had a full day, but I didn’t take too many photos.

We started with breakfast and a wee walk in The Village (at Blue Mountain Resort). Then we went to Millenium Park in Collingwood, to where the old Collingwood Grain Terminals are… these were often off in the distance in our “overlook” photos on the escarpment up in The Blue Mountains.

This photo overlooks Collingwood Harbour, looking back to The Blue Mountains:

We were off again, this time going east of Collingwood to Wasaga Beach. Mark showed us several of Parkbridge’s (his company) properties; then we walked up and down Wasaga Beach.

We headed back to the center of Collingwood for Margarita Monday – margaritas with chips & guac! Yum!!!!!

And, our trip to the pool before supper:

We were off early in the morning… it was another gorgeous day! We stopped in Grand Bend, Ontario to get a glimpse of Lake Huron… what a beautiful spot, and a beautiful town!!!!!

We stayed on backroads for almost the entire way through Ontario; popped on to “The 402” in Sarnia just before the Border; then got on to the US Interstates.

We took the Lake Express Ferry, across Lake Michigan, from Muskegon, MI to Milwaukee, WI. Here are some photos from the Muskegon side:

We stayed on the west side of Milwaukee, in Delafield, WI. We had a nice supper, watching the MLB All-Star Game. Then called it a night!

As usual, we were off fairly early in the morning. We had a bit of a slow-go at first… a bit of heavy traffic, and then an accident plugged up I90 for several miles. Turns out someone’s two motorcycles burned up on their trailer… not much was left of their motorcycles!! That musta been an experience!!!!

We left Wisconsin at La Crosse and crossed back in Minnesota…. back at the Mississippi River!! We stopped to stretch our legs and have a wee walk along the Mississippi:

We finally landed in Chamberlain, South Dakota for the night. Here’s Brian in our hotel room…. now that’s a big chair!

Chamberlain, SD is on the Missouri River. After supper, we went down to the Missouri:

It was pretty special to be on the Mississippi and the Missouri in the same day!