Adventures in Rock and Water

Wednesday dawned foggy and cool.  I was ready for a long walk, so I took off down the riverwalk in Sault Ste Marie and had a lovely walk down to the Locks Park and back.  In addition to getting a good workout, I learned that a huge building we had seen the previous evening on the river was the Edison generating plant and is still operational.  The riverwalk is well maintained and scenic.  Like Detroit's riverwalk, it is a great way to let people see the best side of a city.

 Edison Generator

When we began our drive, it was drizzling and foggy and that cloudiness stayed with us almost all day.  We were driving from Sault Ste Marie to Wawa - about a two and a half hour drive.  We did not reserve a room in Wawa ahead of time because I wasn't sure that's where we would stay.  Since it was kind of dreary, we just drove - but the road construction gremlins were with us that day.  We experienced several delays.  The great advantage of traveling with no firm destination in mind is that delays are really not an issue (this is MaryAlice's opinion).  

I really wanted to stop and see the Agawa Pictographs in Lake Superior Provincial Park.  We have seen pictographs out west and they are interesting and moving and old.  It is hard to imagine that these "messages from the past" can last so long on a rock face.  When we reached the park, a young staff member cautioned me that this rainy day was not a good day for doing the short but difficult hike to the pictographs.  I agreed, but I still wanted to try it.  Dennis was not interested, especially after we saw the description of the trail.  It was really a stack of rocks with an occasional step cut in to keep the hiker from falling.  The rocks are very slippery in the rain.  I took off my sandals and put on my walking shoes.

Two pictures of the "trail"

The walk was moderately terrifying.  I slipped three times, but managed to use my walking stick to keep myself from falling - and then I reached the rock face.  I am not a swimmer.  The rock face goes straight up from a curved rock ledge in the water.  There was a 6-inch wide flat spot to sidle along the face and try to take a picture.  People who are swimmers might not view this as dangerous - true, you would sustain bruises and lacerations, but not drown.  For a non-swimmer, it's a whole different issue, especially if you are alone and don't have a helping hand to steady you.  Anyway, I'm proud of myself for doing it and getting some cool photos.

My reward - the petroglyphs

I also wanted to take some pictures of the scenic High Falls outside of Wawa.  We followed a few signs that pointed the way, but didn't really provide much info.  It was the oddest drive to a waterfall that I have seen.  However, we agreed that the ride was worth it to see this lovely waterfall.

Scenic High Falls

Then, we arrived in Wawa - a small town that has seen better days.  There were a handful of motels, some still had vacancies.  I suggested the Wawa Motor Inn and we went in and asked for a room.  Luck was with us - we secured the last available room.  The motel was neat and clean and quiet and had a dining room!  The food was homestyle and delicious and the breakfast the next morning was terrific.  It was a good find.  

On Thursday we had a fairly long drive.  We traveled from Wawa to Nipigon - about 4 hours.  The day was sunny and there was no road construction!  We had in mind to stop at two waterfalls, Augusabon Falls and Rainbow Falls.  The road - still on the Transcanada Highway 17 - took us away from the shoreline and back again.  We drove along through lots of rock and forests and lakes.  This stretch of road was unpopulated with only an occasional small town.  

Augusabon Falls is located outside of Terrace Bay.  We pulled into a small parking area and took a boardwalk out to a viewing area.  It was an easy walk to get some good photos.  We chatted with another couple from Toronto.  While we were watching, we saw a couple of hikers cross the river below the falls - great photo-op.

Augusabon Gorge and Falls

Hikers Crossing River

The Rainbow Falls has its own park.  We pulled into the park and paid the fee for the day pass and headed out to the trail.  It wasn't really a trail.  It was a boardwalk stairway that went down along the falls to a bridge over the river, so we could see the rapids along the way and the falls at the bridge.  The stairway was more than 150 steps, but we didn't have any trouble.  It was part of our daily workout!  We arrived in Nipigon in the late afternoon and checked in a motel that provided us with a basic room.  

 Rainbow Falls

 

These Two Travelers Gazing at Rainbow Falls

 

 

  

Two Days in the Harbor

Monday and Tuesday included watery adventures - and no, we did not jump in!  On Monday we took a tour of the Flowerpot Island area.  We boarded a boat that looked like a floating green house and had a "glass bottom" that I think was really plastic, but very cool.

The boat took us into the Big Tub Harbor first to see a shipwreck and the beautiful Big Tub Harbor Lighthouse.  I liked the tour because of the protection from too much sun, wind and water, but plenty of lovely views.  There were several children on our tour and they all gravitated to the glass bottom section of the boat. 

Then we took a large loop around several islands to see the various rock formations (flowerpots) and the unique flora and fauna.  We learned that there is a type of lichen that is a rusty color and provides a food source for plants - and that gives rise to the forest of cedar trees all over these islands.  The young scantily clad woman in the flowerpot picture was not chosen to distract from the rock formation, but we couldn't wait for her to move because the boat was traveling pretty fast!   

After fun on the water, we visited the visitor's center for the Fathom Five National Marine Park.  It was very educational and fun, with hands on displays that we shared with others.  We ate in a fun little pub called the Crowsnest and thoroughly enjoyed our day and the lovely town of Tobermory.

On Tuesday, it was back to the harbor (at 6:00 a.m.) to catch the Chi-Cheemaun ferry to Manitoulin Island.  We wanted to take the first ferry ride so we had plenty of time for our drive onto the mainland and up to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.  It's a good thing we gave ourselves extra time.  There was a ton of road work being done on highway 17 that really slowed us down.  But, the road is beautiful!  Driving across Manitoulin was interesting because of the geology.  It was very barren and rocky - not many farms - but lots of water views.

We slowed down as we drove north on highway 17 so we could get a couple of pictures for Spanish, Ontario for Kathy R, our musical violinist.  Her family came from the area and she wanted to know what was there.  It was a tiny town, but there were a few places to eat and one motel, the Spanish Inn.  Here you go, Kathy, it seems to be a small but thriving community!

We arrived in Sault Ste Marie in the afternoon and were able to check into a hotel that is near the riverwalk.  We took a walk and then just sat on a bench watching the water and the small boats, but we kept watching and were rewarded with a view of a huge ore carrier coming down the river and entering the locks.  It was a lovely afternoon.

 

O Canada

We had a long drive day on Sunday.  We left the house before 9:00 a.m. and crossed into Canada about 2 hours later.  It was a lovely day for driving and we gradually changed our head set from mph to kph.  I always use the 10K measure to do estimates - 6 miles for every 10 kilometers.  The MUCH harder part is getting used to liters vs gallons of gas for the car!  When we stopped for gas in Grand Bend, the pump only allowed a prepay in set amounts of money.  Gas cost was $1.109 per liter - did we want $10, $25, $50 or $100?  We chose $25 and then I did the conversions to understand exactly what we really needed ($53 for a fill up).  We're adapting.

Rather than staying on the larger highways and going up the middle of the Bruce Peninsula, we drove up on highway 21 along the shore of Lake Huron.  It was a beautiful drive.  At first we saw miles of lush farm land.  We noticed many wind generators and solar panels.  I wonder if the Canadian government subsidizes these on farm lands.

There were a few stretches of land right along the water and it was beautiful.  Then the geology started to change as we entered the Niagara Escarpment area.  It became rocky and hilly - not as much farm land.  Once we passed Dyers Bay Road the highway (highway 6) we were on became the only road.  So travel speed was as fast as the slow cars in front of us on this two lane highway and there was not much traffic and there were no people or towns.

Then, we were in Tobermory and it was crowded and a bit raucous and very colorful.  We found our hotel and then found a brewery for a beer break.  We watched boats coming into and out of the harbor and noticed that there was a small dixieland band playing on the street.  The musicians played tuba, trombone, trumpet, clarinet and saxophone - really fun!

We settled into our room and checked out the lay of the land to plan our Monday activities.  All in all it was a good beginning. 

 

Preparations are underway

We are so excited to do this road trip!  We are touring Lake Superior in a counter clockwise direction with a pre-circle visit to the Bruce Peninsula before we hit THE Great Lake at Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.  We have done some research on where to stop, where to hike and where to take pictures.  We have even made a few hotel reservations - and left some to chance (always part of the adventure).

Now we are gathering our travel stuff and making list so we don't forget the important details (like our passports).  Once our travel gear is assembled, I'll post a photo.

So, here is the car with most of our "stuff" in the trunk.  We'll put in the suitcases tomorrow (Sunday) and head off to Canada.  I hope I can sleep tonight - so excited!