Day 1: Toronto to Thunder Bay
4am
Alarm goes off. ugh.
4:30am
Finally get out of bed. Athough Ive done it MANY times before, it takes a few tries to strap my kayak to my car. Once I actually end up strapping the kayak to itself.
I question whether I am safe to drive and should go back to bed.
(Decide to make a cup of coffee instead...)
5am
On the road! It is apparently too early for morning shows, so all stations are playing music! Yes! The first station I flip on plays my favourite song. I smile all the way to the highway.
5:20am
Merge onto the highway. Start getting a really bad feeling when my foot is literally on the floor but my car is accelerating like it is pushing through jello. Hm. I guess a kayak on the roof + my entire life in the car is making me a little...um...slower. I realise for the first time that I might not be able to drive as fast as planned. I also wonder how all of this will affect my gas mileage...
5:25am
My car finally reaches 100 km/h. Mental note to self: dont stop if you can help it....car might not make it to 100 again....
11:30 am
Lunch break at Serpent River...sandwiches on the rocks by the water. I lay down on the rocks in the sun and take a nap (and wake up covered in blackflies)
2pm
Saute St. Marie! Work out a Goodlife Fitness, shower and hit up the Walmart for chocolate milk. When returning to my car notice that someone has scratched up the bumper...again! Exact same spot as before! Geez. Glad that I have a beater car and decide that I will never buy a new car ever. Figure that everything I own is a little bit broken and that that is okay.
Make it to Lake Superior Provincial Park as the sun is setting....the honor system payment makes me smile. The place is pretty much deserted so I have my pick of the hundreds of sites. I set my tent up on the beach right beside the water, make a sandwich and watch the sunset. It is breezy and cool and beautiful and I wish that I could share this with someone but at the same time enjoy the silence of being alone. I read for a bit on the beach, then fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves.
4am
Alarm goes off. ugh.
4:30am
Finally get out of bed. Athough Ive done it MANY times before, it takes a few tries to strap my kayak to my car. Once I actually end up strapping the kayak to itself.
I question whether I am safe to drive and should go back to bed.
(Decide to make a cup of coffee instead...)
5am
On the road! It is apparently too early for morning shows, so all stations are playing music! Yes! The first station I flip on plays my favourite song. I smile all the way to the highway.
5:20am
Merge onto the highway. Start getting a really bad feeling when my foot is literally on the floor but my car is accelerating like it is pushing through jello. Hm. I guess a kayak on the roof + my entire life in the car is making me a little...um...slower. I realise for the first time that I might not be able to drive as fast as planned. I also wonder how all of this will affect my gas mileage...
5:25am
My car finally reaches 100 km/h. Mental note to self: dont stop if you can help it....car might not make it to 100 again....
Awesome sunrise from the 400...the sun reflected off the mist from the farmer's fields made it look like a lake of gold....pictures never do it justice...
7am
Gas and McMuffin break in Parrysound. The McDonalds here smells like butter....ummmm....
10am
In Sudbury! Lost all radio stations, aside from the CBC. I turn the radio off.
Gas and McMuffin break in Parrysound. The McDonalds here smells like butter....ummmm....
10am
In Sudbury! Lost all radio stations, aside from the CBC. I turn the radio off.
11:30 amLunch break at Serpent River...sandwiches on the rocks by the water. I lay down on the rocks in the sun and take a nap (and wake up covered in blackflies)
2pmSaute St. Marie! Work out a Goodlife Fitness, shower and hit up the Walmart for chocolate milk. When returning to my car notice that someone has scratched up the bumper...again! Exact same spot as before! Geez. Glad that I have a beater car and decide that I will never buy a new car ever. Figure that everything I own is a little bit broken and that that is okay.
4pm+
The drive from Saute St. Marie to Thunder Bay is INCREDIBLE. I am alone on the highway, the windows rolled down, driving fast and barefoot through a road lined with rock cliffs, lakes and endless trees. I stop and watch a big bull moose with a huge rack on the side of the road for awhile. Later have to stop for a giant black bear crossing the road. I pull over at every "scenic" roadstop. It is sunny and the air is fresh and smells like pine trees and I seriously consider moving out here in the fall... I stop at a couple rivers with sweet rapids and wish I had my paddle (it somehow disappeared from my mom's garage in the past 2 weeks...or I left it in Ottawa at the take-out last time I was paddling...either way will have to buy a new one when I get to Canmore :( )
The drive from Saute St. Marie to Thunder Bay is INCREDIBLE. I am alone on the highway, the windows rolled down, driving fast and barefoot through a road lined with rock cliffs, lakes and endless trees. I stop and watch a big bull moose with a huge rack on the side of the road for awhile. Later have to stop for a giant black bear crossing the road. I pull over at every "scenic" roadstop. It is sunny and the air is fresh and smells like pine trees and I seriously consider moving out here in the fall... I stop at a couple rivers with sweet rapids and wish I had my paddle (it somehow disappeared from my mom's garage in the past 2 weeks...or I left it in Ottawa at the take-out last time I was paddling...either way will have to buy a new one when I get to Canmore :( )
Some of the scenic stops along the way...
Make it to Lake Superior Provincial Park as the sun is setting....the honor system payment makes me smile. The place is pretty much deserted so I have my pick of the hundreds of sites. I set my tent up on the beach right beside the water, make a sandwich and watch the sunset. It is breezy and cool and beautiful and I wish that I could share this with someone but at the same time enjoy the silence of being alone. I read for a bit on the beach, then fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves.
2am
Wake up to INSANE wind. There is a crazy windstorm and I am totally unprotected on the beach! Move my tent to the trees and sit inside holding the sides up and hoping that my fly doesnt blow away! I am not too worried because the tent is already broken from the summer I lived in it at Wilderness Tours. When i was at work a twister hit the resort and my tent was blown almost 1/4 km into the woods...with a full mattress inside and 3 milk crates full of clothes! (Luckily it got stuck on a tree ot else it would have been gone) It didnt break, but the poles jut out at crazy angles...LOL it takes a good 20 min to set up now because it only sits one way. The tent braves the storm but I dont really get anymore sleep.
I read the book a friend gave me before leaving, "The Tao is silent." (thanks Matt W. :)
4am
I make a mental list of things I will buy when I have a real job:
-a new tent that is wicked and not from Canadian Tire...hmmm....the Mountain Hardwear one ryan has....man that is such a nice tent....
-whisper lite stove
-paco pad
-nice, quality camping pots
-nice chess set
-top end snowboard boots
-a new kayak (why not? Im wishing right)
-drysuit
-oh oh a watershed drysac backpack...and a new camera. A nice one.
6am
Packed up and back on the road, passing deer on the way out of the park. Perfect.
...Next stop: Whiteshell National Park, Mantioba.
Wake up to INSANE wind. There is a crazy windstorm and I am totally unprotected on the beach! Move my tent to the trees and sit inside holding the sides up and hoping that my fly doesnt blow away! I am not too worried because the tent is already broken from the summer I lived in it at Wilderness Tours. When i was at work a twister hit the resort and my tent was blown almost 1/4 km into the woods...with a full mattress inside and 3 milk crates full of clothes! (Luckily it got stuck on a tree ot else it would have been gone) It didnt break, but the poles jut out at crazy angles...LOL it takes a good 20 min to set up now because it only sits one way. The tent braves the storm but I dont really get anymore sleep.
I read the book a friend gave me before leaving, "The Tao is silent." (thanks Matt W. :)
4am
I make a mental list of things I will buy when I have a real job:
-a new tent that is wicked and not from Canadian Tire...hmmm....the Mountain Hardwear one ryan has....man that is such a nice tent....
-whisper lite stove
-paco pad
-nice, quality camping pots
-nice chess set
-top end snowboard boots
-a new kayak (why not? Im wishing right)
-drysuit
-oh oh a watershed drysac backpack...and a new camera. A nice one.
6am
Packed up and back on the road, passing deer on the way out of the park. Perfect.
...Next stop: Whiteshell National Park, Mantioba.
