Day 107 – July 1 9

As my iPhone binged to an early morning incoming message we awoke to some bad news. Ken and Renee’s dog of 12 years, Maggie, had died suddenly and unexpectedly the previous day. To add to the loss for both of them Ken was on his way to Nova Scotia. Unless you are a pet owner or are close to one you can’t appreciate the bond that forms with a pet or the grief that comes from loosing one. Maggie was not just a happy pile of fur with a bowl in the corner. Maggie was a key part of Ken and Renee’s daily life. She was Family. Although the most rapidly ageing member of that family Maggie did her best to keep up with all of the family activities. She never accepted no longer being a puppy. Her ageing body was an inconvenience not an excuse. Maggie’s loss will leave a big hole for them as well as for their other dog Skeeter, Maggie’s constant companion. Our thoughts were with them all day.

We awoke to clear skies free of the oppressive humidity that had plagued us while we walked Winnipeg the previous day. We crossed into Ontario at about 11:00 and noted the abrupt change in the landscape. The flat almost treeless prairies were quickly replaced by the granite outcrops and evergreen forests of the Canadian Shield. There was an almost instant proliferation of dark blue lakes on both sides of the road. My prairie dormant casting arm began to twitch.

Our somewhat ambitious target was the eastern side of Thunder Bay. What we hadn’t counted on was that the Trans Canada Highway through this part of Ontario is one lane with a 90 kph speed limit. Exacerbating this was the plethora of road construction projects underway. Ontario also appears to be undertaking a major program of bridge rehabilitation which resulted in countless single lane bridges preceded on each side by diminished speed limits and timed signal lights, the combination of which made it obvious to us by mid afternoon that we would not see Thunder Bay that night.

We passed by Lake of the Woods and I felt like I was in an episode of HGTV’s ‘Cottage Country’. Based on the development around the lakes and the boats on them we were in quintessential Ontario cottage country. Our first stop was in Kenora for a coffee and muffin at Tim’s. Driving on the TCH through downtown Kenora I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a sign for Dave’s Vinyl Cafe.

Just past Dryden we noticed a field full of large sheet metal scraps and someone busily picking up the pieces. A quick glance back revealed the source, a now almost roofless barn with the remaining pieces of its metal roof twisted up like a discarded sardine can. Clearly there had been some major winds through here very recently. We stopped at the Ekli’s sheep farm and sheepskin clothing factory that Sean and Carla had mentioned in their blog. The cashier there was talking about the near tornado winds that had passed through the night before. We appeared to be playing tornado roulette. I hoped our luck would continue.

Around 5:30 we drove into Upsala, middle of nowhere, Ontario. This seemed as good a spot as any to stop and we pulled into the Can Op RV Park on Milton Lake. Although the amenities were in sore need of some upgrades the sites were large and there was a nice view over Milton Lake which mercifully was also providing access to a strong breeze that helped to keep the mosquito population at bay.

As the sun set and the wind dropped we retired to the relative safety of the BRT for a reprise of the fish chowder of earlier in the week nicely augmented with some biscuits fresh from the oven. As we sat inside there seemed to be an inordinate number of our little winged friends buzzing about. We did not want a replay of B.C.’s Meziadin Lake. This time it was easy to figure out the entry point as dozens of mosquitoes were trapped in between the screen door and the outside door. Whether they had been caught in between the doors earlier or somehow were continuing to make their way in was hard to say but it was obvious that the poorly weather stripped screen door was not providing a major obstacle between them and us.

Sunset at Upsala

Some Scotch tape, a shopping bag and an old blanket were brought into play and we soon had an almost impermeable barrier in place as we headed to bed. As we head deeper into bug country some remedial weather stripping work may be required. I sense a visit to Canadian Tire in my near future.