Three centuries thereafter I take passage over land/In the footsteps of great Kelso/Where his “sea of flowers” began/Watching cities rise before me/Then behind me sink again/This tardiest explorer/Driving hard across the plain – Stan Rogers, Northwest Passage
While this song is about the search for and discovery of the Northwest Passage, it is a song that transcends Canadian history, the millennia of people who have come into this great nation and forged their paths across the myriad of landscapes that make up the true North strong and free. I now consider myself one of these ‘adventurers’ as I take my own passage overland, watching those cities rise and sink in my rear view mirror…
For those who may not know, I am currently on route to the west coast on my great cross-country journey. I want to call it my ‘Cross Country Check-up’ but I shan’t as I don’t want to be sued by the CBC for copyright infringement. Alas! My father is joining me on the way out (we’ll see how long it will take before one of us pushes the other off a mountain – but hey! That would mean we made it as far as the Rockies…), then I shall be driving solo on the way home and dipsy-doodling my way across our great nation.
Why you may ask? Presently, I am between jobs (and thus have time time time), have a car, and have some income squirrelled away. I have always wanted to drive across Canada; I have done the East Coast to Ottawa trip many times (having grown up in New Brunswick) but I have never driven further west than Sudbury. So! Since never in my life have these three things come together, and I don’t suspect they will in the near future, the decision was made, the planning undertaken, and here we are typing this first missive somewhere in N. Ontario along Highway 17/in Regina.
And, to allow the home-folks to join in on the fun of this 9,157km trip give or take a few hundred clicks, almost each little entry has a particular song title or lyric attached to it. I shall leave it to you to figure out the singer 😉 For those of you who know my love of certain Canadian singers and bands, you shouldn’t at all be surprised by the selections!
Without further ado…
As we roll[ed] North to The Sault…
Day 1: Ottawa to Sault Ste. Marie
Distance: 802km
And so, the great west coast journey began. Weather: sunny. Temperature: warm and spring-like. By the afternoon I was roasting in my car with the AC on. Who knew Northern Ontario would get so hot…the mounds of snow in the fields and the ice-covered lakes wouldn’t ever give one the impression that spring has indeed arrived to Ontario. Will wonders never cease!
The main things of note were: the detour we had to take through the tiny town of Bonfield (which has a hockey rink with a roof but no walls), the price of gas slowly going up and up, and views over Lake Huron that would make you move to the Soo in a heartbeat.
Rocks and Trees and Trees and Rocks and…Water!
Day 2: Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay
Distance: 692km
Gas prices keep going up. I can’t decide if it’s because a) rationally, we’re further away from the supply so it does cost more to transport, or b) irrationally, the gas stations are in cahoots to make me spend all my money before I leave the province. I’m leaning towards the latter, but I’m just bitter that it’s so much more expensive here than in other parts. Alack!
We left behind Lake Huron in exchange for Lake Superior, and equally beautiful and mystifying lake that is the reason it takes so bloody long to leave Ontario. 692km and we hugged the north shore of the lake pretty much the entire way. As the crow flies it’s much shorter.
It was warm today too, but cooler towards the evening, and the weather channels are calling for temperatures below zero overnight and possible flurries. Curse this never-ending winter! 😉 We drove through passes cut through the Canadian Shield, up and down valleys with plunging slopes into the lake, and views that were absolutely stunning – I can’t fathom how anyone finds this drive boring! I guess when you’re stuck behind a truck it’s infuriating, true, but when there’s nothing but you for kilometres ahead and behind, with nothing but the rocks and trees and water…it’s breathtaking.
Most importantly, I have finally completed my silly dream of going to Wawa. What is so interesting about Wawa? The GOOSE! The world’s largest goose statue! From the time you pass North Bay along Highway 17 there are signs: 700km to Wawa! 600km to Wawa! A mere 450km to Wawa! I can hardly contain my excitement. As a teen my mom and I made the drive to visit Sudbury and joked that we had to go to Wawa, especially as it is signposted for ages. Wawa is home to the goose. And it is a mighty fine goose indeed <3
But wait, there’s more! The infamous bridge over the Nipigon River! It’s still not completely fixed! (for those who don’t know, when it collapsed in 2016 due to design failure there was no way to go from east to west or vice versa by road without entering the US. Highway 11 and Highway 17 meet before the bridge and split again after the bridge. It is the only road. Crazy.)
Lastly, we passed by the point where Terry Fox unfortunately had to end his Marathon of Hope, and near to this final point there is a beautiful monument to him overlooking Lake Superior. A good end to a good day of driving.
The 100th Meridian
Day 3: Thunder Bay to Winnipeg
Distance: 692km
You can tell when we left Ontario as the ground went flat almost instantly once we crossed the border into Manitoba. New province, new time zone, new views – omg so flat. Mentioned this to our host in Winnipeg and she confirmed: Yes, Manitoba is flat. This must be why Kenora was added to Ontario instead of being in Manitoba! 😊
If you find yourself leaving Thunder Bay (a conglomeration of several municipalities in 1970, including Port Arthur and Fort William), take the Trans-Canada and stop in at Kakabeka Falls. I had first heard about this little place in a book I read in grade 8 – “B for Buster” (one of the pilots is from from Kakabeka…), and as the name suggests it is near some waterfalls. They are lovely. Smaller than Niagara, of course, but equally majestic in their water flow and surroundings. There’s a nice lookout and some hiking trails I hope to catch on my way home.
We arrived in Winnipeg, had a lovely dinner (thank you Laura!!) then went for a short walk along the Seine – I tried not to hum ABBA to myself as we strolled – before chatting until bed. I also got to cuddle with Peaches, a delightfully fluffy rabbit
The Last Saskatchewan Pirate
Day 4: Winnipeg to Regina
Distance: 575km
There are two things you need to know about Saskatchewan. 1. It does not observe Daylight Saving Time, and for that it had my utmost respect. DST was brought in during the war and was only meant to be a war-time measure. And yet here we are decades later still struggling to adjust to that darned one-hour time change twice a year. Saskatchewan has it right – let’s ditch DST.
2. Saskatchewan is flat. Maybe not yet quite as flat as I’ve been led my whole life to believe, but my word it is flat. Flat flat flat. So much field, so much horizon, so much sky. And realistically, for this it is equally as stunning as the rocks and trees of Northern Ontario. The sky is big. SO big. If you think you’ve seen sky, well, sorry to tell you, you haven’t; Saskatchewan has all the sky. And it’s amazing – despite the land being hues of yellowy-brown and the sky being hues of blue (with the odd cloud), it’s a beautiful dichromatic landscape that just begs to be photographed.
In Regina we visited the Depot – the training site for anyone who has ever been a member of the RCMP. It’s a well-balanced history (good and bad, though less of the latter…) with some fun dress-up opportunities and some riding/driving simulators. And a small room with a ‘Solve the murder! Be a forensic expert!’ I’ve got a degree in this, yes, my father and I solved it 😉
Next stop, Airdrie, AB!
dzhentato 