Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. 16 April, 1996.
Tuesday morning this is going to be a long day, though at 0700 hrs I don’t know how long. Roxy, Barney and I are westbound on the Trans Canada again and we basically have it to ourselves. There is some snow on the road, but the going is good. I must mention here you lose your cellular connection west of Sault Ste. Marie. Actually you lose cellular around Blind River and with the exception of Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay and don’t get the signal back until Kenora, a good 15 hrs from Sault Ste. Marie. So make sure your vehicle is in good working order as if you have trouble, you may as well get out and stand on the roof and holler for help as your cellular will be no good.
After Sault Ste. Marie the trip through the Canadian Shield starts. Rock, Rock and more Rock I forgot how boring the trip through Northern Ontario could be. It didn’t seem to take as long on the train to get through this part of the Country. After the Shield, we will have lots of trees to get through.
There are a lot of places the Trans Canada seems to go straight up and then straight down. The rock over hangs the highway in a few places as well. Many signs along the way say to watch of fallen rock. The fist place of any size after the Sault is Wawa and there isn’t that much to do in Wawa. The next place of a good size population is White River. After this it is Marathon where I gas up again and decide to get some lunch for myself and tend to Roxy and Barney. A&W is lunch for me, and the CD diet for Roxy and Barney. It is around here Barney seems to be getting used to the Flea but it will be Thunder Bay before he is used to the trip.
By Marathon the sun has come out and it makes the drive along the North Shore of Lake Superior really pretty. Lots of steep hills though and they have no passing lanes. There is no room to make a passing lane. It is after the hills there are the passing lanes along the flat land where the passing lanes can be put down. I am also surprised at the lack of traffic along the Trans Canada as it is the only road through here and all along the Trans Canada the towns and villages seem more plentiful. It must be the time of year, I can only imagine the traffic at the height of the tourist season. Even getting into Thunder Bay there isn’t much traffic it’s not until you are right in the city that you hit the traffic.
After Thunder Bay the Trans Canada seems to go through nowhere. It‘s not until Ignace that I see more than a couple of cars. I gas up at Ignace and decide to have the oil level checked. The oil is down about half a litre and I top up the level and later on find out I didn’t put the cap back on. Story to be explained later in the tale.
When I get to Dryden it is about 13 hrs since we left Sault Ste. Marie. These next three days will be the longest days for driving. I have got to the point where I am crossing time zones and keep going. But I think it is time to find a motel. Along the Trans Canada there is a motel village. When I finally get a motel room and start unloading the flea, I smell the oil burning. I don’t think too much about it as I figure it is the flea being pushed a bit hard and being driven 13 hrs. After getting Roxy and Barney settled, I head out to the McDonalds next to the motel to get supper.
At the motel I find out from the fellow who owns it that a lady from Antigonish cleans the motel. He says her name is Hemlow and I tell him I went to school in the 1970’s with a Primrose Hemlow. He was going to ask his cleaner if she was related. After I eat my supper I settle down and write a letter to my friend Don in Bridgewater as I know he will enjoy getting the letter.
