Day 6 - Winnipeg, MB to Nipigon, ONT
Well, Daryl got his wish last night - we experienced a fantastic thunderstorm. It started in the distance at about 11 but didn't hit us until 2am and lasted until about 5. It was the most incredible thunder and lightning storm I've ever experienced - the lightning flashes lasted minutes and lit up the entire sky! The skies opened and the rain came pouring down for about an hour. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep so when we woke up at 7:30, we were very tired! It also didn't help to find a huge puddle in the corner of the tent where the rain had come in through a crack in the zipper. It was about an inch and a half deep! We packed our wet tent up and were on the road just after 8. I drove for a bit just outside of Winnipeg so that Daryl could sleep and I kept passing carnival trucks. Daryl pretty much drove for the rest of the day. We passed into Ontario and took our routine pictures. Northern Ontario sure has a lot of lakes! I guess that's why they call it 'cabin country' (I wouldn't turn down a cabin there, that's for sure!). It was definitely a change from the prairies and very similar to BC terrain. We had lunch in busy Dryden (there aren't a whole lot of towns in this area so everyone stops in the same places for lunch!) and then had to stop for gas (at $1.25 a litre) in Ignace. The guy there was pretty funny and talked football with Daryl - he cheers for Winnipeg even though he lives in Ontario. We passed through another time zone so now we are 3 hours ahead of BC. This one is the last though. At about 5, we finally reached Thunder Bay and stopped at a Terry Fox Memorial (I think he's Canada's only hero because there are memorials dedicated to him everywhere!)that overlooked Lake Superior! It's huge! I can't believe we're at the Great Lakes - they definitely look like the ocean. Ontario, as a province, sure likes to toot it's own horn though - every sign that points out a place of interest has a big ONTARIO at the top....yeah, we know we're in Ontario! As we continued along the coast of Lake Superior, we started to notice dark clouds ahead and forked lightning....yup, another storm. Unfortunately we were driving through a construction zone with a huge oil tanker following closely behind us when this one hit so it was kind of scary because the rain came bucketing down and even with our wipers on full blast, we couldn't see a thing! The oil tanker behind us didn't back off at all and didn't even turn his lights on so we had no idea where he was. The semi trucks coming in the other direction just kept barreling along at top speed and sprayed us with walls of water. We pulled over as soon as we could and thought we could wait it out for a bit. The storm was crazy! Lightning hit the ground about 500 yards away us and the ground looked like it was moving because there was so much water running on it - now I really understand what a flash flood is! We were planning on camping but we didn't want to have another horrible sleep so we inched along to Nipigon and found a very cute motel there. We got the last non-smoking room and it is very nice to have proper beds and our own bathroom! We even got to watch TV - yay for Rockstar Supernova! Daryl got pizza for dinner and I know you NEVER complain that there is TOO much cheese on a pizza but this time there was seriously TOO much cheese on it - I couldn't eat it! We spent a very warm, cozy and relaxing night out of the rain and hopefully we can get a good sleep because we have a very long day of driving ahead of us tomorrow.
**I'm cheesed off because my new ball of wool isn't the same ply as the old stuff so there is a definite change in texture in the baby blanket that I'm knitting. There go any thoughts of it ending up being a present for someone - I can't give away something that isn't perfect!
Welcome to Ontario! ( They won't let us forget that we're there!)
Just outside of Kenora, we stopped at a beautiful lake called Earngey Lake.
Daryl with the Terry Fox Memorial.
Me overlooking Lake Superior.
I should have been a model! :)
**I'm cheesed off because my new ball of wool isn't the same ply as the old stuff so there is a definite change in texture in the baby blanket that I'm knitting. There go any thoughts of it ending up being a present for someone - I can't give away something that isn't perfect!
Welcome to Ontario! ( They won't let us forget that we're there!)
Just outside of Kenora, we stopped at a beautiful lake called Earngey Lake.
Daryl with the Terry Fox Memorial.
Me overlooking Lake Superior.
I should have been a model! :)