Day 11: Home
Friday we returned to High Falls Cottages, the same place we spent the first night of our trip, and were greeted warmly by Anna. I had my best sleep of the entire trip.
I had discovered that the road I followed the first morning of our trip leads to Michipicoten River Village. It is steep and rough. We didn't have time to walk there yesterday, but after breakfast we drove drove down a different way, paved. The village was a sleepy little place with nobody to be seen-one of those peaceful, out-of-the-way places you won't find in a travelogue, only by nosing around. We wandered around Silver Falls and took some pictures. It was one of our favourite interludes on the entire trip.
Then it was time to head back to Toronto, another all-day drive, with lots to talk about.
We stopped briefly for a picnic lunch at Pancake Bay. My family camped there the summer I was one year old. That was my only previous visit to Lake Superior, which I don't remember. Mom had memories of our stay there but I don't remember the details, and now it is too late to ask.
A row of white pines lines the top of the beach and the ground is covered with their soft needles. The smell evokes pleasant memories, but not (most vividly) of Ontario. When we used to visit Florida during March Break my family would camp at Juniper Springs in Ocala National Forest. The swimming area was ringed with a series of sandy terraces shaded by white pines, or perhaps another kind of pine, but the smell is the same. A concession stand overlooked the pool, and the lady who managed the store was named Mrs. Robinson. She would stand in the doorway with peanuts and call "Peter-peter-peter-peter!", and a tufted titmouse would fly down and eat from her hand. Sorting through old papers and correspondence recently at Dad's house, I came across a letter from Mrs. Robinson. Apparently she had been surprised and delighted to receive a Valentine's card from me. We visited Juniper Springs every other year, and she always remembered me.
atldaddybear and hangnaildhole had cheese, crackers and wine waiting for us when we arrived in Toronto at 11:30 p.m.
I hope to post a few more things over the next few days: more about Winnipeg, the city, and a list of the best and the worst from our trip. Not much falls into the bad category.