Winnipeg to Thunder Bay, Ontario

Our stay at the West Winnipeg KOA was interesting... got our dose of gumbo...couldn't walk much without getting caught in the gumbo.  The next day we moved closer to the other end of Winnipeg to a much nicer campsite, Town and Country campsite not far from the university and our cousins Jerry and Mary.  Had a lovely visit with them in a new subdivision (they are in an area called Bridgeforest) and they quite literally have a forest in their backyard with nice walking paths that lead to a playground and waterway.  Lovely area.

The next night we went as far as Kenora and had our first experience using boondockerswelcome.com where for a small fee you have access to a number of properties that you can camp for free on someone's property. We chose a place called the ranch which was lovely minus the bugs (ticks and flies) but the setting made up for it.  Our host was very welcoming.

The first thing after setting up we had to explore the beach.

This was the view as we headed toward their beach.

This turtle was looking for a place to lay its eggs.

We decided to leave early the next day because there would be a lot of driving to get to Thunder Bay. It was the first day that both of us drove.  That is the plus of having two drivers.

The clouds are always changing.

We saw a lot of these diseased trees along the way.

We have made it to Ontario but know that Ontario is a very BIG province.

Good to know so we're not late for church next time.

For our return trip.

On our way to Thunder Bay, we made a stop at Kakabeka Falls.

Bruce has been super excited about coming to Thunder Bay.  He grew up here and hasn't been back since he was about 17 when he left for university in Winnipeg.  I have heard "this is where I...., there used to be something here, that's not here any more".  Surprising how things have changed in 50 years but we were about to visit two of the three houses he lived in here.  One of the three houses isn't here anymore but we managed to have tours of the other two.  They were doing renos in the first one so the workman invited us in.  The second house looked completely different as it had been raised and completely redone inside and out...and they had purchased the lot beside it and expanded the garden.  Such a lovely home.  It was so nice to be invited in.

House #1

House #2

Inside has been completely renovated - walls taken down, rooms changed - very open design now.

Fountain has birds making a nest in it now.

Would have been original trees when Bruce was there.

Crab apple tree downtown

Mural on one of the buildings

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

War memorial in front of City Hall

One of the things I was looking forward to in coming here was to see the Terry Fox memorial

This is the view of the sleeping giant from the Terry Fox memorial.

And our Ontario sunset from our campsite here.

Today we got to spend the day at Old Fort William ... what a great fort.  We had a tour with a tour guide from 1816 and wandered around by ourselves later in the day.  They also have a RV site so we will be heading back there and we are booked in for the night tonight which means we will get to go to the Astronomical Observatory tonight.

As we entered the fort, we were introduced to the Anishnawbe people.

This woman was showing us what they used to carry their babies.

Inside of the wigwam

Inside the fort

Press for preparing the fur packs

Weight - each pack is 90 pounds and most voyageurs carried two packs.

Lots of packs ready to go

Copier

Preparing the fire

We are staying here a little longer than expected due to our engine light coming on so thought we better get it checked out before driving to our next stop.  Hopefully everything will be ok.

Until next time ...