Woke to a damp and foggy day. After bidding goodbye to the Outdoorsman owners we headed into town to check out our old house and the hospital where I had a vague memory of white boots and Dad holding me under a big light while the doctor removed a sliver from my foot. I couldn’t find the house but had a déjà vu moment when I turned onto Algoma Street – toddling along by Mom’s side, Rex in a stroller, headed towards the lake.
We left Wawa by 9 am and soon after hitting the trans-Canada passed another sentinel rabbit on the roadside – just like yesterday as we left Fairbank. Is this a sign?
The sun came out and by the time we hit White River it was quite warm. We checked out the Winnie-the-Pooh statue (White River is the home of the original Winnie) and learned a bit about the population of black bears in the area. We met an English couple who were also headed to Vancouver but had been travelling from Halifax. Like me they are moseying along, checking out the sights.
Once we left White River we ran into some thick patches of fog. There were a number of burnt-out areas along the highway. I’d heard they were already having fires nearby but these areas were probably from last year. We also passed a large open-pit mine or gravel pit with the name Barrick on a sign. Later googling it I think it may have been a gold mine.
We had lunch at the Drifters in Terrace Bay where I had eaten on the Hayes trip. The price of gas has hit $1.50 per litre.
Crossed the beautiful bridge at Nipigon. I later learned that it seems to have a number of engineering glitches as it is regularly being repaired. Nipigon is small so it was quite easy to find Janet Watson by checking with Canadian Tire employees. She was standing in her doorway as I drove up and even though we haven’t seen each other in a zillion years she knew me right away. She is very persuasive so I ended up staying the night after joining her in a potluck supper at her church, a visit to the Paddle-to-the-Sea Park and a climb up the lookout tower. We talked for ages getting caught up on all the family and friend news.
