June 8,9 2019 - Georgian Bay, Muskoka, Algonquin Park, ON to LaChute PQ

 June 8, 2019

Today we left Manitoulin Island. We packed up quickly because the mosquitos were fierce this morning and we bee-lined it for South Baymouth where the ferry goes to Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula. We got in line to catch the Chi-Cheemaun  then went and had a nice breakfast at the cafe. We ended up talking to a couple from Vancouver Island who are also on a cross-Canada trip but by car and for 5 months. Lucky them!

The boat ride was 2 hours and then we landed in Tobermory. Apparently, Tobermory is known world-wide for scuba diving because it has one of the largest collections of ship wrecks in the world. Some are wrecks that happened in the course of sailing and some were sunk intentionally to add to the diving area. 

The Bruce Peninsula is gorgeous and there are a number of little towns that are postcard perfect with stunning brick buildings in the downtown core that look like movie sets and beautiful turn of the century brick homes everywhere. In particular, I loved Warton and Owen Sound. 

We followed the coastal route along Georgian Bay (26) towards Barrie and then headed north (11) through Muskoka and “Cottage Country”. Many of the cottages are actually enormous, beautiful homes tucked into the trees on the shores of the thousands of lakes in the region. We were told that Manitoulin Island, Bruce Peninsula and the Muskoka region are the main holiday it areas for many people in Ontario, Quebec, New York State etc. 

We pushed up to Huntsville and by the time we got there, we were too tired to try to find a campsite and we hadn’t seen any that were immediately accessible so we took a hotel room for the night. I was so happy to have a clean bathroom and shower all to myself - I stood in the shower for half an hour! 

We had a room with 2 Queen beds and, after sleeping together in our little camper which is only the size of a small double bed, I looked at Lynn and said I wanted a bed all to myself. I love you honey, but tonight I want to SPREAD OUT!! So, he had one Queen bed all to himself and so did I. 

Also - another shout out today - Happy Birthday to my sister Becky!

June 9, 2019

Today was a long haul but we were determined to arrive in LaChute, Quebec today to meet our friends Yvan and Carole. We left Huntsville by 9:00 and quickly entered Algonquin Provincial Park. This is a stunning wilderness park with many lakes with good camping options. It’s very picturesque and as the road dips and winds through the woods, little magical vistas of lakes peek out here and there. The province also has information centres, interpretations centres, stores and some museums here so there is a lot to do. 

Leaving Algonquin, we stopped in Whitney for breakfast. I love the really old-school diners and this was a perfect version, complete with round stools at the counter and lots of locals gathered for coffee and a BS. The breakfast was excellent and off we went.

Not far from Whitney is the larger community of Barry’s Bay and then we came to Wilno which is one of the first Polish communities in Canada. This was interesting to us because one of our sons-in-law is from Poland. There are still some heritage houses from that era and a small local museum, all of it you can see from the road. 

Eventually, we made it to the Trans-Canada highway so we were able to make some fast time. After being in relatively quiet, rural areas for the past 9 days (for the most part) we were pulled up short when suddenly the highway became 3 and then 4 and then 5 lanes in either direction and we found ourselves in the mid-stream of major traffic coming into and through Ottawa. It’s amazing how quickly it changes - from country roads through idyllic farmland to major city thoroughfare! We were very happy to get through to the other side and the 17 turned back into a single lane highway that follows along the Ottawa River.

We crossed into Quebec at Hawksbury and, shortly after that arrived in LaChute to see our friends Yvan and Carole! It’s been 5 years since we’ve seen them and it was just like yesterday. It’s so nice to have friends like that where no time seems to pass and you fall right into that easy way of being right away. They are coming with us for the next 10 days, through the Eastern Townships (east of Montreal), down into Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They will leave us after Halifax because Yvan has to return home to help his son hay. 

We had a very enjoyable dinner and quickly found our stride with French and English. We’re all speaking a hybrid of English and French and I’m working on improving my French and Yvan and Carole are wanting to work on their English. We have a lot of laughs about how things translate. One of the ones we laughed about are all the names English has for what the French call Une Toilette. We call them a restroom, a bathroom, a washroom or even an outhouse, none of which literally translate to using the toilette!

Funny moment:

Speaking of Une Toilette - we were at a gas station somewhere in Ontario in the past 2 days and they had a little cafe that is attached. There was only one large bathroom for both men/women. I went into the bathroom and didn’t catch the lock well enough and as I was sitting on the toilet, Lynn walked in (thinking it was the first door to the bathroom area) and found himself in this bathroom with me. So he came in and shut the door. Of course, like most married couples, this is common occurrence but I said to him, I imagine other people in the cafe might be wondering what we’re doing in here... He just shrugged and said oh well, I’ll just wait  so we chatted while I “did my thing”   and when I finished, I stepped out of the bathroom and about 6 people in the cafe were staring at me with funny looks on their faces... Always leave them guessing! Ha ha ha...