Humongous post today, apologies in advance for subjecting everyone (all 3 of you) to this all-in-one catch-up.
I am writing this update while sitting in an Airbnb in Surrey, England (waiting for a veterinarian to show up – a whole other story, for a later date), so as you can see I am a bit behind in posting.
When we last left our intrepid adventurers they were leaving Fort William, Thunder Bay, Ontario and heading east. Ontario is a good size, but taking 22 days to get back to where it all started (also in Ontario) seems a bit much, especially when the scenery, although quite beautiful, doesn’t vary much. Trees. Rock. Water. More trees. Mosquitoes. More mosquitoes. More rock. More water… you get the idea. I am sure that tourists from places with a shortage of trees, rocks or water would be thrilled with the vistas, but having seen trees/rocks/water fairly regularly over the past many years dulls one’s appreciation of the aforementioned trees/rocks/water.
That said, we want to document our travels (so that we don’t have to do the same ones again), so here we go…
Rainbow Falls Provincial Park was a tiny park, spilt on both sides of the trans-Canada highway. We stayed on the Lake Superior side and found that we had picked the best camping site, purely by accident! We had a secluded site with it’s own private cove, sweet! Most of the other camping sites were very exposed and/or very small.
The actual falls are located on the other side of the highway, and require a shortish hike, and quite a few stairs (Lump was a rock star for forging up and down) to get to them. Along the way we found a dog beach which we had all to ourselves.
Pukaskwa National Park is our next stop along the northern side of Lake Superior.
Our campsite had a really long entrance, long enough that we set up the badminton net and played a few games.
An expedition truck rolled into the site next to us, but the German occupants didn’t seem to approachable.
Great hiking around the park, including wooded areas, raised walks through fens, and sandy beaches.
The crew relaxes after a vigorous hike!
Pancake Bay Provincial Park was another recommendation from a fellow camper and was a nice change. A very long (couple of km at least) sandy beach with a dedicated dog area. Nice.
Chutes Provincial Park was our first campground along the north shore of Lake Huron. Spoiler alert: the scenery looks just like Lake Superior.
Nice walking trails along the river and rapids in Chutes. Also some wooded hiking trails, and a great fenced dog park (in the woods) with a nearby dog beach. It looks like SweetPea is going to get swept down the river, but the current at the dog beach is very slow.
Grundy Lake Provincial Park has a huge campground. Also, a very busy campground. We spent 4 nights there and had to move to a new campsite 3 times. The dogs really liked Grudy because there was a store just outside the campground entrance that sold ice cream, so they had to visit, twice.
Our first, and second, campsites were so wooded that we had to move Rosita to the parking lot of the washroom building in order to enable Starlink to see a satellite (we needed internet to be able to book the next nights stay). We did this twice!
The dogs really like their doghouse. Out of the sun, no bugs, and multi-level. Lump always lies under the picnic table, and SweetPea always lies on top of the table!
Once again, another beach for the dogs (I don’t know who let the humans in).
I am beginning to think that we are a chauffeur service for the dogs, ferrying the dogs from beach to beach.
Ontario parks do a good job of providing facilities for dogs. Not many parks in the rest of Canada are as accommodating.
Oastler Lake Provincial Park was another smaller park on Lake Huron, nice view, but sites were fairly exposed.
Also, there is a very busy stretch of railroad just across the lake. Quiet it is not.
Not much in the way of walking or hiking trails in Oastler, but there was a dog beach next to the boat dock, so the kids were happy!
Samuel de Champlain was an interesting campground. A longish drive in to the park on the worst asphalt paved roads I have ever encountered (and that is saying something). Tree roots had grown under the asphalt paving in many many many locations making the 20 kph speed limit more of an optimistic dream. Our speed averaged about 5 kph.
There were two (maybe three) different camping areas. The one we ended up in was a bit swampy and damp.
We did see many people walking and driving with flotation devices, and it turns out that our campsite was located near the start of a stretch of river that was a favourite of tubing enthusiasts. They set it just downriver from our site and float for a few km. They exit the river and then hike/hitch back to the start and do it all again.
We saw several vehicles festooned with inflated tubes and rafts. Didn’t see any inflated palm trees, that would have been fun.
Driftwood Provincial Park, located in a bay on the Ottawa river, was a nice park. Small, but many, including ours, of the campsites were right on the water. Just behind our screened tent was a sandy beach. Due to a blue-green algae bloom the dogs couldn’t swim, but it was nice camping on the beach.
Our final campsite of our 9 month adventure was in the Wesley Clover Parks Campground. This is a municipal campground located within Ottawa city limits. We had never been to Wesley Clover before and were surprised at how private the campsites were. The park is located on the city’s bike paths and is close to public transport (even closer when the O-train service expands to the west end). No hiking or walking, other than the paved paths. We didn’t take any photos as it felt like we were back home.
Thanks to the amazing generosity of a very nice lady we met when Brenda was taking SweetPea to “Water Rescue Training” last summer before we left Ottawa, we found ourselves staying on the Marchmont estate in Dunrobin. Driving through the gated entrance you are surrounded by park-like grounds.
The dogs loved their daily romps (off-leash of course) in their very own private park!
It’s hard to see in the photo, but the main house, built in the 1800’s, is behind the trees in the background. There are several outbuildings, including barns and stables, and there are three horses in residence.
We stayed in a bungalow, set apart from the main house, and it was perfect for us. The beach, used for Water Rescue Training, was a one minute walk away, so the dogs were set!
We took the starlink set up off Rosita and had everything we needed to get organized for our upcoming move to the UK.
We are glad we came back a bit early to get organized for the move, as it took every day to finalize banking, dog documentation and a bazillion other details required to leave Canada permanently.
And with this final stop we are done. The loop is closed: we left Dunrobin on October 29, 2022 and returned to Dunrobin on August 1, 2023.
Trip Summary:
- Trip duration: 9 months and 2 days
- Distance travelled: 33,012 km
- Gas consumed:
- 6502 litres
- 114 fill-ups
- total cost: CAD $9597.70
- average cost/litre: CAD $1.48
- average km/litre: 5.08 (19.7 litres/100km)
- Number of Provinces visited: 4
- Number of States visited: 17
And finally, the fond farewell…
With heavy hearts we say goodbye to a faithful friend. After two long trips (Florida and Texas) and one huge trip (9 months just completed) we have sold Rosita as we couldn’t fit her in our luggage for the trip to the UK.
Rosita has a new home with an outdoorsman who wanted a stealth camper for his boondocking trips.
Good-bye Rosita, we will miss you!
Trip Summary:
Depart: Fort William, Ontario, 10:15 am Jul 10; Odometer: 232833 km
Arrive: Rainbow Falls Provincial Park (Rossport Campground, #24), Ontario 2:15 pm Jul 10; Odometer: 233035 km
Depart: Rainbow Falls Provincial Park (Rossport Campground, #24), Ontario 2:15 pm Jul 12; Odometer: 233047 km
Arrive: Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario 2:15 pm Jul 12; Odometer: 233188 km
Depart: Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario 10:45 am Jul 16; Odometer: 233189 km
Arrive: Pancake Bay Provincial Park, Ontario 4:15 pm Jul 16; Odometer: 233536 km
Depart: Pancake Bay Provincial Park, Ontario 10:15 am Jul 18; Odometer: 233541 km
Arrive: Chutes Provincial Park, Ontario 4:00 pm Jul 18; Odometer: 233841
Depart: Chutes Provincial Park, Ontario 10:15 am Jul 20; Odometer: 233841
Arrive: Grundy Lake Provincial Park (Jack Pine Campground, #705), Ontario 2:00 pm Jul 20; Odometer: 234018
Depart: Grundy Lake Provincial Park (Jack Pine Campground, #705), Ontario 10:15 am Jul 21; Odometer: 234026
Arrive: Grundy Lake Provincial Park (Trailer Campground, #202), Ontario 12:00 pm Jul 21; Odometer: 234033
Depart: Grundy Lake Provincial Park (Trailer Campground, #202), Ontario 11:00 am Jul 22; Odometer: 234038
Arrive: Grundy Lake Provincial Park (Hemlock Campground, #151), Ontario 11:30 am Jul 22; Odometer: 234041
Depart: Grundy Lake Provincial Park (Hemlock Campground, #151), Ontario 11:00 am Jul 24; Odometer: 234045
Arrive: Oastler Lake Provincial Park (site #111), Ontario 2:30 pm Jul 24; Odometer: 234138
Depart: Oastler Lake Provincial Park (site #111), Ontario 10:15 am Jul 26; Odometer: 234167
Arrive: Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, Ontario 3:00 pm Jul 26; Odometer: 234398
Depart: Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, Ontario 11:15 am Jul 28; Odometer: 234400
Arrive: Driftwood Provincial Park, Ontario 1:30 pm Jul 28; Odometer: 234497
Depart: Driftwood Provincial Park, Ontario 10:30 am Jul 30; Odometer: 234497
Arrive: Wesley Clover Campground, Ottawa, Ontario 1:30 pm Jul 30; Odometer: 234711
Depart: Wesley Clover Campground, Ottawa, Ontario 10:00 am Aug 1; Odometer: 234804
Arrive: Marchmont, Dunrobin, Ontario 10:30 am Aug 1; Odometer: 234822
Gas Summary:
Thunder Bay, Ontario (Jul 10): 41.9 L @$1.66/L ($69.52), ODO 232842
Marathon, Ontario (Jul 12): 71.2 L @$1.77/L ($126.01), ODO 233159
Wawa, Ontario (Jul 16): 42.0 L @$1.70/L ($71.53), ODO 233383
Sault Ste Marie, Ontario (Jul 18): 56.3 L @$1.56/L ($87.73), ODO 233624
Massey, Ontario (Jul 20): 46.9 L @$1.56/L ($73.12), ODO 233842
Grundy Lake, Ontario (Jul 20): 65.1 L @$1.62/L ($105.29), ODO ?
North Bay, Ontario (Jul 26): 62.7 L @$1.76/L ($110.00), ODO 234327
Stittsville, Ontario (Jul 31): 85.0L @$1.70/L ($144.16), ODO 234744