Oxtongue Falls, Ontario
We are entering Algonquin park, the largest in Ontario. We will be in it when we pass through Oxtongue Falls.
This morning, Lars and I went to take showers. I bathed and realized I had forgotten my towel on our picnic table. So, I used a paper towel dispenser to dry off. Luckily, it was absorbent and came out in roll form, and not individual sheets. I brushed my hair and teeth and walked back to the campsite. We ate peanut butter and banana sandwiches with iced tea (no ice).
After we finished packing, we headed off down town to look for a Post Office. We had a map that gave its location, but it was not there. As we drove around we found a box to mail our letter. We cruised the town and then made our way out. We had a wonderful time in Sudbury, and we were both glad we had driven there to get out of the rain in Sault St. Marie.
We drove through heavy construction zones on the way out of Sudbury. But it gave us a longer look at its moonlike terrain. It became even more noticeably alien as we left. I still found beauty in it though. I love everything about Canada's different terrain. We stopped again for diesel. Fuel is not as expensive as I had thought it would be.
We drove until we reached North Bay. We had planned to stop at a few places we saw in a tourist book. We got downtown and found one of them, the Arts Center. First, we parked around the corner and ate at a PIZZA, PIZZA & SUBS. We had a sub together. We ate those on main street on a bench, and then went to the arts center. It had displays of about 40 paintings that had been in a Northern Ontario Contest. Some were pretty cool. A few good collages. We asked for directions to a college trail in town.
After we left the Arts Center and heading to the car, I saw a bookstore that looked interesting, mostly because it advertised sheet music and I wanted to look for Gordon Lightfoot books. Inside, this bookstore was fabulous. They had millions of novels that I would not want to read, but the covers looked good. They had classics and documentaries. They had wonderful children's books too. Everything was half price of regular bookstores. I founds some music books. The lady in the bookstore was very nice to us and she got us to sign a petition to keep the bookstore open. She said it and a chain of others like it were being pressured to close. She said these were the everyday prices, but I think it was so we were more enthused about the store. I want to come to North Bay again and see if it is still open.
We left the bookstore and went after the hiking trail. It was at a falls. Actually we only went to the falls, we parked at the others side where the falls came out along the highway, and didn't walk all the way from the college. I would have liked to see the college though. North Bay was surely good as a college town.
The falls were fun and wonderfully relaxing to play in. I waded and climbed up them, with Lars following me . It was not very slippery and it was not painful for my little feet.
This is our 4th day in Canada. it is about to be our 4th night. We are going to bed early after we finish writing. It is very dark now, but I am writing by the light of the outside night. It is probably 10:20 PM. We are going to get up early tomorrow 5:40 AM and take showers on our way out of Camp. Then we will look for moose along the roads out of Algonquin Provincial Park. We will walk trails that we see. We planned it out. We better see a moose.
We are staying at Mew Lake campground. it is well secluded here. We are at campsite 128. I think it is the farthest out. I put up a tarp hanging from trees to act as another precaution against rain tonight. It is supposed to be 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms. I think we will be fine underneath this though, the rain-fly on the tent shouldn't even get wet, as I have planned it. Dinner tonight was a weird mixture. Kind of like chili, but with baked beans and rice.
We will sleep now, Lars is closing the tent's outer shell and locking up for the night. It has now gotten too dark and I am using a flashlight.
1992