CCCRT – Day Seven

Fifth leg:  Sault Ste. Marie, ON to Thunder Bay, ON

Mileage:  700 km

Time:  8 hours

Pee breaks:  three or four (I’m losing count!)

Gas stops:  one

Comfort Level:  Pain in lower back is kinda tolerable at this point, but now I’m noticing caluses on my hands from the steering wheel.  If it’s not one thing it’s another! LOL.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stoopy kinda liked the comfy Sleep Inn in Sault Ste. Marie…

(that is such a classic Stoopmeister face…love the cocked ear!)

Gotta love free breakfast…even if the coffee is bad and there was a 10 minute line up for the toaster. 

 

When I left my hotel I set off for main street to see if I could find somewhere else to get coffee.  I passed a Tim Horton’s (of course) but figured I could do better. 

Main Street was pretty much a ghost town but I did find this cafe open.  Kind of an odd combo…coffee bar / personal trainers.

I ordered a small non-fat latte.  It was a bit heavy on the foam but ran circles around the dishwater the hotel was trying to pass off as coffee.

After struggling to get TomTom to recognize the route to Thunder Bay (turns out there are two different Thunder Bays!) and chatting with an incredibly friendly local man I was on the road again!  Leaving the Sault was quite lovely…

Apple I pinched from the free continental (I may still have an orange in my purse too)…

Rest stop views of Lake Superior…

It’s truly a great highway to drive in the nice weather.  Everyone had me all freaked out because it’s not a major 4-6 lane divided highway…but I kind of preferred it for the most part.  The highway literally runs right around the lake so much of the drive has pretty spectacular views.  Luckily there hasn’t been all that much traffic to contend with. 

Had to stop and see the World’s Largest Canada Goose in Wawa!

Unfortunately within minutes of leaving Wawa I drove right into a torrential downpour.  May have been the heaviest rain (and lightening!) storm I’ve ever been in.  The rain drops were massive and moving soooooo fast…they were whacking into my windshield so hard my wipers could barely keep up.  It lasted for about 50km…and stopped right around the time I was thinking about pulling over and waiting it out. Instead I drove right out of the storm! yay!

A while later I passed through Marathon.  Being a bit larger than most of the little highway-side towns I thought there might be something fun to eat…but alas it was a bit of a boring town so I settled for fast food. 

Teen burger…plus fries and a real Coke.

I’ve seen MANY crazy bicyclists along this stretch of highway.  Who knew biking the Canadian Shield was so popular?!  Crazy people.  Look at this guy hauling ass in a recumbent bike…that’s insane.  It’s not like this is an easy road to travel…it’s windy and really quite hilly!

It felt like a really long day but I was happy when I saw signs for Thunder Bay and even happier when I saw the pull out for the Terry Fox monument.  A lovely park up on a ridge with tourist info, washrooms and a nice view.  I’ve been looking forward to this monument since I started planning.  I think it’s so nice that they really honour him in Thunder Bay…even the 100km stretch of highway leading into the city is named for him.

 

Once Stoopy and I got checked into our hotel I headed down the road to check out food options.  There were multiple restaurants and fast food options but when I saw the Metro supermarket I was pretty excited.  I picked up some fruit to have on hand for the next day, and a glorious Cobb Salad for dinner in my room.  Never have I been so excited for iceberg lettuce.  :)

Of course, enjoyment of dinner was slightly thwarted when I turned on the TV and the first thing I saw with the Weather Channel repeating a tornado warning for Kenora and Northern Ontario.  Um, Kenora is my next stop!!  I will be driving right into that warning.  Eeeeeeek. 

And me without my ruby slippers…dammit.