On to Ontario

We returned to Winnipeg and set off immediately for Lake of the Woods in Kenora Ontario, about a 3-hour drive east of Winnipeg. The first thing one notices as you venture east is the transition from the prairies to the Canadian shield. I was surprised when researching the shield that 50% of our massive country is covered by it and 7 provinces and two territories are touched by the shield. The area is characterized by rocky rolling landscapes and tens of thousands of lakes carved by glaciers. The soil is very limited on top of the rock, so the trees are smaller than back home in BC. This area is rich in minerals, so the abundance of natural resources makes up for that lack of crop production in the region. Enough about geography, back to our story.

Before leaving Vancouver, we connected with an old friend from Winnipeg, Martha. Martha and Art had a professional relationship dating back to the late 90’s that blossomed into a friendship, so we hoped to see Martha when passing through Winnipeg. When the date approached Martha told us she was going to be at the family cottage on Lake of the Woods and invited us to stop by, and of course we accepted. We arrived in Kenora late and rose early to meet Martha at the dock for a beautiful ride to the family cottage on an island in the middle of Lake of the Woods. The cottage has been in the family for over 50 years and is a quintessential piece of Canadiana. For those Canadians as old as me, you will remember the TV ads that showed classic Canadian landscapes, lighthouse in Newfoundland, wheat swaying on the prairies, the Rockies and the loon on the lake. I am sure the loon was on Lake of the Woods. The McLeod’s black Labrador even had a Hudson Bay blanket inspired collar.

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Upon arrival we had the great pleasure of meeting Martha’s brother Gord, her sister Angie, Angie’s husband Wayne and their daughter Aynsley. Their cabin is all original from the 60’s and has the wood burning stove and all the furniture and dishes that came with the cabin, so charming. After enjoying a cocktail on the porch, we moved inside for lunch, all made by Martha that morning, including fresh biscuits, pasta salad and stewed peaches. I felt we were receiving the best introduction to Ontario cottage life one could hope for, (although Manitobans claim this part of Ontario as their own).

After saying goodbye to Martha and family we drove a short distance to Rushing Rivers Provincial Park for a couple of days of rest and hiking. We loved this campsite as we had a site that backed onto the lake, quiet and peaceful. Our first hike in the shield was beautiful and we were thankful for the dry spring-summer they had experienced in this area, as we avoided the legendary mosquitos and black flies of this region.

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We set off from the Kenora area heading east to our next planned stop at Niagara Falls. We had heard from many how long the drive from Kenora to Sudbury was, but we were not really prepared for this stretch. The drive was easy, just long and a lot of the same. Periodically the landscape was broken up with spectacular views of Lake Superior, somewhat reminiscent of the Sea-to-Sky Hwy from Vancouver to Whistler. We stayed two nights at rest stops that were absolutely beautiful, rivalling some of the best campsites we have visited. The waters of Lake Superior are gorgeous, and thanks to the very warm summer, were perfect for swimming. We stopped multiple times to break up this long stretch and were pleasantly surprised by the beaches. We also made stops at Kakabeka Falls, which was gorgeous and had to drop and pay tribute at the Terry Fox memorial outside Thunder Bay, very moving. I had my misconceptions of the Great Lakes shattered by this trip in the best possible way. We had planned to take a ferry from Manatoulin Island to the Bruce peninsula across Lake Eerie to do some hiking, but our plans were spoiled by rain, so we sailed on through to Parry Sound instead (the home of Bobby Orr). We chose the secondary route south meandering through the small farming towns and stopped in Thornton, Ontario (Heidi’s maiden name). This was a trading crossroads 100 years ago but today it is curiously known for having three cannabis stores alongside three ice cream stores. Which do you visit first I wonder? No Thorntons hale from here, it was named for the town in England where the original settlers came from. Funny thing is we stopped in the town of Thornton when we visited England with the girls in 2013. Small world.

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Our luck was with us through the trip so far, Klara had been running like a charm, but our luck was about to run out. After leaving the farmland of central Ontario we jumped on the Queen Elizabeth Parkway in the direction of Niagara Falls. We had just seen another Rialta (the make of our motorhome) after passing Hamilton and exchanged waves as we sailed along. As I signalled to pass, I put my foot on the gas and all that happened was my engine revved up. I shifted gears and still nothing, but luckily had a clear path to pull off to the shoulder. We are members of a Rialta User Group and I immediately posted our problem to the Facebook group and withing 10 minutes received an answer from our technical guru Brad. He asked me to check under the vehicle for transmission fluid, and sure enough there was an ever-growing puddle underneath. I had installed a transmission cooler just before leaving home and Brad seemed to think that was the root cause, clamp or hose failure. Here is where my luck kicked back in, as I had broken down about 20 minutes away from Hamilton, where my cousin Tony and his family live. I emailed Tony and it turned out that he was on vacation and at home. Tony also had a mechanic he trusted all the family cars to, so I arranged for the auto club to tow Klara to his place. As this was on a Saturday, we were going to wait until Monday earliest. Tony met us at the mechanics and then brought us home for the weekend. His wife Judy and son Andrew were still away at the Cottage, but we got to visit with their daughter Gabrielle and sons James and Michael. We had intended to see Tony and family later on in the trip but our hiccup brought us together sooner than expected and allowed us to meet Gabrielle, who would have been back at McGill had we not broken down. Tony lent us his van and we visited Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake on Sunday and Tony and I were waiting for his mechanic when the doors opened on Monday. He made no promises about how long the fix would take, but armed with the information Brad, the technical specialist from the used group shared, Tony’s mechanic (also Brad) promised to bump some of his other clients to look into our issue. By the end of the day the problem had been identified and fixed, (hose failure resulting in losing 90% of the transmission fluid). A huge shout out to Tony, Judy and family for making us feel so welcome and bailing us out in our time of need and to the two Brads who got us back on the road so quickly.

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With Klara back running at top form we resumed our road beginning in Burlington, where we had a wonderful lunch with an old colleague Riz and his wife Saima, boys Hadi & Mateen and Riz’s mom Shahnaz. We didn’t give them much notice due to the uncertainty of the repairs but both Riz and Saima booked some time from their busy work schedules for a visit. They back onto a golf course and their house is gorgeous and both Saima and Shahnaz prepared the delicious luncheon that we enjoyed in the sun in their beautiful back yard. It was far too short a visit, but as Riz pointed out, it seemed like weeks vs years since we last saw each other, we picked up right where we left off.

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Our next stop took us to the heart of Toronto for two reasons, a visit with another old colleague and a visit with my niece Jacquie. We overnighted in Dave’s driveway and treated to great company by his wife Veronica and delightful daughters Lilly and Ava. Weather was great and we caught up in their backyard enjoying a BBQ and catching up for the first time in 6 years. I am happy to see their personal and professional lives are working out so well, promises were made to visit again in Vancouver for Veronica’s inaugural visit.

Before leaving Toronto, we had lunch with my niece Jacquie and her boyfriend John in Kensington Market at a funky little Cuban café. It’s been years since I have seen Jacquie as COVID, and my retirement, has stopped my visits to Toronto. Each time I visited Toronto before, I looked forward to seeing Jacquie and catching up on her busy metropolitan life. Jacquie is an actor and has been able to support herself for over 10 years in the big smoke, no small feat in such an intense and competitive field. I admire her for pursuing her passion for acting and for her infectious optimism. COVID-19 decimated the live theater market, but Jacquie rolled with it and remains upbeat and positive, an example to all of us. Her boyfriend John is a McGill music grad in Opera and, like Jacquie, came to Toronto to follow his dream, but shifted gears when the pandemic shut down live performances and now is directing his creative side to computer programming, following in his fathers’ footsteps. I can’t wait to see the two of them again when we are both in the same city, wherever that may be.

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We travelled east to a friend’s cottage in the Kingston area, to a small town called Tamworth on Beaver Lake. Our friend Bob has a condo in the building Pomaria where we live in Vancouver. Before leaving for his cottage in the spring he told us if we were in the area to drop by for a visit. We called Bob when the rig finished getting fixed and he said he was free and to come by on the way to Algonquin Park. I had a vision of Ontario cottages that was blown up as we rolled onto his property, past his nine-hole golf course and tennis courts. We agreed to refer to his property as the Cameron Country club from here on in. Bob grew up in this area but spent the better part of his life away from family pursuing his career in the oil & gas business in Alberta. He bought this piece of paradise and few years back and really threw his back into making this the ideal family escape and now welcomes friends and family throughout the season. We had a great dinner outside overlooking the lake after enjoying drinks on the dock. The next morning, we arose and enjoyed nine holes together. Bob takes care of all the fairway and greens maintenance on top of caring for the gorgeous gardens and 5 more acres of lawn down by the lake. I have no idea how he finds the time to entertain or enjoy himself, but he assures us he does.

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After far too short a visit, we said our goodbyes and headed back west and north to reconnect with my cousin Tony and family at their cottage on the edge of Algonquin Park on Oxtongue Lake. Its a good thing they weren’t sick of us after rescuing us when Klara broke down, lucky us. Their place is perfect for their large family and given that their girls were not up for the weekend, they had room for us. Their location is idyllic, low bank waterfront on a beautiful quiet lake and with all the toys, boat, canoes, kayaks, and of course red Adirondack chairs lining the lakeside. We stayed two nights and they took us for the quintessential Algonquin experience, canoeing up the Oxtongue River to the base of the waterfall. We climbed up the side of the waterfall and enjoyed some snacks, something we like to do whenever we hike. Judy had some work to do, so it was Heidi and five guys, she was in her element. Art even took the dare and along with Andrew jumped from the rope swing by the side of the river as we made our way back.

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Our last stop in Ontario was with my sister Judith in Ottawa and my nephews Pascal and Jean Jacques. I had just seen Judith when we returned to Vancouver, but it had been a few years since we had seen JJ and 5 years since seeing Pascal so its was great to have the chance for a short visit. My sister is multi talented, a fabulous cook and wonderful artist and visiting her always leaves me feeling happy as the style of her art is whimsical and you are enveloped by the warmth and color of her house. She fed us our favorite meal, steak frites followed by pots de creme. Everyone was well and we felt sad our visit was so short, but the road called as the Maritimes were beckoning us.

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