Some things you just have to do before you kick the bucket. My list is fairly long, but every year I check a couple of adventures off.
#RoadTripMair began as an idea in 2013 after we bought our new Mazda 3. Driving home from a long weekend up in Muskoka my husband and I both decided that driving across Canada in our new car was a brilliant idea. One year later we did the epic drive from Toronto to Vancouver with many stops in between.
We left early on September 4 and drove to Tobermory then boarded the Chi-Cheemaun to Manitoulin Island, a hidden gem.
If you ever get the chance to visit Manitoulin Island, jump at it. Its a magical place. We stayed at The Queen’s Inn a wonderful way to start our journey. This historic inn is not only beautiful, but sits facing one of the island’s many bays.
Hiked the Bridal Falls trail and even shot a video for Cityline. I posted video blogs all along the way. Watch the video blog of Bridal Falls and me slightly losing it…… (note to self: never wear your raincoat wrapped around your butt, not slimming….yikes!)
The next day we drove (as in my husband Scott drove the entire trip) to Ste Sault Marie and then onto Thunder Bay.
Terry Fox is a Canadian icon and one of my personal heroes. Here is my tribute to him, shot at the monument.
Swimming in Lake Superior is always a challenge, because its so dang cold. So we swam, okay – the truth, Scott swam in Lake Superior, I ran in and out of Lake Superior screaming. It was freezing. You can see my footprints in the sand.
Next stop was Manitoba and lucky me – I got to ride in a combine, it was very cool. My motto, Hug a Farmer!
Saskatchewan wasn’t as flat as I thought it would be, there were rolling hills and many many, many many grain elevators.
One of our goals was to take off the beaten path adventures and Cypress Hills Inter-Provincial Park had all the earmarkings of a wonderful adventure. The picture below is before the adventure started….when everything was hunky-dorey.
Here’s the letter I wrote to the Park Ranger that I posted on my FB author page after we drove through Cypress Hills:
First of all, on a clear day the scenery must be National Geographic worthy, but on a low cloud, rainy, cold, mucky road day, not so much.
I loved seeing the cattle up close, although, apparently cattle up close scare me as much as I scare them.
I loved the hawk that swooped our car and flew just ahead of us. We later learned that is was a falcon, I think they are luckier to have spotted? (insert me shrugging)
I even loved the three deer that ran right in front of our car.
What I didn’t love was the tire sucking, ice-like slippery ball bearing dirt/gravel road.
Big note: Scott loved the whole shebang, me, not so much.
Smaller note: I didn’t take any pics of those roads, I was too busy praying.
So in closing, we will be back but only when the weather is better and Fort Walsh is open.
Thanks for the “off the beaten road adventure”, grateful we made it, sort of……
Peace, love and fibre,
Mairlyn
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