Days 5 & 6 - Canadian Maritimes - Shawville Mill Dam Park and Steve's BEST Bakery

We are finally getting ready to leave the province of Ontario. It's time to go further east and cross into the province of Quebec. We aren't in any hurry, but we want to keep heading east and see things that we've never seen before. We've been through Ontario multiple times. It's time to open our eyes...

We left Deep River after having a really nice peaceful night. These types of places set aside for travelers are really appreciated. Because of the way we are geared up, with plenty of fresh water and holding tanks, our power station and lithium battery, we really don't need the amenities of a campground. Why pay for a site for $30 or $40 or $50 when we really don't need it. Just a safe spot to park that's out of the way is all that we ask.

Plus, we have our Starlink along. That rides up in the skylight as we drive. It works in motion or when parked. That is how I'm working on this blog is we are flying down the road at 80 km an hour. We have it wired up to run off our Bluetti power station.  It doesn't wear down the level of the new lithium battery that runs everything else in the motor home.

The terrain is getting even more beautiful. We're winding our way among rocky cliffs and high hills, deep valleys and rugged rivers. We are really enjoying the scenic changes as we cruise along to the east.

As we were cruising through one valley, following a riverbed, imagine our delight when we came around a corner to see this beautiful covered bridge. I had to quick whip out the cameras fast as I could, and take it from behind over my shoulder. There really wasn't any room to turn around and go back. How pretty is this?

We learned of a little campground sponsored by the small city of Shawville. We read that it had eight electrical/water sites, with a suggested donation of $20 a night. It also had a dump station and freshwater fill up. So we decided to check it out.

How cute is this? I don't think it produced an awful lot of milling, or generated any type of power. But it sure was sweet along the edges of the park. Nearby there were platforms for fishing and a nice little pergola for picnicking.

We pulled on in and it looked really nice level and well kept. It seems that five of the electric sights have been removed and there are only three remaining sites on the far end. It didn't matter though, we were the only ones there!

Now here's where things got a little goofy... We always notify our American Express as well as our credit union that we are traveling out of the country. Then they are able to release our MasterCard brand credit cards and our MasterCard debit card to authorize for out of country travel. We did this on Wednesday when we left. Evidently, something got lost in the process and the gal at our credit union unlocked some of the other accounts we have there, and not our primary ones with the ATM debit card. 

We wanted to go to an ATM and get out some Canadian cash. So far we've been staying at free places, but we wanted to have Canadian currency on hand. It's perfectly fine to walk to any ATM with our debit card and pull out Canadian currency. Then it converts it over automatically to US currency. For example: if we took out $300, we get $300 of Canadian bills. But, it's actually $214.44 US that's removed from our account. 

Soooooo on a Sunday afternoon, we stopped at the ATM to get cash so we would have it for our $20 donation in the dropbox at the campground. No go! We tried three different ATMs and every one was declined. 

So we decided to drop in a US currency $20 bill into their donation slot, and leave it at that. There were no envelopes to fill out no information to leave. So we just dropped in the money and said "oh well". 

We figured we would unsnarl the mess on Monday with a call to our credit union. 

We set up two lawn chairs and relaxed in the park. There were a few children playing up in the playground area and we could hear their joyful shouts. There was even a little water park section, and it was warm enough for them to romp around a little bit. Then their moms wrapped them in towels and took them home.

Curled up for the night and really enjoyed our quiet spot.

On Monday we could unsnarl the stuff on the phone with the credit union. If not, we could take our US currency that we have in our possession and stop at the bank on the corner and see if they would convert it for us. But our first step was just trying to straighten out our own account for the rest of the trip.

The Packers played on Sunday night, and with our Starlink we were able to tune in and watch them. It was a miserable game, but of course we are still Packer fans nonetheless. They lost. But it's only the first game of the season. We have to keep up hope, don't we?

We know the power post was only a 20 amp for the site. We knew that wasn't going to be enough if we wanted to run our air fryer along with other things. So Steve moved our cord over to the next post which was a 30 amp. We always use a Progressive Industries EMS electrical management system on the post to prevent any disruptions or spikes or brownouts with park power.

Sure enough, even 30 amps was dropping down to 22 or 24. So we had to compromise and move some things over to propane and not fully enjoy the 30-amp service. 

Steve decided to take out his drone and fool around with it a little bit. I am hoping as he gets better at it that he will be able to give me footage to add to my YouTube videos.

Here is some of what he put together:

Later in the afternoon, we got company! (So he put away the drone)  First came a pickup truck camper from Colorado with Rick and Sue. Soon joining us on our other side were Bruce and Sheila, from Alberta Canada, in a Winnebago View like ours! 

Everyone was made to feel welcome, and we shared wonderful places to see and places that we've been. We marked a lot of interesting places on our maps. They helped us decide when we were going to reach Quebec City whether to go North along the North shore or head South along the Gapse Peninsula and the South side of the St Lawrence River. Bruce said been born out that way and gave us a lot of good ideas places to see.

The best advice that we got from both of them was about the most excellent above standard famous rated BAKERY in this little tiny town. It is called the Bolangerie Pontiac Home Bakery, 315 ch. Bristol, Shawville QC Their website is www.pontiachomebakery.com

Do you remember that I said Steve new hobby was going to be checking out bakeries in every area that we go to? Well that is precisely what he planned to do on Tuesday morning when they opened. That meant staying a second night in the campground. LOL 

At least, we got things straightened around with the credit union. We were able to walk up to the ATM machine on the corner and withdraw Canadian currency from both of our accounts! Now Steve would have cash to use at the bakery...

It was a wonderful morning, we said our goodbyes to our new found friends / neighbors. We stowed our gear and Steve was all fired up to get to the bakery---

It's just a tiny place on a side street, but we found it. The parking area was jammed with locals and we had to park across the street. Even the local construction workers were all lining up at the counter to get sandwiches made. And once we started looking around we know why! 

Fresh wonderful hamburger rolls, yeasty and soft inside with the crusty outer edge. Just perfect. 

A loaf of whole wheat bread that smells so good even through the plastic.  We were really going to enjoy these for lunch, or as toast for breakfast.

Then it was time to look up on the pastry shelves and try to make a choice of what sweet thing will Steve like the best. 

He totally enjoys cinnamon and loves cinnamon rolls as long as they don't have raisins in them. Well, well, well this bakery makes huge pan fulls of cinnamon sticky buns! But they don't sell you just one... They sell you a pan FULL of a dozen! They're all stuck together and they flip them out and plop them into a big package. That's just what she did right in front of us. Yes, we bought a whole dozen. She assured us they would freeze well. What she doesn't know is that our freezer is crammed full and I know Steve would enjoy eating them every morning for breakfast with coffee for the next six mornings. And I don't mind eating one too, because they sure look good. 

We also grabbed a package of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, my favorite. 

Then of course, we had to take a donut to go. These are deep fried donuts. Steve's was rolled in powdered sugar and mine was double chocolate. Why not? 

Those were "for the road"! 

Their prices were so reasonable. But I think Steve was so mesmerized he would have paid any amount of money to get that big hunk of sticky buns and that delicious powdered sugar donut.

I wish we could have bottled up the aroma of the bakery. That would be a really wonderful candle scent. 

We struggled our way back out to the motorhome across the road, under our multitude of packages from the bakery. We forgot to bring in a shopping bag. In Canada, you must always bring your own bags. We forgot. 

The next morning, 

with coffee, 

just look at that face....

(I think he likes his new "hobby")

85 miles traveled on Sunday 

771 miles so far

Day 4 - Canadian Maritimes - Waking Up to a T-rex, Autum Leaves and a Quilt Shop Stop

We woke up next to the golf course in the Department of Ministries parking lot in Verney.  There was a special golfing event going on, I think they call it a scramble? Must have been a benefit for some charity. People were walking around in these inflated T-Rex and raccoon costumes selling raffle tickets. They were going from golf cart to golf cart and it seemed like everybody was having a lot of fun.

We finished up a few little tasks and cooked some breakfast. It was time to start putting some things away and get ready to hit the road again. It was a wonderful stop overnight after our long stressful afternoon at the Mercedes dealership. I'm glad they made it as painless as possible. Except of course for the pocketbook. But we keep laughingly say that each day we stay at a free campsite, it's another $35 back in our budget.

Now it was time to move on down the highway. I had marked an extra special spot on the map and we were getting close. We were about 13 miles away from a small town called Sturgeon Falls, in the community of West Nipissing. 

We had stopped at this particular little shop 3 years ago. Steve had seen the sign from the highway and suggested going there. Now who am I to ever pass by the opportunity to stop at a quilt shop? 

When we had stopped there 3 years ago, I was able to procure all of these discontinued fabric prints, 20 of them and all, of the Stonehenge series from Northcott Fabrics by Moda. 

Originally, years before, I had made this same pattern as a quilted wall hanging. It's quite large. And I hung it up in my She Shed to admire and display. Every time my oldest daughter came over, she kept oogling it. They had just built their beautiful cabin up north and she insisted it would look perfect on the wall in her cabin. So the wall hanging went to the cabin, and I knew the fabrics were discontinued and I could never make it again. 

That is why I was so excited to see these fabrics when I walked into Buttons Quilt Shop 3 years ago!

Back then, I was so excited, that I accidentally went down the wrong column of the pattern instructions, which I had on my phone, and did not buy enough fabric at that time to complete a queen size quilt. After I got home and started washing up my newly cut fabric, I discovered my error. The kind owner, Nancy, via email, agreed to go back to the 20 different bolts and cut the remaining segments of yardage that I needed. I had made a mistake of also calculating between meters and yards. She cut all of the extra fabrics for me and mailed them from Canada down into the United States. Now I had enough to complete that quilt as well as the two throw pillows. I even made some matching hot pads and coasters for my daughter's cabin.

That made me very happy! 

I used them to create the beautiful queen size quilt and two throw pillows that now resides on the bed in our motorhome today. The pattern is called Winter Solstice by Patti Carey. 

As you can tell, I am quite proud of how this quilt turned out. If you look really close, you can see the detailed stitching I did to make the pine trees diagonal zigzags and the mountains jagged peaks. Then the sky parts are swirly stitches.

Now, just this last year, I finished up a smaller version from some more of the scraps to make a lap throw quilt to ride on the love seat of our motorhome. It is also to prevent Little Nick's claws from damaging the imitation leather / vinyl of our love seat.

So that was my love affair with the Stonehenge Fabrics. And Buttons Quilt Shop played a big part in that. So of course, we needed to make another stop there today. 

I got out of the motorhome on the street in front of the shop, I noticed this beautiful little red leaf sitting all alone on the sidewalk. I even stopped to take a picture of it. Was it a hint of what I was going to find inside???

We were able to park right in front of the shop with the motorhome and trailer in tow. It's a little city street it's actually called Main Street, but it was not too busy. Steve stayed in the motorhome with the dog and I promised to not hurt my knee coming out dancing and frolicking like I did last month in Eagle River. Lol! 

I got inside, and asked permission if I was able to film throughout the shop. Yes, they granted it and I promised to give them a good positive segment on my blog as well as my YouTube channel: 

I wandered up and down the aisles and over into the new addition that they've recently added. Now they have a large classroom area as well as a full room of beautiful knitting yarns and a little rigid heddle loom and some other weaving equipment. The shop has grown and the previous owner Nancy, has now retired. 

One certain line of fabrics caught my eye, with the clue of the leaf that I saw outside on the sidewalk. I knew this was going to be my next quilt fabric obsession. Just look at that!

The "leaves and berries" fabric for Henry Glass & Co. featuring a leaf-and-berry design comes from the designer Stacy West (collection: The Fox Homestead)

I also grabbed enough yardage of the coordinating fabrics to go along with the main bolt that caught my eye. This time, let's hope I have enough to do a complete quilt?? 

This came out of my budget for souvenirs for the trip. Yep, this was MY souvenir! 

We consulted our favorite little app called "PARK4NIGHT" and found a listing for a sweet little park on the banks of the Ottawa River. It was in a town called Deep River. It was just enough driving distance for the day. 

We pulled in and made ourselves comfortable for the evening. What a beautiful little park!! There were two other camping vans and a couple other vehicles there. The vehicles were just people that were enjoying the beach. The two vans would stay overnight in the lot, along with us, parked far off to the side out of the way.

Not only do they offer free overnight stays, but they have a beautiful clean new bathroom with flush toilets and hot water. Outside they have a spigot and a water hose coiled up on a reel for anybody to use to fill their RV. How welcoming is that?

We took a stroll down by the beach. We couldn't bring Nick all the way down, as there are no dogs allowed. But we went as far as we could to look around a little bit. The tall beautiful pine trees surrounding the edges of the water gave a nice shady area for those who wanted to relax by the beach. 

There were a couple flower gardens that were creatively repurposing some old canoes. How cute is that? 

The last gasp of beautiful color before winter sets in. These were amazingly bright and beautiful. At first I thought they were some type of petunia. I'm not sure though. I would like to know. The leaves look a little different. Does anybody have any ideas?

We also noticed the long rubber track lined up to go from the parking area all the way down to the edge of the water. These are for people with mobility scooters or wheelchairs. What a great way to include them in the summary fun.

After dinner, we walked back down to the beach to enjoy a little bit of sunset. It was so pretty, and very quiet. We were going to have a peaceful night's sleep here for sure.

We left Nick behind in the camper because he wasn't allowed down there. But he didn't seem to mind...

And now for the "twist"... Remember how I tore my meniscus coming out of the quilt shop in Eagle River a month ago? Well here it was, another quilt shop day... And sure enough, all I was doing was reaching up to put some things away in the cabinet and kind of hyper extended my knee. You know when you lean so far forward and bend your knee backwards a bit? Just to gain stability I was pushing backwards and SNAP!!! It suddenly went out on me! 

Immediately, I was feeling the same way I was a month ago. My knees swelled up and I couldn't walk. Oh no! We didn't bring my crutches along, but I did have my knee brace. Steve had some really good cream to help with swelling of the joints. We put that on and I braced up for the night. This was distressing. Was I going to be spending the rest of our vacation trying to hobble around on crutches???

140 miles traveled today 

686 miles traveled so far

Days 2 & 3 - Canadian Maritimes - Remote Forest Boondocking and Visit to a Repair Shop-

As we drove on out of Sault Ste Marie, the lovely landscape changed a bit more. We were driving along a route filled with beautiful rock formations on each side. The terrain was changing as well as some of the trees. Gone were the Wisconsin and Michigan landscapes that we were used to. Things were getting more and more beautiful as we drove along.

We have driven this way a number of times, so it wasn't brand new to us. But it sure was nice seeing something a little different. We headed east and worked our way towards the area of Sudbury.  

We did find a link to a place up near Elliott Lake that had a dispersed camping site for at least some kind of a campground on a lake? We drove up there and it really wasn't anything to speak about. Looked kind of run down. We changed our mind and turned around and headed back down to Highway 17.

As we headed back down we found another little spot that someone had shared with us. It was on a little gravel road that led down to a boat landing at McCarthy Lake. As we first turned onto the gravel road it was really washboard and bumpy! Then there was a wide open space--- a kind of a parking area that might have been at one time a gravel pit? But the sign on the road said "boat landing". We know there must be more... After that we kept driving down towards the lake and there were three other dispersed camping spots. All three were occupied by RVs. So we kept on driving. 

It got more rugged and the road was very narrow. There were a lot of washout areas. If you watch the video that will be linked below in a day or two, you will see it was quite rugged to get back in there. We were almost looking for a spot to turn around. There weren't any. So we kept going. 

Lo and behold about halfway to the lake, I would say about a mile in, we found the most beautiful serene quiet camping spot overlooking a wide open marshy bog. It was totally quiet and vacant and all for us. 

We pulled in and got settled. This was going to be nice....

We were surrounded by tall trees but there was just enough of a blue sky above us to get a Starlink signal. All around was breathtaking wilderness. It smelled so fresh and clean. The woodsy mossy smell after maybe a rain? It was one of those times where you step out the door, and take a deep breath. Relax.

There was a little fire pit made with rocks, there was a little wood platform pounded into two trees. I think it was a spot to clean fish or to set a camping grill. There was a little barricade made of wood, maybe to keep down wind? I'm not sure. It was not any type of established campground. It was just dispersed camping in the woods that people keep coming back to and they have made a few little changes each time.

Steve got out our chairs and set up camp. We just recently were in the local hardware store last week and purchased these two folding umbrella bag chairs. What we liked is that they set up higher on the back as well as the seat. They have nice sturdy wooden arms and the seat portion is flat, not sagging down like some of the bag chairs do. We picked them up on a 50% off end of the year clearance. Then I found some little matching ottomans at Menards. We still like our big zero gravity relaxing recliners, but these are nice to take out or just sitting in closer to a campfire. Those recliners are too big to get up close to a fire ring. 

Steve set us up while I started to get out things for dinner.

We set our little Coleman grill on that horizontal wooden table top. Still not sure what that upright wooden board portion is, but it was something evidently that somebody needed to make. Any ideas?

Steve grilled up some chicken and I got sweet corn and some veggies ready for our meal. As usual, food always taste so much better when cooked outside. I had him cook up a double batch of chicken so we could throw some in the freezer for another meal down the road. We had picked up fresh chicken once we crossed the border into Canada. You are not allowed to take fresh chicken or eggs or fresh produce over the border.  So one of our first stops was a grocery store to pick up a few more things, including chicken and eggs. 

After dinner, we sat out in our chairs and totally enjoyed this view. We were looking down with binoculars and watched some Canadian geese flopping around that beaver lodge halfway across the bog. I kept hoping a moose would wander out into view. That would have been just the icing on the cake. But it really didn't matter, the view was spectacular as it was.

We sat out in our chairs in total peace and quiet. The sun was going down to the West and we watched it flicker its way through the trees. 

There was not a sound to be heard and nobody around. Not even a vehicle going by down to the boat landing. We looked on the map and further down there might have been one or two more spots. But that's okay, this dispersed spot was perfect for us.

Nick was at peace, relaxed between our feet. He looked around every now and then at a rustle or a movement made by the wind.  We also had our bear spray nearby within reach, as well as a can of wasp spray. Did you know a 20 ft stream of wasp spray into the mouth of a predator would make them stop and gagging, long enough for you to make an escape? It's a pretty handy defensive tool when you are in Canada and cannot have any other type of weapons. Just a good hint. 

We curled up in bed and turned on our mattress pad heaters to warm things up. Then we turn them off once we were warm.  But we did turn on the propane furnace for overnight. Now with our big lithium battery we never have to worry about the fan blower portion running down so much. And boy oh boy did it get cold! I think it was actually a degree or two colder than this before I snapped this screen grab:

The sun came out and it was warming up quickly. We sure enjoyed our morning, Steve cooked up a big breakfast. Sipping coffee in the woods is such a delicious treat. Finally about 9:00 a.m., one vehicle, one lone vehicle, drove by down to the boat landing. That's the only person we saw all the while.

By about 9:30 we were ready to pack up and head out. It doesn't take us long, and we were ready to tackle that rough and rugged road getting back out. 

It definitely was "White Knuckle" at times as we worked our way nimbly through the rocks and the ruts. Lots of potholes. We were dipping and swaying and rocking and rolling at very slow speeds.  I think it was worse crawling up and out than when we descended down into it.  We were quite a ways from the main road, and crawling so slow made it seem like an eternity to get out.

Finally we saw the pavement ahead! That was the most rugged washboard portion of the road was the entry. I think that was from people trying to get out and accelerate while pulling their boats or their campers. It spits up the gravel and creates even more of a washboard. We made it through and got back onto the pavement. As we started driving though, we noticed warning lights on our dash!!

Rut roh!!!

We don't know if it was caused by the rough and tumble driving we were doing, or if it was just coincidence. But our left front wheel ABS sensor was flashing up codes at us. We pulled over to a spot in the road that was safe, and Steve hooked up our OBD code reader unit to the plug under the dash. 

We hoped maybe just clearing the codes would make it go away. There were 3 different ones to clear. We did some research and some of the RVs with our Sprinter chassis on their motor home had experienced the same thing after heavy winds rocking and rolling. So we were hoping it was the same for us. 

We drove a head again about another 20 miles and the warning codes came back. This time it was even more severe because now it removes your ability to use the cruise control and removes your traction control capabilities. Now the next message flashing on our dash was "visit workshop" with a wrench symbol!!!! 

Oh my! Way out here in the middle of the woods in Canada???

Good thing for our Starlink. We are able to get online no matter where we are. Also we are able to do Wi-Fi calling. Because otherwise, of course, it's absolutely no cell signal where we are. 

I was able to call ahead about 1 hour away into Sudbury. They have a Mercedes-Benz dealership that will actually work on the Sprinter chassis!!! Not all Mercedes-Benz repair shops work on the Sprinters. They are few and far between, that is for sure. We talked to a wonderful girl name Vanessa who assured us she could get us worked in if we could get there in an hour. Imagine that, on a busy Friday afternoon. 

We pulled in at 2:17. Within 15 minutes they had us figured out and arranged to remove the cargo trailer out of the way. Two workers came out to help Steve push it into a spot in the parking lot. Then they asked Steve to drive the motor home up onto their hoist rack. Not a worker, but Steve actually got to drive our motor home in himself and put on the sections that would raise the motorhome up flat into the air!!!

They got out their diagnostic equipment, and got all the same readings (same ones that we had gotten).

(We think also at the same time, the guy did some research and updates to some of the settings in our engine computer. Afterwards, we noticed that the motorhome runs better, and seems to kick in the turbo better and no hesitation and more responsive shifting of the transmission! We will see after our next fill up if it improved our fuel mileage too. So that was an added bonus after the repair)

They came ahead with the estimate, we know that the front wheel sensor for a Mercedes, original equipment, is about $240 US dollars. We know they're aftermarket ones available but again, do they last any longer or is original equipment better? To top it off, this is a known warranty issue and Winnebago has been known to honor the replacement of all four wheel sensors as an ongoing warranty extension for rigs of our year. So when we get back home, we have to save this paperwork and see about having the other three changed. Another good reason to do original equipment parts, rather than an aftermarket part ourselves.

We know Steve could change this part himself. It means jacking up the motorhome and taking off the tire. Then taking off the wheel well liner.  Then removing carefully the ABS sensor part and grinding away any residue or rust or corrosion. Then cleaning all the surfaces. And then carefully installing the new part back on. And putting everything back together. Maybe about an hour's worth of work if we were doing it ourselves. 

So when she came back with the estimate it wasn't too bad. Their labor, plus the ease of having the motorhome up on their hoist instead of us having to jack it up and remove the tire ourselves. So we decided to go ahead with the repair because she assured us it could be done within the next hour. Imagine that, again, getting immediate service work done within an hour of arriving on a rig on a Friday afternoon. 

The two workers that spoke with Steve were very courteous and talked to him throughout the process and kept tabs with us while it was getting work done.  We could stand nearby and watch. 

It is still very, very hard for Steve to hand over the reins to somebody else and let a stranget do the work for him. He is the type of guy that likes to do all of his own repairs. That way he is sure everything is done correctly and he has a chance to look at anything else in the area for future maintenance.

He stood there for a long time, watching over it like a mom would be watching over a baby at their first time at the doctor. Can you see how nervous he looks?

I asked him to pop out one of our lawn chairs for Nick and myself to relax in the parking lot. We could have went inside to the waiting room. There was actually a nice breeze and the temperature was in the low 70s. I settled in next to the FedEx truck and proceeded to watch the progress of our repair.

It was all done, as promised, within the hour. The workman backed it out and took it for a test drive. Wowzers, that was really hard to watch our motorhome drive away from us. Leaving us alone in the parking lot together --- it was gone! We just got held our breath the entire time until it came back. The repairman had smiles all around and said that everything was done. They were also teasing Steve that they changed over the odometer from miles to kilometers!!! (They were giving Steve a hard time, they really didn't).

Vanessa came out to double-check that everything was done correctly. The workers wanted to help Steve hook up the trailer, but instead we went inside to take care of the paperwork and paying the final bill. We told them we could hook up the trailer oueselves.

Yes, the bill is what we expected. Around $250 something for the diagnostic, and $300 and something for the part, and then the labor and the fees etc etc etc so we walked away $832 poorer. That's in Canadian money. Then our American Express converts that over to US dollars to just about $600. 

Considering that the alternative would have been to try and find the part available at some local parts shop, most likely being an aftermarket brand. Then finding a spot where we could jack it up and do the work ourselves. We knew the tire rim would come off pretty easily because we had it off last year when we had new tires put on. But it's still a struggle to pull it off and rip things apart just to change a sensor. So I guess, in the long run, it was worth it to pay somebody else to do it. At least we got to watch. Plus they torqed the lug nuts bolts correctly too.

We came back out after paying the bill, and there were the two workers, still smiling, standing next to our cargo trailer. They had waited all that while until we came back out to assist with hooking it back up. Wasn't that nice? What an end to a busy work week for them on a Friday to stand there and wait for some crazy American tourists to come back out just to walk up there a little cargo trailer!!!

We pulled on out of Sudbury at 4:30p.m. and made our way through the crazy rush hour traffic. Not only was it the end-of-the-day traffic was also Friday "let's get going for the weekend" traffic.

We knew of a little place that we read about that we were going to head out of town about half an hour or so.  It was a very small town called Verner. They had what was called the Department of Ministries located there. It's kind of like our Department of Transportation highway shop buildings. We were told there are 10 vacant RV slots to pull into overnight. They even have electrical hookups. That's located behind the building. They ask that you don't stay longer than 120 hours. That is 5 days!!! 

We only saw one photo of it, so we weren't quite sure what to expect. Well, we pulled in and went back behind the buildings. There was a beautiful row of pine trees and a farm off in the distance. Surrounded on two sides was a gorgeous golf course!!! So we were going to camp next to a beautifully meticulously maintained golf course surrounded by pine trees and looking at a farm with the setting sun. I guess we can't complain for a free campsite when it's in the parking lot of a highway shop?

This was our view out the front windshield. On the other side of those pines is all green golf course.

Behind us you can see the big buildings used to store road salt and sand. They also acted as a buffer between us and the road so we really didn't hear much highway noise at all.

Steve got out with Nick and walked around. Nick felt that he needed to go out onto the golf course to do his business on the nice green grass instead of over on our side by the pine trees. Of course, we said no! We told Niklckydoodle that he had to be a perfect gentleman and a good guest of our Canadian hosts.

The sun was setting as we were making dinner. Out over across the golf course was a farm that was illuminated by the golden sunshine. This was really going to be another peaceful evening.

And again, totally free. 

We'll catch up with you on the next blog about the next day. But here we were, safe and sound in our rig. Newly repaired with a not too bad repair bill. And we are happy. Can't you tell?

Miles today - 142

Miles so far - 546