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Saturday, September 16, 2017

VACATION - Looping Around Lake Superior - Day 5 Kakabeka Falls

It's raining 
it's pouring 
the old man
 is snoring!

THIS BLOG BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE COURTESTY 
OF A HOTEL FREE WIFI IN KAKABEKA FALLS, ONTARIO, CANADA

We left Thunder Bay in the middle of a dreary icky rain stormy morning. We decided to change course a little bit and head west over to Kakabeka Falls. It was only about 20 miles of travel time. We had been here once before but it was 20 years ago.




When we got there, we had to make a decision. Should we just hang around in the parking lot and pay the daily fee to see the falls in between rain showers? The daily fee was payable in increments of 1 hour, 4 hours, or full day.

 Or should we just register at the office and take a campsite for the night? That way we could go over to the falls anytime in between rain showers and enjoy some nice peaceful woodsey scenes out of our windows?

We went in the park office and spoke with the very pleasant gal working there. They had plenty of campsites, even on a weekend, and they were all electric sites. None of the non electric loops are even open anymore this season. 

So for $41.25 CN we decided we are going to camp for the night at a campground with electric hookups. That way in the morning we can top off our fresh water tank and dump our holding tanks. 

The gal marked on the map which sites that were already occupied. There are no reserved sites this time of year, but perhaps someone has paid for a site and left to go to town for supplies leaving it unoccupied. We took the map and drove up to the campground to select what site would work out best for us.





It's a beautiful campground in a lovely wooded setting within array of roads going mostly in North and South long oval loops. There are few cut through roads and it makes it kind of puzzling to figure out where you are. 

The one thing that is really strange about this campground is that all of the electrical posts are way up near the road. The posts are shared between two campsites and sometimes they are situated way deep in the brush. Most of the time thought they are right up next to the road. This makes a very difficult when you back in your RV and most power cords exit from near the back end of your rig. 



So that is why they had a big sign on the counter stating electrical cords available for rent $5 a day, $150 deposit!! The gentleman we had ahead of us at the counter remarked the same thing... that last time he had gotten all backed into his site and could not hook up to the power. His cord was not long enough. So this time he brought an extra long cord! We bring extra cords also we have a variety of adapters. We are a 50 amp rig but the power here is only 30 and 20 amp outlets on the posts.





We found many sites that would fit our needs. We noted them on the map to go back down to the office to register.

We left the motorhome in a large parking turn around area by the dumpsters and unhooked the Tracker to buzz back down to the office to register. They even gave us a complimentary local newspaper from Thunder Bay for the day! We gathered brochures and information and a really nice map about the circle tour of Lake Superior.



We returned back up to the campground loop and Steve drove the motorhome following me in the Tracker to our selected campsite. We are on site 63 which is at the far end of a loop. It's a really nice setting where we really can't see any neighbors in any direction. 

There are only about 15 campers in the entire park, and only a few more rolled in during the evening for the weekend. Many of the existing campers are seasonal with an S on their post tag instead of an exit date. That is interesting, because in any of our Federal or state campgrounds I don't often see seasonal rates or campsite. There is usually only a 14 day limit and you must move on.

Nobody seemed to be around at these seasonal units, and they look pretty well buttoned up. I wonder if they leave them here all winter? I would be worried about snow load on the roof.

We got settled into our camp site and I heated up some delicious beef minestrone soup that I had in the freezer. We warmed our bellies against the cold wet damp day outside. The weather doesn't look much more promising for the weekend either.






After a little nap, we noticed the rain had stopped. We popped the two little doggers into the Tracker with us and headed on out to go look at the waterfalls. It was absolutely beautiful and not many people around so we could really enjoy it in peace and quiet. 










 Even their bathrooms here are beautiful! 


After eyeballing nature for a while, we drove around the park to get our bearings. The beach swimming area is way upstream beyond the waterfalls and there is also a specific dog swimming area which is really nice. But it is much too cold right now to partake of any swimming.


Here is a You Tube I shot of the falls:



We drove into the little nearby town of Kakabeka Falls. It boasts 3 gas stations, 2 motels, and 1 grocery store. There are a few closed up gift shops and that's about it. The gal at the park had told us one of the motels in town has free Wi-Fi so we stopped to check. Yep! It does. So after I finish writing up this blog this morning, I will buzz back over there in the Tracker with my laptop to post it online.

We settled in for a rainy evening watching a DVD, none other than my beloved series of Northern Exposure. Remember that show from back in the late 80's - early 90's? I just love it. A sweet friend from my camping group had taken the time to record them all onto DVD's for me, all 6 years of the series. Rick Watts is gone now, but I think of him with a smile everytime I take out my DVD's. He recorded a lot of shows for us over the years, including a bunch of wonderful ones for my grandchildren.

(we don't use the DVD/VAR combo often, 
so we just set it on the chair when in use and 
store it away when travelling) 


It was a quiet night in the park with rain drizzling on the roof while we dozed. That is just such a southing relaxing sound, the rain on the roof of the RV in the woods.

It is now Saturday morning, and my Mr Steveio is going to cook us a breakfast while we look out of the damp gloomy windows. We have to decide if we are going to stay here another day or move on and look for something else to do.

Rain rain go away
Come again another day

5 comments:

  1. Yep, parks in Canada aren't cheap that is for sure! I don't know how long ago they started to allow a certain number of seasonals into the provincial parks but I think they did it as a money maker because in the spring and fall not enough of the sites were being utilized so this helped to bring in more revenue for them. Some parks the units can stay all winter and people will come and use them on the weekends and "winter camp" and others they have to vacate for the winter months.

    Is there any reason why people couldn't just drive into their site rather than back in and then they wouldn't have a problem with the electrical cord?

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  2. I love Canadian Provincial Parks, but we found out the hard way that we need to carry longer cords.

    Your soup looks delicious.

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  3. The nice thing about retirement is that you aren't on any specific schedule. You can make it up as you go along. I'm enjoying this trip right along with you through your blog posts.

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  4. I loved that show! Now I have the theme song going in my head and can't make it stop. Have great trip!

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  5. The Falls Looks great in fall colors...I didn't have a long enough cord to make use of the electric in the CA parks!

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