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