#16 Ignace to Thunder Bay

# 16  Ignace to Thunder Bay

Trees continue to line the highway between lakes of all sizes. 

Again the trees have been cut back from the road.  In Alaska it was to protect both wildlife and drivers. Here we noted, small trees are springing up in the cut zone.

We also noticed more sick trees along the highway here. The russet brown color on the evergreens made us wonder if these are infected by the bark beetle.  Even the newly sprouted trees had some brown edges.

Moose Warning signs come every couple of miles.  This day, Derrille did see a dead moose in the median down in a depression.

To our surprise we also crossed into Eastern Daylight Time. We are way across the continent from Washington State!

The telephone poles leaned to one side. Several were supported with extra reinforcement. I thought that perhaps the snow made them lean.  It also looked like some are being replaced.

As we approach Thunder Bay, the gas prices read ten cents higher than in the other provinces. Of course this is the biggest city we have been in for a couple of weeks. The water in the distance is the great Lake Superior!

This city has real exit ramps with interchanges.  However main roads still cross the freeway like an ordinary intersection.

Loved these two signs!  These warnings show up at each major interchange. Apparently bicycles and snowmobiles are not allowed on the freeways.

We found our RV resort and set up.  We looked at this pond out the front window. I even saw a doe and a fawn on the far bank one day.  Derrille’s brother, Jay and his wife Lynn showed up a bit later.

We were anxious to see them. The four of us have traveled together for almost 30 years.

#15 Winnipeg to Ignace

 # 15 Winnipeg to Ignace

Across the freeway from our RV park was a very nice new housing area.  The neighborhood looked very inviting.

Here are typical freeway entrances. This truck is coming onto the freeway. The signs are in French and English to turn left across the other two lanes of traffic.  Fascinates me.

This is where we joined the freeway after leaving the campground. The first stop after leaving  was to get diesel. Fortunately we scoped out the station yesterday to find the best access.     The prairie bugs covered the windshield so my photos will have splats on them.

Leaving Winnipeg the prairie landscape resumed with fields, ponds and the big blue sky. As we approached eastern Manitoba the fields morphed into forests of mostly pine.  The tree lined highways look similar to the ones in the Pacific Northwest.  In some areas the vegetation is back about 100 feet from the highway.  It looks like part of the road to Alaska.  The highway then meanders through the forest.  We even saw the snaky “S” curve signs like see in the Pacific Northwest.

The White Shell Provincial Park area seemed to cover many miles of this road.  Lakes began to show up every few miles.  Some lakes are small, perhaps an acre in size. Some lakes could rival or exceed the size of Lake Washington.

 The multitude of lakes here makes me think of Minnesota the land of 10,000 lakes. Since this area is above Minnesota, it’s logical to assume the topography was made by the same Ice Age events.  

Love their polite signs!  They often use graphics instead of words, like the truck scales sign.

Hello Ontario!

The parade of lakes continued.  Ontario signs often listed 3 or more campgrounds or resorts with directional arrows with each lake.  The smaller, serene lakes seemed be inviting canoeist and kayakers to spend time with them.  On the bigger lakes, cottages and fancy, large homes shared space on the shores.  

More little towns came and went.

Kenora, population 15,096 (2016) may be a place to put on your list to explore.  Compared to where we have been this is “the Big City.” It appears to be a four season resort town on the Lake of the Woods. Homes sit by the lake, some “cottages” some big and beautiful.  Houseboats can be rented, and lake tours are available.

Very few cars travel with us on the roads. So when a long line of trucks and cars passed us in the opposite direction, we thought Oh-oh…road work!  Our lane did not seem affected. Hmmm

There was no traffic westbound, then another line of traffic. Maybe an accident??? What we found was road painting. The westbound white lines were being painted with the big machine.  It would paint,traffic would back up,  then they moved the machinery over and let traffic by. 

The walls of rock the road passed now are white. We are thinking granite. A different look to what we have been passing.

We continue to pass mile after mile of pristine, deep blue lakes surrounded with evergreen trees. 

Lakeshores lap around the land in irregular free form designs creating tiny inlets and coves.  Sometimes tree covered islands rise from the water.  Sometimes just a rocky outcropping rises up with a couple of scraggly trees clinging to its surface.        

    

                  

Then we came to Dryden, population 8,000, another good size city.  Dryden has traffic and traffic lights, familiar businesses, and schools. The large building looming over Dryden is a pulp mill.  We recognized the smell right away. Dryden also has a large hospital and a college.

We passed over a bridge with a small road to the lake off to the side. The sign said “Fire Department use only”.  While contemplating the sign, I noticed a fire department water truck using the lake water to fill the tank.

It is always fun to drive the RV through the detours. No problems though, they are made to support the big semi-trucks.

We found these overhead wire signs interesting.

Lots of moose signs….didn’t see a moose.  But that was probably a good thing on the highway.

Some of the trees along here look infested. 

Ignace another small town completed our driving for today.

 We stayed at Davy Lake RV, with a view of the lake through the trees.  We had to pay an extra $5 to run only one AC and it was hot.  So we lit off the generator, made our own power and ran all three!  Hundreds of dragonflies swarmed around. I tried to photograph some, but was unsuccessful.  

This house sat across the lake. We were almost the only ones here during the week, but I bet this little lake is  busy on weekends.