the final leg of Canada150
The Final Stretch
From Riding Mountain National Park, we headed further west to Winnipeg. A quick stop here to catch up with friends and work before our return to Ontario.
Winnipeg
This time around since we weren’t in town long, we stayed at a hotel near my husband’s work. And to appease the kids that we weren’t staying with their new found friend’s, we chose a hotel with a pool and waterslide. Who doesn’t love a water slide… ME… especially when it makes you go flying down so fast, you slam your funny bone into the side… and to top off the experience… the fire alarm goes off and everyone in the hotel must exit the premises…. in our bathing suits nonetheless.
We did catchup with friends and some kiddo fun. On the way out to the east coast, the playground was being designed, and on the way back, it was complete!. Fun all around.
Our Winnipeg trip included a brief trip to the Winnipeg Children’s Museum. Located downtown it offered a small museum to amuse the kids for an hour or so. It’s location was not conveniently located for us to grab a bite but we managed… leave it to me to find something the kids would like… bronuts!
Rainbow Falls
From Winnipeg we headed to Rainbow Falls to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa! The in-laws were heading on their own summer adventure around Lake Superior so we met up with them at Rainbow Falls campground.
Rainbow falls Provincial Park has two campgrounds: Whitesand Lake and Rossport. We chose Rossport since it was lakeside and who could resist being that close to the water’s edge. The site was large enough for our camper and another tent plus both our cars, it was private on both sides due to trees and water’s access?… could it get any better? We were a 1 minute walk to flush bathrooms and shower building and an electrical site so that we could get everything recharged for our final push home.
The skies constantly threatened rain and storms so we fully tarped the camper to try to keep extra dry since we knew we were leaving the next day. Packing up a wet camper is never any fun. Through it all the kids had a blast down by the water’s edge.
Onto Pancake Bay?… or Sault Ste Marie
We woke up the next morning to make our last stop before home. It was to be Rainbow Falls. Before hitting the road, my husband checked the trailer tires and lo and behold, they were worn very low and likely to burst again. Since both tires were in the same condition, we decided to push through to Sault Ste Marie since we needed to get the tires changed asap and the Pancake Bay campground would have been too long of a drive there and back to get the tires.
So, we roll with it and push on ahead, and lucky for us, the heavens decided to open and rain, rain, rain… so perhaps the last night in our camper wasn’t the best idea. Safely tucked away in a real bed in a hotel was a nice way to end out the day with the rain pounding on the windows.
That’s it. Finally home….
So, after 43 days on the road, seeing 5 provinces, 22 destinations, countless cities, even more playgrounds and driving well over 11,000 km. We made it! It was a trip of a lifetime and hopefully someday we’ll be able to redo it again. Some of the highlights….
- my son losing his teeth!
- northern lights in calgary
- meeting up with friends Milloys, Radfords and meeting up with family Strattons, Sexton, Mui’s, Jobins – Thanks to you all this trip would not have been the same without you all!
- seeing wildlife – Grizzly Bear, Black Bear, Elk, Bison, Red Fox, Mountain goats, Deer, Marmot, and Ground Squirrels
- changing a flat on the side of the highway on the way to Banff with the mountains as backdrop
- fire on Mackenzie Beach in Tofino with the Mui’s
- the majestic rocky mountains and hills of northern ontario
- incredible playgrounds of canada both natural parklands and kids playgrounds.