A common question we get is whether we book everything in advance or if we just find places to stay as we go. It has been a mix of both but when you end up with an Airbnb as good as the one we had in Whitehorse, you come to appreciate the “book early and find the most awesome place”. We knew that my mom would be joining us for part of the time in Whitehorse so we booked a nicer place than we usually do. Even still, this place far exceeded our expectations. It was a two-bedroom penthouse condo (3rd floor but that’s high for Whitehorse) with a great kitchen and floor-to-ceiling windows. It was really nice having our own space for 3 nights in a row. It made us concentrate all the more to book longer stays in one place.
This was the leg that had us worried. It was just under 900km, all of it on the Alaskan Highway. There were huge gaps between stops. How would the kids handle that amount of time in the back of the car? How would we handle it? What was the highway going to be like? All these thoughts were in the back of our minds as we departed Fort St. John early in the morning. The morning walk had to be postponed to hit our 6:30 departure. Anyway, all the worry was for naught. This leg would turn out to be my favourite of the trip and the kids loved it.
The drive was like a northern version of African Lion Safari. We will just dive into the wildlife update as it is longer than normal.
Animals Seen:
3 Moose – Paige goes her whole life without seeing moose then sees one in Thunder Bay. And today we stumble across moose three additional times. And these aren’t far off in the forest viewings. We stopped the car for five minutes and watched one feed in a marsh, completely ignoring us.
1 Coyote – It was just running down the ditch beside the highway
1 Wolf – flatter face than the coyote and much larger
20+ Bison – There was an electronic highway sign telling us there were bison on the highway 150+ km further down the road. We rolled our eyes. What were the chances that the update would be even remotely accurate? But a couple of hours later, we see one bison, then ten minutes later two more, and then 15 minutes later an entire herd.
1 Grouse – It seemed to be playing chicken with the traffic – it survived but not sure for how long
4 Mountain Sheep – crossing the road and Paige had to stop to let them go by
1 Grizzly Bear – The previous day we saw a black bear, today it was time for our first grizzly. The kids could see it out the window as it grazed up a hill on the side of the road. It was eating berries and paid us no attention. Isabella suggested it was a brown black bear. But we could see the hump, meaning grizzly.
This was a long day for us. Before departing Edmonton the kids needed to go visit Elk Island National Park with their Nan. It was funny as we had been to that park four years ago so we knew where to look for the bison. Yep, you go to Elk Island to see bison and not elk. Also, there is no island. Regardless it is a great park and the wildlife is easy to spot from the highway. We had brought the bikes to the park too for the kids to hone their skills. Fortunately, they did not crash into any buffalo. We spent a couple hours at the park and then really needed to be on our way as we had a 7+ hour drive ahead of us. The kids said goodbye to their nan (who had planned to meet up with us in the Yukon in a few days) and off we went.
For lunch, we took the kids to Wendy’s for their first “chain” fast-food of the trip. They got happy meals and for some reason, we substituted their drinks for Frostys. Paige then bought us a medium Frosty to share. Needless to say, I ended up eating half a medium frosty and 3/4 of a kid’s frosty twice. If my math is done correctly, that is enough calories to run a marathon.
The kids said goodbye to the yellow fields of the prairies as our next destination was Alberta. Our plan was to spend three days with Paige’s extended family in St. Albert (located just outside of Edmonton). Isabella and Julie were looking forward to meeting their cousins for the first time. Paige and I were looking forward to having a kitchen, adults to talk to and some space.
The drive from Lloydminster is a mere three-hour drive on paper. But why do a trip in three hours when you can stretch it into six? We were then lured to the town of Vegreville with a giant Pysanka (easter egg) you could see from the highway. We hopped into the FREE paddle-boats at the tourist information and got a 360-degree view of the egg. And then we had our best roadside meal of the trip at some taco place in the town (Loco Burro). Great marks for Vegreville all around! What a pleasant stop. However, the kids were beginning to piece together that the promised three-hour drive seemed longer. Julie is on the verge of being able to tell time.
Entering Saskatchewan, I always feel a weird sense of belonging since my parents were both from here. Isabella has been to the “Land of Living Skies” before but Julie had not. Thankfully both girls have now been to 5 provinces and there is no sibling rivalry.
I drove a decent chunk of the drive to Saskatoon from Yorkton (where we made a stop at Wal-mart to replace the bell that had broken off Julie’s bike). I love driving on the prairies; you just set the cruise control and stare ahead at the interesting clouds and occasional grain elevator. It was a long but pleasant drive.
After a week of Summer Camp in the city with the girls, we were ready to get back on the road. Our destination was Riding Mountain National Park and arrived in the early evening. Daylight lasts so much longer here, we had plenty of time to set up our site and check out the town of Wasagaming which is actually located within the park boundaries. We were blown away as you could walk to the town from our campsite (about 1km away). And the town itself felt like a mini beach town from home. It was busy yet it didn’t feel overwhelmed like the beach towns back in Ontario. There was a “street” of commercial establishments, a pier, a nice beach and many quaint cottages throughout the town. There were no fences, no garish multi-level dwellings and no garbage anywhere. I guess there must be some sort of park bylaws limiting the type of dwelling that can be built. And there were ice cream parlours!
Onward to Manitoba! Before getting to Winnipeg we had to stop for two roadside attractions. First, we had to go to Kenora to view the larger-than-life Husky the Muskie. Like the Wawa goose, this was one of those childhood memories I needed to recreate. The underpass from the parking lot to the Muskie was flooded by the river so we had to run across the “highway”. Isabella enjoyed that part the most. We got the required picture and were back in the car. Closer to Winnipeg, we stopped at the longitudinal middle of Canada (96°48’35″W according to the sign). It was just off the Trans Canada Highway that had a couple giant Adirondack chairs (that seem to be all across the country and some needed washrooms). We stopped quickly as Paige and I just wanted to get to Winnipeg, do some laundry and dry out all our wet gear from Blue Lake. We were splitting Winnipeg up into 1 day at a hotel and then 4 days outside the city at Birds Hill Provincial Park. The kids were looking forward to this part of the trip as we had enrolled them in a week of summer camp at the University of Manitoba. Izzie was off to become a scientist while Julie was going to hone her gymnastic skills. Paige and Mike were going to do…….well, we had nothing planned for ourselves.
We were prepared for a long day of travel from Sleeping Giant to Blue Lake Provincial Park so we were on the road before 7am. Fortunately for us, the wildlife was on the move too! We saw a couple deer while brushing our teeth. Within our first 10 minutes on the road, Paigey achieved a lifelong dream of seeing a moose in the wild. Although I must say, she did misidentify it at first as a bird. Then I suggested it was a deer. As the jeep got closer, it started running down the road and voila a baby moose. Even the kids in the back got to see it, so check that one off the list!
We had some time to check out Kakabeka Falls on the west side of Thunder Bay. I remembered being terrified at walking the bridge that used to cross the falls. It was one of those metal see-thru bridges and the terror is seared into my memory (I’m terrified of heights). Fortunately, 30 years later it wasn’t that scary as there are robust planks that make the crossing seem like any normal bridge crossing. The kids were upset I wasn’t super scared. We did a quick hike, found some hares and watched the cascading falls.
Yep, that first night of camping in five-degree celsius weather was a cold one! Paige and I felt it. The kids on the other hand voiced no displeasure. But they followed my lead and took an early morning shower. For those who don’t know, some Ontario Parks showers are amazing. Great pressure with bloody hot water. Another check mark for Neys. After the showers, we lit a morning fire (Paigey and I haven’t done that in years) which put Paige and I in a more comfortable state. The kids went off to play at the beach.
We didn’t leave Neys early on Day 7. We decided to slow things down and took a bike to a trailhead. Finally figured out how to get Julie Tailgator sorted out so that she doesn’t lean the entire time while being pulled by her mother. We went on a small hike and I made a bad joke about me growing facial hair…..anyways the punch line is MOSStache. And the pictures are spot on. We then went to the visitor centre at the park (we always go to visitor centres if the park has them) and did some homeschooling. Julie learnt about rocks. For those that don’t know, Julie will tell you that “Amethyst is the purple one”. Isabella played with the animal pelts trying to determine which one was the softest. We went back to the site, broke camp for the first time and were back on the highway.
The drive to Sleeping Giant took a long time. We stopped for lunch and filled up on some camping supplies. Our butane is due to go out any day so we stopped at the “smallest” Canadian Tire in the country. Don’t know if it is true but they have a sign saying so in Nipigon.
Many stops later we got to Sleeping Giant after 5pm. Good thing the sun doesn’t set until 10:30. Our campsite was a split level (first time we had stayed at one of those) that Isabella had selected when Paige let her select some sites. We went for a quick swim and noticed the water was full of crayfish. I always thought they hid under rocks and such, but here they were in the clear water in the sand. Might explain why their carcasses were also littered all over the beach. Paigey caught some live ones for the children to see. I went swimming.
The kids slept well that first night as the swimming tired them out. They got up and dived into their morning school-work. I was skeptical at the number of worksheets Paigey had brought for them, but they sure do love the morning activity work. Izzy did a worksheet on Red foxes and was blown away when we saw a stuffed one at the park visitor centre later in the day.
We went spent the rest of the day exploring the park and surrounding area. We were realistic and knew the hike to the sleeping giant formation was outside our abilities. So we picked a shorter one to a pebble beach that the kids loved. We saw butterflies and took a wrong turn that delighted the children as they had to scramble up some boulders to get back on the trail. They no longer let Paige and I lead the way on the trails.
We also discovered Silver Islet, a tiny hamlet at the end of the peninsula. It was one of those hot days where you dream “If only we could find an ice cream place …..” and then one appears out of nowhere. The kids had Superkid ice cream which is their new favourite flavour thanks to Aunt Sil’s Ice Cream joint in the Soo.
The entire time we were at Sleeping Giant we had no internet access and attributed it to the remoteness of the park. It was one of the reasons we seemed to stumble upon things these two days. Turns out there was a big internet outage in Canada that we were blissfully unaware of.
To set some context, you first need to know that I try to walk 5km each morning before the kids wake up. So there I was, walking outside the steel mill in Sault Ste Marie at 6am when a Jeep rolls to a stop alongside me. The window rolls down and a woman leans out and yells: ”Hey was that you taking over the gym this morning?”. I momentarily blank but then clue in and admit that yes, it was me. She then apologizes for her son being such a jerk and kicking me out of the gym. I shrug my shoulders and tell her he will be a great Pokemon champion. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, you obviously don’t play Pokemon Go.
Anyways we left the relatives early in the morning having received a download of the key lookouts on the drive ahead of us. We said our goodbyes and were on our way with the bikes tightly secured. Our first stop was Chippewa falls where the kids got to hike and use the washroom. This was going to be one of those days with multiple washroom stops. We then stopped a further down the highway to eat some world-famous apple fritters at the Voyageurs’ Lodge near Batchwana Bay. There is an entire rack full of individual fritters waiting for people to grab. There must have been 100+ sitting there and we watched a procession of cars stop to pick a couple up. For the first time in our lives, Paige and I did the sensible thing and bought one and shared it. We ignored the sign that said there was no tax charged if you purchased six. We only needed the one, they were ginormous.
Family Travel Countdown 