September 13-840 km to Dryden Ontario

Okay, I always knew Ontario was really big but after today's drive I know absolutely! I drove for nearly 9 hours and I'm still not at the border with Manitoba. Wow!

Last night the weather took a wild turn. It was very humid and there was thunder in the distance after dinner so I knew something was up. Around 9 pm the wind really picked up and the thunder and lightening were constant. The power went out at 9:30 pm. I was ready for bed anyway but this just capped it off. I began to think though.
When I'm in a familiar setting I am prepared for a power outage. When away I had to think more about the situation. I had to get my flashlight (I have 3 with me in various bags) and keep it beside me, then I had to think about how the place I was in worked. Was the water on a pump? If so then we wouldn't have flushing abilities. The Girl Guide in me came out and I had it all figured out how I'd work through it.
I must have drifted off to sleep because the TV and lamp came on around 11:30 and all seemed well.
Nice to know I was prepared.

The storm caused the temperature to change drastically and the thermometer in the car noted a whopping 8 C in the morning! I'm in the north now!

Hwy 17 was my route today and I set my navigation system to take me to the hotel in Dryden.  Not that I'd need any directing because the route is pretty simple but it gave me the time left in the journey. That's always nice to know after driving for so long.

The Trans-Canada is a well maintained road and there was some construction but nothing really time consuming. The road was flat-ish to begin then it became nearly mountainous outside of White River and toward Marathon.

The road climbed hills that went around mountains (okay bigger hills) and in the picture above the train tracks are winding along the hills on the Superior shore. That would be a train ride I think!

Thankful for cruise control, passing lanes (there are many transports on the route) and nice tourist information and picnic places along the transcanada.
I don't know that I've ever driven as long as I have on these journeys so it's these little things that make the drive so comfortable.

I realized that once I turned north towards Dryden I would not see Lake Superior any longer so I stopped at a lovely picnic site for lunch.

As you can see the sun is shining and it's really quite warm. I actually waded in the water for a little bit after my lunch. It was great!

The weather report noted that there would be again, a drastic change in the temperature and it was time to head out. I still had 4 hours of driving ahead of me and I wanted to stop in Thunder Bay at the Terry Fox memorial.

Outside of Terrace Bay there are signs that say "Terry Fox Courage Highway" as you travel west, the signs start 100 km from the last step he made in his Marathon of Hope. This started to make me think a lot about my friends and family members that have battled cancer and how Terry's challenge united a whole country to see that cancer is something to be fought and fought hard. It made the drive go by a little faster and soon I was at the memorial erected to Terry just off the Transcanada with the haze and acrid smell of a forest fire off in the distance (to the southwest of Thunder Bay caused by a lightening strike the night before). There was something mournful about the smoke, the dim light, the gathering storm in the distance that made it all such a very meaningful experience for me.

I am really, really glad I visited this spot, though the smoke is not visible in the above pictures it was really quite thick and I couldn't stay too long (breathing was an issue here). The memorial is very fitting, and is facing west I noticed, as though he is continuing his journey. I think his spirit was made the journey a hundred fold as the Marathon of Hope has meant billions for cancer research. What a legacy...

The road from Thunder Bay was clear of smoke as the wind had switched but there was still an alert sign up indicating that visibility was reduced in smoke. Interesting!
The cruise control set (the speed limit is 90 km/h here) and Dryden was the next destination.
The time zone changed and now in Central time I will have to change my watch but can't be bothered with the clock in the Equinox. That will keep me calculating! Mind games I call them.

Anyway, it's been an interesting day, both in weather and the travel. Tomorrow I finally leave Ontario!
Oh yeah and there are potential snow flurries forecast for the early morning....
Ho hum....