Overall, it was a good trip, and I am glad we did it. There were moments of exhaustion and frustration, there were mosquitos and there was bad weather -- but there were also good times with my extended family, a meeting with my recently-discovered fourth cousin from Scotland (how cool is that??), fun with the Little Princesses when we (finally) got to my parents' home, fresh vegetables to gorge on from my dad's garden.
Some of the drive home was monotonous (rocks, trees, lakes, and more rocks, trees and lakes...), through very isolated terrain where towns (nevermind Tim Hortons outlets, lol) were far & few between -- one sign warned us that this would be the last gas station for 185 km!! (about 115 miles) -- and, at times, it was difficult to tune in a radio station. There was a lot of roadwork, which slowed us down a bit.
But overall, the roads were pretty good. And there were some very pretty, even spectacular, sights along the way, particularly the long stretch between Thunder Bay & Sault Ste. Marie, along the northern shore of Lake Superior. Not for the first time, I marvelled at what an amazing -- and VAST -- country we live in!! and at the hardiness of the pioneers who carved out these communities in even greater isolation than exists today.
Still, as wonderful as it was to have such a great holiday and spend so much time with my family, it was good to come home to our condo and our new furniture, and start getting back into our usual routines. Including, I hope, blogging (& blog reading & commenting) more regularly again...!
People have asked me if we'd do it again. I would. But probably not for a while again. ;) And definitely NOT in the wintertime!!
Have you had a good summer? (Or -- for Mali's benefit, lol ;) -- winter?)
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.
Welcome back!!!
ReplyDeleteI did multiple road trips as a kid. It can be draining. But there are places I never would have seen if we traveled by plane.
Hope settling into home is going well!
Sounds like an amazing trip. Driving gives one perspective on distance that you just don't appreciate when flying. I certainly don't blame you for not immediately planning your next journey.
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it home safely.
This sounds so fun to me. I go back and forth on rather I want to be settled somewhere or simply get a camper van and drive around for a few years. (I may never make up my mind.)
ReplyDeleteOne of my girlfriends had a government job where she was able to set aside a little money from each paycheque and then take a paid sabbatical every few years. One year she took six months off, bought a camper van & spent the summer driving from one end of Canada to another & back with her two teenaged daughters. I was so jealous! (Both of the leave & how she spent it!) Not sure I could do it for years on end, but a few months? Sure, why not?
DeleteWhoa, four weeks! You could really get into vacation mode then. So interesting all the miles you travelled, and the dead spots for radio and Tim Horton's... I'm all for long drives. Give me that over a plane and airport shenanigans any time. Welcome home, I'm glad you've had an interesting summer!
ReplyDeleteI teach history, and I often wonder what it must have been like for pioneers who came by wagon. Hearty folks!
ReplyDeleteThere's no place like home....I get that!
It sounds like a wonderful trip, though I'm glad you're back.
ReplyDeleteEverything is so tightly packed together here on the east coast, I'm trying to imagine 115 miles between gas stations!
Welcome home. It sounds wonderful. I think I'll put that on our retired-to-do list - driving around Canada. I'll also suggest that rocks, trees, lakes is not a bad landscape to drive through. We spent hours once driving through Australia, and there were just fields, eucalyptus trees, and the occasional billabong (though no jolly swagmen), all on the same straight roads. We got ridiculously excited when there was a bend in the road!
ReplyDeleteIf you did that in Australia, you will have no problem driving through the Canadian Prairies!! lol
DeleteSounds like a lovely trip! I have family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Lake Superior is beautiful. So clear and so cold!
ReplyDeleteI love road trips and I hope we get to do one some time in the near future. Last time we went was years ago, but we prepared with music CDs and tried to stop by town landmarks (ie. The Big Goose (in Wawa, Ontario?), the Big Nickel (Sudbury).
ReplyDeleteAlmost missed seeing the Wawa... it was outside the tourist info centre on the edge of town! We didn't stop. Likewise, Sam was not interested in driving around Sudbury to find the Big Nickel. ;) We were getting pretty hungry by then & were more interested in finding a Tim Hortons or somewhere to eat, lol. We wound up driving all the way to Parry Sound. The bypass roads around Sudbury are very good and very handy, but there's not much around there right now...!
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