The next goal of this Fall’s journey is to get across Canada. Callie and Portland are waiting for us on the west coast! So we decided to travel via the Trans-Canada Highway for a change of scenery. 

The Trans-Canada highway extends all the way across Canada and is 4860 miles long. We just did 1800 miles of it. We were looking to put miles behind us, so not a lot of sightseeing happened!

Ontario

It took us a good three days to get out of Ontario. The portion of the Trans-Canada Highway north of Lake Superior is gorgeous. But it was not the easiest driving. There was lots of hills and curves that demanded Jim’s full attention. By the end of the day we were both exhausted. We were also finding it tough to get into campgrounds. A lot of Canadian families take vacation in August and thus fill up the campgrounds.

Terry Fox

We talked to a local who suggested we stop at the Visitor’s Center in Thunder Bay. From there you could get a great view of Lake Superior and there was also a memorial to Terry Fox. Terry Fox was a young man who lost a leg to cancer. In 1981 he decided to run across Canada (with a prosthetic leg) to raise funds for cancer research. He started at the Atlantic Ocean in Newfoundland and by the time he reached Ontario, much of Canada was following his journey. His run was cut short near his memorial in Thunder Bay when the cancer was found to have spread to his lungs. He died not long afterwards at the age of 21, but not before he raised $23 million for Cancer Research. Fund raising runs are still held in his memory. It truly is an inspiring story. You can read more about him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox.

Manitoba

Finally, we crossed into Manitoba. In the blink of an eye, we went from curvy, twisty mountain roads to a straight road and farmland. The driving was much easier and we could make better time. We opted not to stop in Manitoba. We did a pretty thorough job visiting in 2014 (read that blog post if you want).  We blew through the province in a day.

Saskatchewan

We made it to Saskatchewan the same day we left Ontario. All we can say for Saskatchewan is it was HOT! 102 degrees hot AND looked a good deal like Manitoba. We scrambled and found a campground to stay in Regina. We probably would have dry camped somewhere for free that night, but we really wanted power to run our air conditioners with those kind of temperatures!

After 5 days of driving, driving, driving, we have finally made it to Alberta where the temperatures are MUCH cooler. But that’s the next blog post.