Thunder Bay to North Bay

Hi everyone! We left Thunder Bay what feels like weeks ago but in reality I think it has only been a week. We have been doing great! We stayed in THunder Bay for 2 days. One night off a forestry trunk road just north of Thunder Bay(no bears this time). The second night we stayed in a Wal Mart parking lot. It wasn't very exciting however we did have a huge thunder storm that night and discovered(just before bed) Morrie had a little roof vent leak that leaked onto Paul's pillow! We made a make shift bowl catching system so we could sleep and were able to seal it in the morning. No worries! We had no idea just how big Ontario is. We drove to Nipigon and found a super sweet camp for the night for free down by the Marina with hot showers. Met some nice local people and did a hike the following day.

The hike was from Red Rock 1/2 way to Nipigon, the distance of the hike was 8kms which took us about 4 hours. It was really wet along the trail but felt so good to get out and stretch the legs and get the heart rate up a bit. At the 1/2 way point was a look out called Eagles landing.

One of the hardest things so far has been finding free places to stay for a night or 2. Also navigating through city centers has its challenges when trying to work together. We have been staying anywhere from Wal Mart parking lots, forestry trunk roads, marinas, we even stayed one night in a church parking lot. As far as city navigating our brother in law Michael gifted us a Garmin GPS as a marriage saving gift....and let me tell you it has more than once!!

We found a gem of a place in the town Marathon. It was at a lookout point over Lake Superior. We felt so lucky we decided to stay 2 nights, also because it rained almost a full day the first day. Here we met some really friendly locals and also a couple of travellers just like us.

You can see why we stayed 2 days!!

After leaving Marathon we headed to Pukaskwa National Park. We hiked for the day. The hike was 18 or 19km depending on what map you looked at. However this is a coastal hike that can take days to complete, still on Lake Superior. At the end of our hike was a suspension bridge that we crossed and stopped at the other side to refuel.

That evening after our hike we were both pretty tired and hungry. We are learning to find a sleep spot earlier in the day, we often are finding places at dusk and then cooking supper, this is not ideal(we both get irritably hungry!!) Just by luck we find this quaint little camp spot just off the highway closed in by trees right beside Elliot Lake, there was even a fire pit. This seems perfect for a night!

Our plan was to stay in Sudbury the following night. From Elliot Lake Sudbury is about 2.5 hours. We are usually never in a rush to leave a good spot. So around noon we headed to Sudbury. Driving around the last part of Lake Superior. It is breathtaking this time of year! We have decided Ontario reminds us of BC without mountains. However the roads in the cities are the worst, when your hauling a 450llb bike on the back. Sudbury came and went. It didn't really appeal to us. City camping definitely has its challenges. Its also smokin hot here and our cat can't stay in the van if we aren't there. So we settled for a carpool parking lot off the Trans Canada, in a pinch it'll do! Good morning! We are hopeful that Lake Nipissing will provide some relaxing beach time. On a hunch we travelled slightly off the Trans Canada to a small fishing town Lavigne. Chatted with some locals and got permission to stay just beside the lake.

Onto North Bay still on Lake Nipissing. I'm not sure ever want to leave! North Bay is awesome. The lake is great and the weather is scorching. Down by the marina is multiple free parking spots and even some overnight areas. Yesterday we spent the day on the beach, we were able to park in a covered parking lot. It was easily the coolest place is North Bay. This gave us some time to bike around the city and get familiar with its charm. I think we may stay until Saturday. Oh and just a side note.... we were walking along the marina and passed Jerry O'Connell and a film crew. Like he was right infront of us in a towel and film crew! Apparently he is filming a tv series here. I couldn't pick my jaw up off the ground fast enough to ask for a picture, so you'll just have to take my word.

So as you can see, this is a much more simple life. It doesn't go without it's challenges, we really celebrate the small wins. Life as a long time traveller has been a huge learning curve so far. To my surprise falling into a nomadic lifestyle has been tricky for me...not knowing when my next shower is, doing everything as cheap as possible, the uncertainty of the unknown. But at the same time I'm excited to learn how.

Next stop Quebec!!

#NorthAmericatour