Sunday, September 11, 2016

Canada 2016

This year was another great year for Canada, the weather was great and our travelling companions were even better.  This year we were accompanied on part of out trip by a couple of Blue Bird buddies and their coaches.   Fran & I crossed the border at Port Huron and traveled up the eastern shore of Lake Huron, Our first night was near Goderich, ON we had visited Pointe Farms before and knew we would enjoy another night there again.  Goderich was hit by a tornado on our last visit and with all the repairs and new construction the town like a different place.  Next we visited Sauble Fall Provincial Park up on the Bruce peninsula for a couple nights before heading on up the eastern shore.
 We spent a night at each Killbear and Kilarney before making our way around to Little Current on Manitoulin, Island.  There were no provincial parks so we stayed they Batmans Camp & RV Park, not a place we could recommend before we departed for Sault Ste. Marie to the KOA.  The Soo KOA is spectacular and is well laid out and has just about everything you need in an RV park.  It is also very close to shopping, restaurants on off the highway enough to make it nice & quiet.
We did have a minor mechanical issue leaving Manitoulin, the bus did not want to shut off so when we got to the Soo KOA we had to get it to shut off so we disconnected the fuel shutoff solenoid to shut it down.  After some assistance from Thomas & Jim we were able to get it functioning again so we departed on the rest of our trip accompanied by Jim & Nancy Brookshire and Thomas & Nancy Rembert.  They had been staying on the US side of the border until we met up on the road to head on up to Wawa.

 Fran and I had been going there for years and our friends wanted to travel along so we shared a few of our back county spots with them.  We stayed at the Wawa RV Park for a few nights and during the days we took the Jeep up to Steephill Reservoir and to the blueberry fields picking berries and hunting for mushrooms.

Later we made our way over to Pukaskwa National Park near Marathon for a few nights and then on to Neys Provincial Park.  Pukaskwa is a nice park and the campground there has plenty of large sites that will accommodate larger rigs & amp; buses but it should be mentioned that they are on a first come – first serve basis and have a 14 day stay limit. As with most parks in Canada they have hydro (electric) but are limited to 30 amp service so beware if you are a power hog.  We know this and we watch our power consumption so not to trip a breaker.   The parks along Lake Superior are great places to visit many offer sites near the shore or within a short walk, many offer access to dogs or may have a dog section so your pup can enjoy a romp in the waves.  Hiking and scenic view trails are part of the experience and a great way to exercise.  Traveling with friends is great and we enjoyed this trip more by having them along.  Note:  I highly recommend if you wish to do the Superior loop it is best done after Labor Day because their schools do not start until after the holiday and the parks are still pretty much full until then.