Glamping Days

Manitoulin Island is a lovely vacation area between Lake Huron & Georgian Bay. I took the ferry from Manitoulin Island to "mainland" Ontario north of Toronto.    I arrived late at a campground near Niagara Falls, ON, where there's a rally of Escape & other fiberglass trailers.

The morning drive was along the east coast of Lake Superior, where the evergreens continued to dominate the forest. In western Ontario, there's a moose crossing sign at least every 5 miles, sometimes every mile or two.  I only drove part way around Lake Huron, & didn't catch any pics of it, but did see more signs of fall, as well as politics. The landscape changed noticeably, & there are many fewer evergreens, many more & more varied deciduous trees, & more farms.  Last winter in Tucson, I briefly met a couple of ladies full-timing in an Escape trailer. We've been in touch a few times & discovered that we would on Manitoulin Island, at the same time, so I booked a site for the night at this lovely little campground where they're staying this week.  *   *   *   *   * Wildlife sightings  (not counting those in the conservation preserve or the aquarium) --> -->  today: 1 deer           ...

Much of my drive today was along the north shore of Lake Superior. Thunder Bay is a decent-sized town, but otherwise, this stretch ranges between rural & desolate. The place I stopped for gas still has a gas pump without a credit card reader, so one pumps the gas & then goes inside to pay - a real throwback. Like most of these places, they offer a combo of gas, rooms, & convenience store. Outside of Thunder Bay, this modern bridge was the only thing that felt like the 21st century all day. There were some aspens along the edges, but most of the forest here is a mix of evergreens. It's surprised me how few (white-tailed) deer I've seen, especially compared to other animals. The 2 deer I saw together today were quite small with definite spots, like what I'd expect to see in June. Hope that they are developed enough to make it through the long winter here.   *   *   *   *   * Wildlife sightings  (not counting those in the conservation preserve or t...

  This was at the entrance to the campground in eastern Manitoba. The farmland of eastern Alberta, Saskatchewan, & most of Manitoba, changed in far eastern Manitoba & far western Ontario; the land became rocky with many lakes.  Other than a couple of power plants, this small industrial area in Dryden, ON, was the first sign of industry I'd seen since Edmonton, AB. This is the view from my campsite here in Upsala/Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The campground I stayed at in Qu'Appelle, SK, last night has lots of flowers around. This handsome fella was in a field next to the campground.  I didn't know that there were any drive-ins left anywhere, but this one looked like it's still in business. This town had contrasting art pieces: maybe the weirdest bit of roadside kitsch ever (the world's largest curling broom) & a lovely historic mural. In Manitoba, the fields are smaller & have more trees & hedgerows between them. Also, there's some corn fields in MB.  First signs of fall are showing here, just east of Winnipeg. 

The rolling landscape today was mostly fields of wheat & hay. There were some cows this morning & some horses this afternoon, & the wildfire smoke had decreased a lot. I was surprised to see road signs warning of moose.  The huge farms have grain storage tanks, & grain silos are sprinkled along the railroad tracks.  I love roadside kitsch.  There were a half dozen of these statues along the highway spread over several towns.