Ooh, a trampoline!

July 27--Parry Sound, ON

Woke up yesterday morning early as usual (Puck). Fed the cats, ate some cheese pastry I'd bought at WalMart, and decided not to dump before heading east and south. I got out of the campground (nice, but not shady) by 8:30 or so, to head down the highway. I filled up the tank (98 cents a liter!) then headed out.

The one disadvantage to driving the TransCan from the Soo to Sudbury is how little of Lake Huron you actually see. For the most part, you're a few miles inland, and can only glimpse a bit of lake here and there when going through towns. Still, the drive was lovely; the sun was out and it wasn't too hot (yet), the wind was behind me, and the traffic wasn't too bad (and when it was, on two-lane highways Canada very politely puts passing-areas every few miles, for those in a big hurry). The other nice thing was, I could actually drive the speed limit! I don't like to push the rig more than 60, maybe 65 mph, and that's about what the speed limit was.

I stopped at a little town called Espaniola for lunch (Wendy's) and to give the cats a bit of a break outside of their carriers. It took me a bit of time, but I managed to find a spot--quite the happening spot at noon. We were in full sun, and it was getting warm, but with the windows open it was OK.

Past Sudbury and south, the landscape changed dramatically. The tall forests and farmer's fields of before changed to scrub forest. I thought maybe it was due to mining stunting the trees, but rock became more and more predominant, and I figured we were on the Canadian Shield. Turns out I was right. Lots of rock (including by roadsides, often festooned with piles of rock and graffiti--my favorite was "Thelma and Louise 2007"), small trees, and wetland (probably the water can't seep away through the rock). Also lots of construction, which was a pain. Particularly to my GPS, which couldn't figure out why I was driving NEXT to the actual road--well, because there's a new actual road?

The campground here is OK. WiFi signal here is limited (if too many people are using it, I can't), it's a bit dusty (the KOA people had to go yell at some guy running his ATV around on the dirt roads for churning up dust), and I don't get TV or even a good radio signal, so I'm a bit cut off. But it's shady, the pool is cool (if crowded), there's a trampoline I'm going to try later, some trails to walk, and a Tim Hortons in walking distance, if I get hungry and desperate. Not too bad.

I'm here for three days, which will be nice resting and reading and such. Hopefully. Sun and heat today, rain tomorrow, and better Thursday for travel. If only the cats don't drive me nuts--Puck is being particularly ornery. I need to play with him, and comb both of them, and give them more hairball treats. Maybe later.