25 - Back to Canada

The remaining few days we spent in the States followed the normal routine of staying at RV camps and driving through the day.

We also had an interesting experience in a Walmart in Marquette which involved a lot of very strange people; some were talking to themselves and others were dragging one foot. Fred became freaked out when he saw the rifles and guns in a cabinet in one aisle but I was more freaked out by the fact the shop assistant didn’t know what a cucumber was!

Moving on, we stayed at a nice wooded RV camp on the edge of Michigamme Lake for a couple of days where we explored the local area and were blessed with lovely sunny weather. From there, we drove to Brimley State Park stopping off at some picnic areas and a visitors’ centre, to get the second last stamp on my Admiral’s form – only one left to get!
Luckily, the site at Brimley had opened that day so we quickly set up and the stormy cold weather meant we were stuck in the van for the evening. In the morning we found, to our surprise, that it had snowed overnight. However, there was only a light dusting at the campsite and on the roads as we moved further towards Canada.

We crossed the bridge over St Marys River (yes, there’s no apostrophe!) which took us across the border into Canada and Sault Ste Marie. The border crossing was without incident and we stopped soon after at the visitors’ centre where I got my very last stamp on my form. The completed Admiral’s form signified a completed circle tour around the great Lake Superior!

We joined back onto the familiar Highway 17 and headed south towards Parry Sound. As we drove, snow began to fall again and I couldn’t help thinking that we’d be renouncing the RV for a car and living in our tent in the wilderness in about a week’s time. We were going to freeze!

We drove almost five hundred kilometres that day, arriving at the KOA site in Parry Sound in the early evening. No-one was around at the reception but there were instructions to hook up and pay the next morning, so that’s what we did. We had tea and then took Tala for a short walk on one of the trails which led from the back of the site through the chilly white woods.

In the morning, the snow had disappeared and we were in no rush to leave because we planned to drive only a short journey which would take us back to the outskirts of Algonquin Park. We had bacon sandwiches, paid for our overnight stay and then took Tala into the woods before heading off.

A couple of hours later, we pulled into Algonquin Trails Camping Resort in the Lake of Bays half way between Hunstville and the entrance to the park. For us, this was where the real adventure was to begin.