2016 Road Trip: Lake Superior Circle Tour - Days 10 & 11 - Heading to the Sault

Days 10 & 11

Heading to the Sault

Goodbye Wawa!

Memories:

Gordon: Bathtub Island; watching the 3D Fire movie. Twice. (Possibly sleeping during the second showing.)

Therese: The cool, refreshing pool at the KOA. Hiking through the “Amazon” canyon; Drinking coffee out of my Wawa mug and eating pancakes with Wawa blueberries.

Danny: Doing memories. (So meta!) Doing the backstroke in the KOA pool. Saw a duck swimming in the locks. Dinner at the Poutine place.

Grace: Seeing a seagull up close. Reciting “O for a Muse of Fire” in the acoustic amiptheater at the Sault Marina.

“The Sault”

Everyone referred to Sault Ste Marie as “The Sault” or as it’s pronounced: “The Soo.” Inquiring minds wondered about this. “Sault” is an old, obsolete French/Canadian/First Nation word meaning “Big Jump.” Back in the early days, the First Nation people would jump the smaller, but rapid river running between lake Michigan and Huron. So the reference to this place where the two great lakes converge is: The Jump.

We left Wawa wondering if we would see anything as beautiful on our drive to the Sault. We planned on making one quick stop at a beach and then pushing south. As always, and as always with great results, a lengthy conversation with a local resulted in very worthwhile delays.

The first half of the drive took us through a big provincial park with many designations. A day pass allowed us to stop anywhere we wished.

Our first stop was Katharine Bay. We had heard this was a nice warm beach with shallow, clear water. As a bonus, there was a small, sand trench just before the beach where water from a tidal pool must flow when the waves are high. We could see sedimentary deposits along the sand walls of this little chasm: a mini representation of the geological formation of sandstone.

The kids played and played and played. I took numerous pictures and oohed and aahhed over numerous sand structures. The sand at this beach was by far the finest and the warmest.

This seagull walked right up to Grace

As we were leaving, we passed a family cooking out on the beach. I was riveted by the griddle attachment to their Coleman Stove. I was also impressed at the delicious fare of chicken and grilled vegetables. We got to talking and the dad told us about a secret beach on the other side of the bay just about a quarter mile from where we were. The beach is not on any map but has been declared one of the hidden jewels of the shoreline. We were also invited to share in the delicious lunch. But since we didn’t have time to explore and eat, we opted for adventure. These kind strangers will never know that we followed their directions and got to visit this special place.

After walking to the secret beach, we rolled up our shorts and walked out to Bathtub Island. No pictures can describe how beautiful it was, but I took a bunch anyway. The water was warm and everything felt so safe and shallow. The other side of the island was deep enough to dive off, but we avoided that area. The center of the island was fed by a small inlet from the lake and was very warm. There were many scuba divers in the area as the water was extremely clear.

The shallows on the way to Bathtub Island

On the island: in the bathtub

Heading back up the secret path from the secret beach

We had one more stop to make before heading to our destination. We wanted to stop at Agawa Canyon and see the Pictographs. We had heard mixed reports on how accessible these were. Some guide books warned about the dangers of being swept into the lake off the slippery rocks. However, we were assured that there were chains in the rock walls that we could hang onto and if the waters were calm, there was nothing to worry about. So off we went. The climb down wasn’t necessarily dangerous, but it was rocky and steep. At the bottom of our hike, we reached an incredible chasm that was humid, very cool and very narrow. It reminded us of something that could be found in the Amazon or perhaps a Mayan Village.

Once we made it through the chasm, we headed to another steep climb out to the rocky cliffside with the Pictographs. The climb up was a bit treacherous. There was a guide just before the walk out to the Pictographs. The first two were visible by hanging onto the chain and walking out on the rocks. The remaining specimens required a walk without railings along the rocks. I wouldn’t let Danny go any further and he was pretty angry with me. I don’t doubt his surefootedness, but as I explained to him later, my job is to keep him safe from unexpected problems. I was not a popular mother in that moment.

The view from the Pictograph site

After this harrowing adventure, it was time to head to the Sault. We arrived at our first KOA of the trip and the kids were thrilled to discover that our site was nestled between the playground and the pool. Both were just steps away. Gordon and I were pleased to discover that the showers were cleaner than most hotels we’ve stayed at. The shower heads were about 12 inches in diameter and mounted from the ceiling so showering was like standing in a blissful, warm rain shower.

Speaking of which, rain was forecast for most of our stay. Because we had been burned in Thunder Bay, we purchased an ample tarp and put it up just in case. Naturally, that was all it took to guarantee that little more than showers arrived at our campsite.

The following day was a day for exploring the area. Because we thought it was going to rain, we planned a mostly indoor day.

We stopped at the Marina for lunch. We ate under the canopy of an amphitheater with excellent echoes. We also discovered that while loud noises had echos, spoken words were audible all the way in the back of the theater. Grace tested this out by reciting from Shakespeare.

We headed to the Bushplane museum which was quite informative. We learned about the Bush Planes piloted by pilots in remote areas of Canada. We also learned how these planes are used to scoop water from the lake and dump it on forest fires. Many of the restored planes were accessible and open for exploration. Unfortunately the flight simulator was not working, but several airplane video games were open for business in the children’s section of the museum. As you can imagine, we had a bit of trouble dragging our screen-deprived children from this exhibit.

We enjoyed a couple moves about Bush Planes and Fire Planes. Both had some cool interactive features.

After exploring the museum, we headed to the Canadian Locks. Unfortunately they were not working, but we still got to see how they would work. We also got a great recommendation for Poutine, an Ontario speciality of fries (chips), gravy and other enhancements.

The Poutine restaurant which was pretty much a hole in the wall, provided us with an excellent dinner and extremely decadent Bacon Cheeseburger Poutine. The waitress was perfect. She pretty much ordered us to order things a certain way and her advice paid off with deliciousness.

We rolled back to our spic and span campsite for a quiet night’s sleep before the big surprise the next day.

I should add that ironically, in this most civilized of campsites, we were required to be “bear aware.” All food needed to be stored in the car or thrown away. This was the first campsite on our trip where we couldn’t keep anything edible, even toothpaste, in the tent.

2016 Road Trip: Lake Superior Circle Tour - Days 8 & 9: Rest and Relaxation

Days 8 and 9: R&R

Gitchee-Gami Totem Pole

Memories:

Danny: Really good dinner from the restaurant in Wawa; soaked to the chin in freezing lake water at Sandy Beach with one dry patch of t-shirt on my shoulder; restaurant that had no foot long hot dogs

Grace: Went to a beach that actually had sand; sleeping in the dome; grasshopper jumping on me

Therese: Saw one meteor; lots of conversations with people at the lodge

Gordon: Noisy family next door in the motel; saw lots of meteors at 2:00 am in Wawa

It’s hard to believe we’ve been out for a week!

The first experience on Saturday morning was listening to the family next door leave around 4:30 in the morning. Their kids had been loud and bumpy in the room but that really doesn’t phase us as we’ve been there, done that. However, everyone was at top volume in the morning while packing. The kids were running around, the parents were yelling at their kids and yelling packing instructions. It went on forever. After that, it was hard to get back to sleep.

Later that morning we said goodbye to the very helpful and kind owners of the motel at Terrace Bay. Before we left, they gave us directions to a secret pebble beach just down the road from their property. We decided to check it out.

We followed the directions down a seemingly endless gravel road (note: in the future, this would be one of the smaller gravel roads we traversed.) We were told to park at the end of the road and then walk across the railroad tracks and follow a path that led to the beach. There was no one around and the path did not seem to be leading to a beach. Just when we thought we were in the wrong spot, we broke through the trees to an endless span of completely deserted beach. The pebbles ranged from pea and grape sized pebbles closest to the shore to golf ball and orange sized at the far point from the shore. They made a wonderful sound underfoot and we couldn’t help but fill our pockets with more rocks.

Heading out to the Pebble Beach

We stopped in Marathon, the last stop on the top of the lake, at the visitor’s center and were given a list of things to see in Wawa and points further. We learned that the reason the highway veers inland after Marathon and continues until Wawa is because the high rocky cliffs have so many chasms and canyons from their geological formation that it would have required 27 bridges over about 100 miles to complete the project. We also stopped at the only cafe in town for a late lunch. The kids were excited about the “foot longs”. Gordon and I not so excited at the $12.99 price tag. The waitress solved all our problems when she explained that the foot-long referred to upgrading the sub sandwiches. The hot dogs were regular sized and $3.99. Whew! A couple cups of coffee later, we were off to Wawa.

View from the rest stop in Marathon

Rest Stop Wisdom

We made one more quick stop based on the recommendation of the motel owners. White River, Ontario is the home of Winnie the Pooh. Someone purchased a bear cub from this city and eventually donated it to the London Zoo. The bear was named "Winnie" short for Winnipeg. A.A. Milne frequently visited this zoo with his son, Christopher Robin who couldn't pronounce "bear" at the time and called the bear at the zoo Winnie the Pooh. There you have it!

We arrived in Wawa and headed to the “General Store” which looked pretty cool in the information I researched. Kind of like a mini-Wall Drug Store of Wawa Ontario. It may well have been, but the place was packed with people who were in town for the drag races. It was hard to browse among hoards of leather jackets. Their summer sausage is supposed to be outstanding and so is the fudge and big dill pickle from a barrel. But we left without anything except two frustrated kids who wanted ice-cream but didn’t care for any of the flavors. The next stop was the grocery store. I had a planned dinner already stocked in my camp pantry but the sight of instant food was too appealing. Chicken tenders were on sale, they were warm and they smelled delicious. The guy gave me way more than advertised for the same price so I returned to the car with warm chicken, brie cheese, crackers and beer. Oh - wait! No beer, you can’t buy beer at the grocery store in Canada. In fact, you can’t buy it at the liquor store because such a thing doesn’t exist. We learned that beer, wine and spirits sales are run by the government. The stores are clinical and often low on stock. We went to “The Beer Store”. A limited supply of cans are available. Customers can also use the computer kiosk to search for available beers and order them. They are then delivered on a conveyor belt to the cash register. I asked for some help picking a regional brew for the campsite. Fast forward to dinner - the beer was mediocre at best: pretty much Miller in a fancier can.

We arrived at the Lodge and what seemed at first sight to be a beautiful place just got better and better as time went on. I was a little disconcerted at first because things seemed to be pretty loose and unstructured. Dinner was being cooked when we arrived and there was no one to take us to our site. We were on our own to get settled in. The site was a cool geodesic dome tent. The inside was lined with a string of tiny lights and included a number of battery operated candles. We all had air mattresses so no need to unpack the tent or tent pads. We laid out our picnic dinner and to our surprise, after all the feasting, the huge box of chicken was reduced to just two pieces. A few visits to the main lodge area made us more comfortable with the laid back style and we soon had everything we needed.

We started our fire and waited for the arrival of Andrea and her family. This was something I’d been waiting for since the beginning of our vacation. Serendipitously, the first conversations Andrea and I have had in probably about a year included me talking endlessly about our trip. She and Terry were looking for a five day get-away and my description of the Lodge seemed to fit what they were looking for. For whatever reason, the Lodge which usually fills up months in advance had a room for just the time they were looking for. So our visits were to overlap by two days. Two whole days! We’ve been trying to have coffee for over a year and finally accomplished this by meeting in Ontario! 

The Shaker Check family arrived and met us down at the campsite. We all got to mutually admire each other’s children. Luca and Iris are now young adults who can hold their own in adult conversations about world views and local politics. Luca also has a pretty wicked sense of humor and Iris is so well informed and self assured. And of course, none of our kids turned down toasted marshmallows!

We all headed to our respective beds with sugar and good conversation in abundance.

Then came the air mattress nightmare. I learned several years ago at a friend’s house that air mattresses are just about the worst thing to sleep on on a chilly night. The cold air not only circulates over the body, but under it as well. There is no opportunity to build up a layer of heat insulation. The night was chilly and just as I had discovered years ago, our beds were freezing. I put a blanket under my sleeping bag but was still freezing and got very little sleep. The next morning at breakfast I mentioned it to the owner of the place and he was very attentive and said they were still trying to find just the right set-up for the dome. I was able to get some foam sleeping bag pads which did the trick for the following night.

Breakfast was a wonderful occasion. All meals are served at a community table and we were able to meet many of the guests and hear many stories of water adventures. Andrea and I chuckled over the fact that there were so many interesting people that we STILL weren’t getting time to chat!

We had a leisurely morning watching Andrea’s family get a kayak lesson. I’d highly recommend this place for their outdoor adventures which is their speciality. Training was thorough and the group looked like they were having a great time. We had other plans, however, which involved doing very little.

We headed to Magpie High Falls to see a beautiful waterfall. Our original plans were to hike the 5K to the next falls over but kids are awfully hard to drag somewhere they don’t want to go. So instead we drive to a nearby wild blueberry farm and purchased some delicious berries. Like everyone we met on the shore of the lake, we were treated to wonderful conversation and information about the job of berry picking from the student working there.

We returned just in time to see Andrea and family coming off the water from their kayaking lesson. A quick lunch and it was off to more paddling for them and more of not much at all for us. We headed to Sandy Beach and spent several hours watching the kids play in the sand. We brought books to read but once the kids were near the water I couldn’t really focus on reading. I’m probably about 20 pages into the book I brought on this trip! We laughed over the kids who started out squealing over the cold temperatures and ended up neck deep in chilly Lake Superior water.

I never tire of taking kid/beach pictures!

The two families had originally planned on cooking together at the campsite but different schedules made that tricky. So we planned to stop at one of the “Chip Stands” for Poutine, a regionally famous fries and gravy and anything else you can think of to add. But different tastes made that tricky so we settled on a recommendation of the lodge staff of a place that had a fusion of Caribbean, indian and Italian food. We’re still having shell shock over Canadian prices. The US dollar is nearly 25% up on the Canadian dollar. But prices here would be high, anyway. Our meal was $105 - yikes! That was before the tip! We brought it back to our campsite and ate every bite. Delicious! I ordered the whitefish which was a food on my list while on Superior.

One more night with Andrea and her family. We gathered around the fire and chatted, kids and adults. Danny remembered the mystical fire packets - the packets that turn the fire different colors - so we added that to our fire and laughed about how the next people to have a fire on the beach would marvel at the mysterious colors since the packet often has a bit of residual color.

A late goodnight and we were off to our now toasty beds in the magical dome. The wind had picked up and we fell asleep to the lapping of waves on the shore 20 feet from our tent.

Oh yeah - somewhere during all that time I saw one meteor streak across the sky.

One last sunset