Oh Canada!

Correction to the last blog: Ironwood, MI is on the border with Wisconsin, not Minnesota.

Since our plans were changed with the detours, we went a little farther into MI than Marquette and ended up at a KOA park in Newberry. Since we were only staying one night they only had a 30 amp site for us. The outlet didn't work very well and our a/c wouldn't run. They tried to tell us it was our equipment, but it had worked the day before so we knew it wasn't. The site was pretty strange with hookups near the front of the rig instead near the back so we had to use two hoses to reach the water faucet and two electrical cords.

                   

Newberry KOA, MI

 Fortunately the weather was mild enough that we only needed a small fan to move the air in the bedroom to sleep that night. They did have a laundry room and I managed to get four loads done as planned.

From Newberry, MI we headed toward Sault St. Marie (they call it 'Soo') and Canada. We decided we should stop at a WalMart on the Michigan side because we didn't know what prices on food would be in Canada. It started raining while we were in the store so it was a mad dash back to the RV with no coats. Bruce thought he could just turn around where we were, but, no, we had to disconnect the jeep again so we could back up a few times. We are getting good at that! Turns out that the exchange rate is in our favor right now so we get 25% more for the US $.

The bridge into Canada was $16.40, including the jeep, and the backup to get across and through Customs was pretty long. I tried to take pics from the coach but since it was cloudy outside, they didn't come out too well. There was one ship in the locks and a cruise ship docked across the bay.

  When we got to the port of entry we were asked if we had any guns, or liquor. We told them no on the guns and yes for wine. The agent told us we were only allowed 2 bottles per person and since we had a case on hand, we better return with 8. Huh? He told us we would have to pay customs on it going back into the states. I'm not sure that's true, but I doubt if there will be that much left to declare when we return. He didn't even ask us about the dogs so I'm thinking we really didn't need the certificate from the vet stating they had all their shots and were healthy.



Our first campground in Canada was at Chutes Provincial Park in Massey, Ontario. Provincial parks are like our state parks with few hookups.

We didn't realize there was no water hookup until we had gotten the rig into the site, which was no easy feat. Thinking we had enough in the coach, we didn't bother to go get it filled up. That was a mistake...we didn't have enough for even a day. There were outhouses nearby and a spigot for fresh water pretty close so we made do with what we had. The shower house was a short walk down the road and it was pretty nice. There were individual rooms instead of stalls you see at most parks and plenty of water for no fee. It was nicer than the RV showers as far as roominess goes. Chutes has a rapids that lead to a crashing waterfall and beach on the River aux Sables and some pretty trails to walk the dogs.

We thought for a while we had an alternator problem as alarms were going off and lights on the dash were flashing that hadn't been on before. One was an alternator indicator that we thought was saying the alternator wasn't working properly. After many calls to RV repairmen, truck repairmen, and even a repairman back in California, and thinking we would be stuck for about a week waiting for a replacement alternator, Bruce figured that the alarms were supposed to have been going on when the air pressure was low before, but just hadn't. Why they are now, we don't know. But they stop when the pressure is where it should be for driving. It's very disconcerting when alarms sound with no reasonable explanation and it's a Friday afternoon at 4 p,m, and most of the repair places are closing or closed. Another lesson about the motorhome learned!

 

We had planned on going to Niagara Falls next, but as we started calling parks in the vicinity we found nothing available until after the weekend. Since we were leaving Chutes on Saturday (our reservation was up) we had to look farther away from the Toronto area to find another spot to camp.

                   

  
What's a milk bag?

We drove around the area a bit on Friday to see the sites and found a little community on Lake Huron called Little Current with a cute little marina and fish and chips place.

                  

 Little Current

Then we stopped at Long Lake off the road a few km. There are literally thousands of lakes in this province.

We opted for North Bay on Lake Nippissing, just east of Sudbury, Ontario and still north of Toronto. This park is kind of in a neighborhood but right on the lake.

                       

  

The lake is quite big but doesn't seem to be a tourist destination as there are no souvenier shops or big hotels. The campground appears to be quite old with some permanent trailers set up with cabanas attached for extra room. I think the owners come up on weekends and fish and stay in the RVs.

                      

  

As it turns out, August 1 is a Canadian Holiday that we didn't know about until we talked to some people at Chutes. Rick and Barb Eles came by often to chat and walk their black lab and we learned quite a bit about traveling in Canada from them. They live in nearby Sudbury and had taken a trip down old Route 66 in the US last year and had lots of experiences to talk about. Anyway, the big holiday is on a Monday this year so ALL the parks (read: EVERY campsite on this side of Canada) are full for that weekend as well. We were able to get a reservation near Niagara Falls for three days this next week and then we will return to the US until the holiday is done as there is no place available anywhere in Canada. We found a couple of spots and got our reservations made.

More later.