Northern Ontario 2023

 

Last week, I took a well-deserved road/camping trip with my father through Northern Ontario.

We started out at our family's cabin, spending a relaxing Sunday afternoon and night there before leaving Monday morning.

From Petawawa, we stopped in North Bay for lunch. Afterwards, we drove to Sudbury to spend the night. We checked into our hotel (the room had a surprisingly accessible washroom/shower), had supper, then drove around.

The one thing I wanted to do there was go to Science North and see the Big Nickel. I did both of those, but we found out that the Nickel had been moved to another location, so we went there that evening and looked around.

The next morning, we went to Science North proper. It was very similar to Ottawa's Science Museum.

The best thing about the museum was probably the building itself. The entire structure is built into the rock. 

To get from the entrance to the exhibits, you literally walk through an underground tunnel, with rods in place to measure the rock's movement! 

The exhibits were very kid-friendly, but still pretty fun. A lot of live animals like insects, with an entire floor of Ontario wildlife. There were frogs, a beaver pond with fish and a live beaver, a porcupine that was taken out for a walk (followed enthusiastically by a group of little kids)

We also saw a couple snakes, a live show about bats, and one very photogenic turtle.

Yo!

The other floors had exhibits about the human body and outer space. I found out that my grip strength sucks, crashed a simulated lunar lander and was disparaged by Richard Nixon, and learned that Sudbury was used for NASA training.

 Had a good lunch at Peppi Panini and drove to Sault St. Marie. We made it to Pancake Bay Provincial Park (AFTER a massive storm, thankfully), and set up camp. Nice site, but very cold (strange, given that I'm writing this only one week later during a 40+ Celsius heatwave!).

The next day, my father and I headed out for a day trip to Wawa. First stop was to Voyageur Lodge for some candied smoke trout and the Lodge's famous apple fritters. 

My parents had had them on a similar trip a couple years ago and have bragged about them ever since. They were delicious!

I also got this photo on the way out.

I'm an avid monster/cryptid enthusiast and, weird as it may sound, I can totally believe there's something like Sasquatch roaming somewhere out there around North Ontario, especially given the geography and amount of signs for moose and bear (neither of which I saw at all).

Anyway, we drove to Wawa, stopping at many of the lookouts, parks, and touristy spots along the way. Lots of nice beaches and quite a few "biggest" things.

The goose in Wawa

We drove back to the campground and went to the beach to watch the sunset.

After another cold and uncomfortable night, and thinking about the Labour Day weekend traffic we might face, we decided to pack up a day early and drove back to Sudbury. Best pizza, shower, and sleep I think I've ever had!

The next day, we met a leader of Clan MacLellan for breakfast and drove all the way home.

A couple little rough moments, but a great vacation overall.

Cheers!