Photo Op after Photo Op

So I slept in the car last night.  Oh, don’t stress or anything, the humans all slept in a hotel, where I’m sure they were very comfy.  Snap tried to console me this morning, saying I had the whole van to myself, but I know the truth… they forgot me!  Sigh.

Our first stop of the day was less than a five minute drive from the hotel.  Holy Cow Dairy has a beautiful statue of a pile of cows that we just had to see, and take photos at, of course. Then we headed up the highway for about 40 minutes to the half-way point of the trans-Canada highway (boring info alert - trans-Canada highway is 7,821 km (4,860 miles) long, from Victoria, BC to St. John’s, NF).  The plaque was at Chippewa Falls rest stop, so naturally, we had to check out the falls (they looked very similar to Sauble Falls).  The next two stops were two different provincial parks about fifteen minutes up the road, and maybe 10 minutes from each other.  We literally parked by the signs, took the required photo and jumped back in the van to the next one.  Weird behaviour to be sure. 

The are eating pancakes, in case you’re curious!

Another fifteen minutes up the road and we finally arrived at the main focus of the day, Lake Superior Provincial Park.  The views as we drove along this route were breathtaking, and Clare was right all those years ago when she said driving in Newfoundland reminded her of Northern Ontario.  It is very similar.  We started our exploration of this massive park at the Visitors Centre, checking our their exhibits and gift shop (naturally - do I need to keep rehashing this need for trinkets every where we go?).

Five minutes further up the highway we were out of the car again and on our first hike, and for those who remember me questioning the difference between a walk and a hike earlier this month, I definitely did found out here.  We went half the distance that we covered in Earle Row park a month ago, but it took us twice as long!  It was steep!  Now, for those who have been following my journeys from the beginning, this was nothing compared to my climb up Huyana Picchu in Peru (ok ok Clare’s climb, my ride), but it was definitely a climb (down) in spots.  Why this hike then, you may ask?  Well, we had to check out the ancient pictographs on the side of the cliffs along the shores, painted hundreds of years ago.  Yup, worth the work to get down there, and then back up.

Up, up and… up!

A very sweaty team then climbed back into the van and drove another 45 minutes up the highway (still in the same park mind you) to have a picnic at the beach, and find out just how cold Lake Superior really is (feet only).  After some discussion Clare and Pop chose to stay at the beach and do puzzles while listening to the sounds of Lake Superior, while Robin, Snap and Crackle ventured off to the Nokomis Trail, touted on the website as one of the top five day hikes in Canada.  I chose team hikers!

Nokomis trail has a 620 foot elevation change.  Not quite Huyana Picchu but pretty close!  The sign at the head of the trail said to give yourself 2-3 hours to complete it.  It took us about 2 and a quarter.  Was it worth it?  Yup!  Totally amazing view from the top (and that beach you can see way down in the background, somewhere down there are Clare and Pop!)

I am often amazed by you humans and your need for your phones to connect to the world.  Granted, I need connections too or you’d never get to read my blog, but today I saw a whole new level of needed connection (Clare says “welcome to teenagers”).  They seemed genuinely stressed when we went through a number of dead-zones where there was no signal at all.  They were distressed further when they couldn’t Google the answer to a crossword they were trying to solve in the car.  Then, while at the highest point on the Nokomis Trail, they suddenly had service, and sat down to send messages.  I actually laughed at that one!

With the team all back together, we headed to our hotel, a mere 10 minutes up the highway.  There had been plans for a grocery run, but apparently that closed at 6pm, and the Tim Hortons closed at 3pm - yes - on a Saturday.  The hotel owner just smiled at Clare and said “Welcome to Wawa… Subway is open though”. Subway for dinner it is!

A quick unpacking of the van and change into official Girl Guide uniforms, and into town we went, where Snap was finally enrolled as a Ranger (usually done within the first few months of their first year, Snap held out for the last week of their third year JUST to get enrolled by the giant Canada Goose statue in Wawa.  Hey, whatever floats your boat.

“I promise…”

After yet another photo shoot at the giant Goose, we headed into Wawa only to find two more goos statues and a moose.  We stopped at every single one, jumped out looking very fancy in our matching uniforms, took photos, jumped back in and drove across the road to the next one.  This was a very odd behaviour that occurred many times today, leaving me a bit baffled and very amused.  It’s not like I don’t like a good photo op!

On a side note, if you’re still here after a somewhat less entertaining blog entry, this is quite the crew I’ve paired up with.  Puns seemed to be the game of the day… I’m not sure if it was the excitement of being on the second day of their trip, or the lack of sleep, but they were just filled with giggly quips all along the drive.  A few of my favourites…

Passing through the many bays: “they are bay-utiful”

On the Nakomis trail there were large fields of lichen: “we are likin’ the lichen”

In Wawa: “Wawa (whywhy) did the Rangers cross the road?  To get to the other goose?”

And finally, I have to share my favourite photo of the day.  Snap, Crackle and Robin were attempting to use the auto-timer on a phone to take a group shot of the three of them.  It kept going off at the wrong time, or not go off, and then one would move in to check on it, and it would take a pic.  This was my best of them, you can see Robin and Snap just loosing it in the background!

Whatever!