Day 2: Wawa to Kenora

We are still in Ontario. We are getting quite bored with this province (it is HUGE). The drive from Wawa to Thunder Bay is beautiful, as you travel alongside the northern shore of Lake Superior. We did much of this in the dark, unfortunately (having left our motel room just before 5AM again). But as the sun rose, we got some beautiful views of the lake and surrounding rocks, once our car windows defrosted completely from the -31C temperature.

You may have heard on the news earlier in the week of a train derailment in northern Ontario (we did!). The Trans Canada Highway was closed for 2 days, after 22 cars derailed on tracks that run adjacent to the highway. Some of the cars contained propane. Fortunately for us, the highway opened in both directions this morning (it is the only way to get to Thunder Bay from Wawa, so we were VERY thankful). They were still working on cleanup and I was able to snap a picture of what we could see.

After grabbing some food in Thunder Bay, we made a quick stop into Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park. We have both wanted to see the falls since we heard of them, but we have never stopped in, as there is a faster route around Thunder Bay that we normally take. Today, with sunny skies and time on our side, we stopped in and snapped a few pictures. The falls are really neat when they are half frozen, but we could only imagine how beautiful they must be in the summer.

From Thunder Bay to Kenora is pretty straight and boring. It reminds us of driving on the 401, without the traffic to keep you company. We did follow an SUV for hours on end to moderate our speed, until they turned off into a Timmies in Dryden. Along this boring part of the drive, you pass 2 major milestones though: entering the Arctic Watershed and crossing into the Central Standard Timezone.

We arrived in Kenora just after 3PM (thank you, time change!) and checked into our hotel. We then hit up downtown Kenora for pizza at a local “Italian” restaurant (it was okay…). Next, we topped up our snack bag at Safeway and filled up with gas, so we are more than ready to hit the road for the final few kilometres of this province in the early AM. However, it looks like we will be up for a not-so-great drive into Manitoba… Snow, snow, and more snow is in the forecast (but warmer temps!).

Wildlife sightings: 1 moose silhouette (in the dark, early morning), 1 moose in the daylight, a magpie, TONS of crows, and 4 deer (1 trying to cross the road in downtown Kenora to get to the other side with her friends).