Days Twenty-five and Twenty-six – Kenora to Thunder Bay Ontario

Needing to put some distance under our butts we decided to spend a couple days making good speed towards Toronto and Niagara Falls Ontario before heading on to Ottawa. We would leave Kenora in the early afternoon after exploring the town and some of the Lake of the Woods. Traveling these distances sure reminds you of just how big Canada really is.

Obviously with the shear size of the Lake of the Woods seeing much of it was a challenge. That challenge of course was compounded by the time of year we were visiting. As it was outside of tourist season some of the hotels and motels were closed. Many of the shops and restaurants were also closed up for the season. Worse still, many of the more tourist type things to do were also closed down so that left our choices of things to do very limited to say the least. We decided to simply walk around the town, visit a park on the waterfront and to try to drive the most scenic drive we could find.

We stopped for that quintessential Canadian breakfast at Tim Hortons on Lakeview Drive where we noticed a park close by. We drove to the park with our drive-through breakfast and overlooked the lake and park. It wasn’t more than a couple minutes being there that two deer walked no more than 25 meters away in front of the car. They stopped and grazed hardly taking notice of us. Tyler got out of the car and was able to slowly approach closer to them for some fantastic photos. It was obvious this pair had seen curious people before. This made for a nice start to the day.

We finished up our breakfast and drove a route around the lake as much as possible as we headed further East in Canada towards our goal for the day – Thunder Bay. On the way to Thunder Bay we saw a fully grown female moose slowly making her way across the highway. As we approached closer in the car she gathered speed and ran off into the bushes before Catherine could snap any photos of her.

We arrived in Thunder Bay in the early evening and took a hotel room. We made plans for the next day. Once again needing to catch up on the basic necessities of life and for the travels we were undertaking we decided to make much of the next day a – get’er done day. We woke up a bit late after needing a good night’s sleep and headed off into Thunder Bay to do our laundry, get an oil change on the car, a car wash and of course another helping of Tim Hortons. Pretty boring stuff that, but if you undertake a long trip as we did you will find you will need these days maybe more than you would like. They eat up much of your time and take away from visiting attractions and the like, so plan accordingly.

With everything done we headed back onto the road with our route planned to take us along Lake Superior as much as possible. This is a great route to take as it affords a nice scenic drive without heavy traffic. There are things to see along the way such as the Terry Fox monument on Hwy 11 on the eastern edge of Thunder Bay. This bronze statue of Terry Fox stands 9 feet tall and is placed on a 45-ton granite base. There is a welcome centre at the location with more information about Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope.

The continued drive alongside Lake Superior gave us ample stopping places for photos and we even found Katherine’s Cove which of course Catherine really enjoyed. The beach here was beautiful and it was surprisingly warm for the time of year. We were able to wear short-sleeved shirts and spend time on the open beach next to the water without feeling cold at all. Best part was we were the only people there! What a beautiful place to stop and relax after many hours driving!

Our day’s journey ended in Marathon Ontario which we thought was pretty apt considering we had seen the Terry Fox monument earlier in the day. Sadly our great day was about to ruined completely…

Tyler says of days 25 and 26 – Having always heard about Lake of the Woods it was great to see it with my own eyes. It must be a special place in the summer though you can tell it would be more than a bit busy! Being there when we were afforded us much quiet time and parks and beaches to ourselves. Tears welled up in my eyes seeing the Terry Fox monument. I was but a child when Terry undertook his marathon that captured the attention of every Canadian young and old. It’s hard to forget something as touching as that, and I can remember clearly hearing that he had passed on. Terry Fox was a true Canadian hero and an inspiration to those fighting cancer around the world – even today.

Catherine says of days 25 and 26 – Kenora was a welcome surprise because of the Lake of the Woods, but it would be better to be there in the summer season. Visiting the Terry Fox monument allowed me to learn more about his courageous Marathon of Hope for cancer research. I really enjoyed a lot Katerine’s Cove. Being there in mid-October was special because we were the only people there so enjoying it was that much easier.