We had been fortunate not to run into any foul weather on our trip. Our luck ended around 4:30 AM at Happy Land. Lightning and Thunder pealed the sky. We struck that camp in three minutes. Tom got all of the food stuff and kitchen box. I took care of the tent.
I simply deflated the mattress and folded everything up like a big piece of paper. Once over and then again. It fit nicely in the back of the car. I figured we would let it dry out later, but Tom was a bit annoyed about my actions. Oh well.
It was early, and thankfully there was a Tim Hortons open. A few coffees and some Timbits (donut holes) and some local weather from the locals. "Rain" in unison.
It rained off and on all day. We got our first glimpse of Lake Superior at a rest stop along the way.
We let the dogs out to explore. Tom found lots of blueberries and started collecting them in his Tim Hortons coffee cup. They were a tasty snack as we headed back out on the road.
There were lots of small hills and mountains to go through. Not once, but twice, we saw a small bear cross the road. The first one, a brown bear, we were very excited to see. It was my first bear in real life outside of a cage. The next one, a black bear, we tried to get a picture, but simply were not fast enough.
We found another reserve of the Michipicoten First Nation. Another 20 k down the gravel road. We passed a beach area on Lake Superior. We drove down to the community but found no gas. The people were gathering for a feast of some sort, but we did not stay. Instead we went back to the lake and let the dogs out for a swim and a run.
Both of the dogs loved it. It was their first time in a vast "ocean" that did not taste of salt. We tossed some balls, although BuddyJack seemed to have lost his fairly quickly and I had to go back and get another.
We had lost a few balls along the way and the only one I could find was a bigger green ball which they had played with back in Paso Robles at Tom's sister's ranch. It was just a little to big for BuddyJack to get a grip, but with effort, he could just get it right to bring it back.
All was perfect for the dogs and us. The rain had held up nicely. Both Tom and I hopped into the lake and tossed the ball even more. Luther would swim out and get his. BuddyJack would swim for his, although because of the ball's size, he would bite at it and miss it. Bite. Miss. Bite. Miss.
This went on for quite some time until he could get it closer to shore and force it down into the sand and grab onto it. Then we would toss it out again. We laughed so hard watching him and his green ball.
We spent about an hour there. The dogs were tired and we had more miles to cover. We had no idea how many we would travel that day.
We hopped back into the car expecting to put on some miles, but BuddyJack was very insistent on getting back out of the car.
This was not common for BJ. He was licking his chops and whining. He had to go to the bathroom and bad! We stopped about 10 k up the road and I opened the door. BuddyJack ran out that car so fast. He found the closest tree and peed. And peed. And PEED! Literally, he peed for two minutes. It was almost comical how long it was.
It appears that while he was going after that green ball in the lake, he was swallowing lots of water.
We got back into the car and about an hour later, he started licking his chops again. We were in a more urban area at this point, so I pulled over to this muddy construction site and he finally relieved himself fully after a few minutes more.
We got a bite to eat at this local pizza joint and I got onto some wifi to check on timing and roads to Quebec. We had already been in Ontario a few days. Statewise, it was like traveling in Southern Texas. It just doesn't end.
We drove for quite some time. We had been up since before dawn and I was getting tired. Tom took over the driving and I took a nap. He drove through Sault Ste. Marie and continued on to North Bay. I woke up somewhere after that. I took a look at the gas gauge and we were almost out of gas. It was late and there were nothing but small towns coming up. The next largest town on our route was Mattawa. Hopefully they would have gas. We were right at the point that we would be stuck if we went forward or back. No mans land.
There was no gas in Mattawa, but there was a police station. To Protect and To Serve, right? I rang the phone that was on the outside of the building. A dispatch person somewhere picked up and I explained the situation to her. A few moments later, an officer came out and asked what pour problem was. I explained the gas problem. We had 100 k left in the tank and the next town was 100 k away, Deep River. The policeman let us know that there was gas in Deep River. With hope he was right, we traveled on.
We got to Deep River an hour later to find no gas station open. I stopped at the first one and tried my credit card in the slot. There were no locks on the pump, so maybe it would work. No such luck. We were stuck. No gas. No lodging. Wet tent folded up in the back. What do we do? Sleep in the car in the parking lot of PetroCanada.
This hasn't been the first time we have had to sleep in our car on a roadtrip. We have done it a few other times when the situation called for it. We don't have many pictures of this night as we also were quite "thunderous" towards each other.
I slept for a few hours. Tom, he says, not at all. About 5 AM I awoke and was the first person to fill up that day. It was a very quiet morning with very little talking. Not the best day of our journey.
Another Tim Hortons stop for coffee and we left for Ottawa.
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