Day 2 - Sudbury to Thunder Bay

I do like travelling but it is definitely tiring.  We were up early and ready to leave the hotel in Sudbury before 7:00.  Ron started off driving since it was still dark.  

As it started to brighten up, fog hung over the trees and in the fields.  

There were still lots of maple trees which caused our journey to continue to be what we were looking for.

We stopped in Sault Ste Marie later in the morning for gas and picked up lunch.  I took over the wheel as we drove along Lake Superior.  The shoreline was gorgeous.  

The slightly curvy road around huge rocks along the lake gave us another beautiful day of scenery. We stopped to eat our sandwiches at a nice lookout.

We stopped in Wawa to take a picture of the goose. Fun fact… the goose is 60 years old and is made of steel.  I happen to be half Steele and am also 60 years old and have been called a silly goose. 

We continued down the highway and were getting a little tired but our goal was to get to Thunder Bay.  As our exhaustion settled in, our minds turned to Terry Fox who had to stop his journey in Thunder Bay in 1981.  

By the time that Terry had arrived in Thunder Bay, he had run 5,324 kilometres.  This young man died at age 22 but his desire to raise money for cancer continues to this day.  

Before we left the trailer, the kids were doing the Terry Fox Run at school.  Emma had read to us the information that she knew about Terry Fox. His run started and ended before Ron and I were even married and now our grandchildren know about his Marathon of Hope.  

We finally rolled into our hotel and ordered a pizza for a late supper.  Time to sleep and get ready for another day of travel.

What’s Been Happening?

Our house has been getting some more attention but still no offers.  It sure would be nice to have it sell before we go home and mess it up.  The weeks have been flying by while we hang out at the lake.  We have been all over.  On Sunday, we went to the Sharbot Lake church where we pastored for 8 years.  Abby was with us and we came back to the trailer to kayak and swim.

Monday - we got going early to drop Abby off at school and then we toured around the Thousand Island Parkway and enjoyed the weather and the views.  

We had a visit in the afternoon with old friends from the first church that we pastored.  Ralph and Diane served us coffee/tea and cheesecake and then sent us home with their own maple syrup.

Tuesday - Ron and I drove to where my dad had a hunting camp for years.  

We walked all over reminiscing and looking for trails that had grown up lots.  

After about 20,000 steps, we found our way back to the car.

Wednesday - Ron and I went in different directions.  He went to Ottawa to visit with his uncle and cousins.  I went with Jenn and had a visit with Ron’s cousin, Kathy.  She has a little shop with lots of great things.  Jenn bought a pair of shoes and I splurged and bought new sandals and blundstone boots.  

An old friend, Thelma had us over for a delicious lunch.  We share the same birthday and it was really nice to see her and Rick.

Thursday - we took Sarah to the hospital to get her wrist checked.  She had hurt it in basketball and needed a doctor’s note in order to play in the games on Friday.  After over 7 hours of waiting, X-rays, and more waiting she received a cast instead of a note.  The poor girl was devastated at having to miss the games and more.  The orthopaedic nurse gave her a choice of cutting her shirt or a hospital gown.  Sarah was horrified at the thought of a lululemon shirt being destroyed and so she was rocking the hositpal gown.

Today - we were up bright and early to drop the newly casted girl off at high school.  She’s a tough one.  We then drove down to Prince Edward Country.  It’s always a treat to cross on the ferry.  

The beaches in the provincial park are so beautiful and we enjoyed walking in the sand.

We have had such amazing weather for September.  We are hoping to stay at least one more week before making our way back to alberta where the snow could fly anytime.

Surprise!

We had tried to surprise our grandkids when we came but it turns out that the surprise was on us!  Before we left Alberta, Jenn had told us about a birthday surprise for a man that had been in our first church.  The date was September 16th. I marked it on our calendar with anticipation of seeing and visiting with old friends.  On Friday, Jenn sent me the invitation.

WHAT???

It wasn’t for Bruce.  The party was for us.  She had gotten worried that we might make other plans or show up late and thought she should spring the surprise on us a day early.  On Saturday, we drove to Gananoque looking forward to seeing our church friends there.  When we walked in the door, our eyes shot around the room.  

There were people from all three churches that we had pastored.  

There were other friends and family.  

Ron and I went in separate directions greeting people that we hadn’t seen for years.

 Jenn had done a great job getting so many people together to celebrate with us.  She had a little help from her friends!

It really felt like we had come home.

We felt so blessed to see so many friends and shocked by the number of celebration cards, gift cards and gifts.  

Peace

Words can’t truly express the feeling I have sitting beside a lake.  

There is something so calming about a gentle breeze that slightly ripples the water. After nine days of being on the go, Ron and I have had two whole days of time around the trailer.  Today was the best.  It was a cool morning but that didn’t stop Ron from building a fire for us.  

We enjoyed our coffee while soaking in the heat.  We toasted our bread on the campfire.  It tastes so much better than having it just pop out of the toaster.  I then went for a walk down a beautiful country road.  

The sounds of crickets and birds singing was about the only noise I heard.  The leaves are starting to turn colours but I know that there is much more beauty to be revealed.

Ron went for a jog along the same road. The day warmed up and we took the kayaks out for a paddle.  We went further than we planned and made it to the end of the lake.  On our way back to the dock, we stopped at the beach and went swimming.  It’s unbelievable to us that the lake can be so warm this far into September.

I feel like I’m breathing deeper and sighing more.  We are loving our getaway.