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July 1 We left Toronto mid-afternoon, made a dinner stop in Parry Sound and then drove through to the Pine Grove Motel in Sault Ste. Marie. Nice drive, mostly sunny other than some showers after Sudbury
July 2 Left the Soo at 10:30, stopped to check out the pictographs at Agawa Rock, beautiful day, Lake Superior looks fantastic as always. We stopped in Wawa for lunch, Thunder Bay for dinner. Continuing into the night we stopped just east of Dryden at Aaron Lake Provincial Park around 1:30am.
July 3 Slept in, left the park at 11:15, stop in Dryden for Tim's and Crappy Tire shopping. Into the dull stuff now, once you leave Ontario the highway is pretty boring. We took a diversion into downtown Winnipeg to visit an old friend. Went out for Mexican Food in Osborne Village then back on the road for the truly dull ride North on Hwy 6. We got as far as Ashern where we pulled into the somewhat dumpy Interlake Motel.
July 4 We had a massive breakfast at the gas station; at 11:00 we were back on the road heading north. The plan was to camp out at Point Lake Campground a bit south of town and then spend one night in Thompson at the Northern Lights B&B. A surprise was in store, seems the entire population of Thompson were spending the weekend at the campground, absolutely nothing available! A quick call to the B&B and we were able to move things up a day. We checked in and then rushed out to the mall to get extra batteries and a few additional fresh food items. We "enjoyed" a mediocre meal of Chinese food and then back to do a bit of sorting out of gear.
July 5 Since we had arrived in Thompson a day early there was no rush to get to South Indian Lake. I called Bruce Tate my contact in S.I.L., everything is set for tomorrow and we can camp out tonight near the boat. We had breakfast and were on our way at 10:30, the road to Leaf Rapids starts off and ends with paved sections. In between it's good gravel, we see one grader and one culvert repair gang. It's 225 km to Leaf Rapids; we visit the one main building (offices, stores, health center, bar, hotel) this is circled by a few streets of small houses. This town has nearly gone dead since the closing of the local mine. We topped up the gas tank and headed along the 95km road to S.I.L., I asked for Bruce at the cable ferry, he is called and a few minutes later arrived in his truck. We greet and drive to Kelly Baker's house. Kelly has the boat and will be taking us up to the end of the lake. The boat looks a bit small but certainly good enough. The trip is expected to be about 2½ hours. We set up camp down by the dock just as the rain starts. Slightly heavy at times it continues while we settle in. The bugs have now started in earnest, lots of mosquitoes, not particularly vicious but plenty annoying. Just a little taste of what is to come!
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