#1 ... to enjoy one of our favorite Yooper delicacies, the Pasty. Gram's Pasties in Escanaba, Michigan promised to deliver an award-winning combination of beef, rutabaga, and carrot mixture seasoned with salt and pepper that is lovingly wrapped in a pastry crust and becomes the beloved Yooper sandwich. The pasty was the traditional food of early miners in the UP, and legend has it that if the crust was perfectly made, the pasty could be dropped down a mine shaft and not break open. Since this portable pie is fairly dry and very dense, it is often served with ketchup or gravy on the side. Pass me the gravy! Doug, on the other hand, is very content to eat it like the miners did in days gone by ... no fancy condiments needed.
#2 ... to enjoy some of the natural beauty that the UP is noted for. We made a stop at Tahquamenon Falls State Park which is famous for its waterfalls as well as hiking trails.
#3 ... great boondocking spots! After visiting Tahquamenon Falls, we found a quiet pull-off right on the shore of Lake Superior. It was wonderful to fall asleep to the sound of waves lapping up on the shore. The next morning we just opened our door, stepped out, and enjoyed a walk along the sandy shoreline.
#4 ... we had to visit ''the family road'' (even though we didn't know that it even existed). I just happened to catch a glimpse of the road sign as we drove through the back-roads of the UP on our way to Sault Ste Marie. Hey! That official-looking street sign has our name on it! Baby Beest made a U-turn for the photo op.
#5 ... to check out the Soo Locks at Sault Ste Marie. Connecting Lake Superior to Lake Huron, this engineering marvel allows ships over 1000 feet long to make their way from Duluth, Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean.
With our covid test results not back yet (it had only been 48 hours), we found another boondocking spot along the water front of Sault Ste Marie. It was Monday, and the border had just opened up to the Americans that morning. We could see the long lines of cars and trucks backed up on the International Bridge in the distance. As I sat looking across the water at Canada, I wondered if we would make our 72 hour deadline and be able to cross over the next day.
But wait a minute! Doug either got very ''lucky'' or the border guard was extra cautious after seeing our Florida address and license plates. But whatever the reason, Doug got ''randomly'' selected to submit another covid test. The instructions were a bit vague, but he managed to figure out how to connect to the tela-health app on his phone. After a half hour wait, he had a video chat with the Department of Health employee who walked him through the test. The next hurdle was to figure out how to get the completed test to the shipping company. ''Just call and give them your address,'' was the helpful advice that he received. Not sure what the shipping company are going to say when we tell them that we are in a van down by the river!
Fortunately, Google Maps came through once again. We were able to find a Purolator Shipping centre (different spelling as we are in Canada now, eh!) in town and were able to drop it off.
Such effort deserves a reward. First stop was to check out Canada's most famous fast food restaurant, Tim Hortons. This doughnut and coffee shop is all the rage in Canada with a shop appearing on just about every other block, I swear. While the doughnuts were OK and the coffee so-so, we're still not sure what to think about this Canadian cultural phenomenon.
It had been a long drive and a big effort to get us to the point where we could start to explore Canada. After a walk along the Sault Ste Marie, Ontario shoreline, Doug was rewarded again with Happy Hour at his first Canadian microbrewery ... and secured his first Canadian beer coaster.
O Canada! We have finally made it into the land of the red maple leaves. With no reservations and just day-to-day planning, we spent our first week driving east through the province of Ontario and into Quebec. Highlights of our first week in Canada include ...
... hiking and camping at our first provincial park (equivalent to a state park in the US) Killarney. Located on the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, it offered great views of the numerous small islands that dot the lakeshore.
... taking advantage of a Harvest Host brewery located on the Seguin River. Trestle Brewery's outdoor restaurant gave us a great view of the railroad trestle that inspired its name. It also gave us a chance to try out another Canadian delicacy ... poutine. This traditional Canadian dish consists of french fries and cheese curds topped with gravy. Did I tell you Doug is not a fan of gravy? I did convince him to try it ... and neither one of us was super impressed.
... getting off the main Trans-Canada highway and taking some picturesque side roads that passed through Ontario's largest and most popular provincial park. Algonquin Provincial Park has plenty of hiking and wild life viewing opportunities. Although we saw plenty of ''moose crossing'' signs, unfortunately none crossed our path. We hiked up to enjoy the view from the top of Lookout Trail, and could only imagine how spectacular the colors will be in a month or so.
A second hike on the Beaver Pond Trail brought us up close to the massive beaver dam that formed the lake, but once again the busy beavers evaded us.
OK, I'll admit it ... I was a bit nervous about entering and traveling around in a different country, especially as the covid pandemic continues. But so far we have found the Canadian people to be very welcoming and the country easy to explore. Some of my observations from our first week here ...
... Canada has just recently relaxed some of its covid restrictions with most restaurants, shops and museums opening just a month ago after being closed to in-person dining, shopping, and entertainment for the last fifteen months. While most businesses are now open, masking is mandatory when going into public building ... and it is refreshing to see that no one makes a big deal about wearing their mask.
... Canadians seem overjoyed to be getting back to ''normal''. Restaurants are busy. Families are taking long-overdue vacations. Everyone is out and about enjoying the short but spectacular Canadian summer weather.
... while campgrounds appear to be as busy as US ones, there seems to be many more boondocking opportunities here in eastern Canada as well as plenty of dump stations and other RV-friendly services.
... at first glance, gas prices seemed really cheap. $1.39 for a gallon of gas?? No, that would be $1.39 for a liter of gas x 4 = $5.56/gallon. That seems a little high. But currently, the American dollar has 20% more buying power, so that gallon of gas is really only costing us $4.38 in American dollars which is close to what we paid for gas when we traveled in California last year. We realize that this is a pretty amazing travel opportunity so ... ''cha-ching'' goes the credit card, and we drive on.
... speaking of liters, we are definitely needing to adopt a metric system type of mind set as we start thinking in terms of Celsius vs Fahrenheit, kilograms vs pounds, and kilometres vs miles. That way, we will be able to understand why everyone is out enjoying a 20 degree day and complaining that it is ''way too hot'' when the thermometer hits 35!
... internet may prove to be a challenge at times. Our hot spot that we use for internet service in the US doesn't work in Canada, so we are relying on our Google Fi phone internet service. So far, so good, but if we get too remote, we may just have to start talking to each other for entertainment. I will let you know how that goes ...
It took a bit of jumping through hoops to get here, but ...
O Canada, we are so excited to be able to discover all your beauty!
No comments:
Post a Comment