We're home!

Bonnie here:

   I love the way pyrotechnicians put off a barrage of fireworks at the end of the fireworks' display. Here's my barrage of pictures. We've home from a great adventure after driving more than 600 miles today! We saw some beautiful places and met some wonderful people. Thanks for joining us on our adventure! It's fantastic to be home!

Sand Bar Lake Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

Bonnie here:

Bonnie here:

     We’ve been enjoying the provincial parks here in Ontario. After some of the pretty poor campgrounds of Alaska, these spacious campsites are a welcomed change.  On Friday night we stayed in beautiful Sand Bar Lake Provincial Park in Ignace, Ontario. Our campsite made me think of the campground Steve, Josh, Daniel and I used to visit with my brother, sister-in-law, and our niece and nephew back thirty-five years ago. We had huge boulders at that campsite and lots of space. 

     As a lovely send off when we left Sand Bar Provincial Park, a flock of Canada geese flew over our heads. I know that Dan and Josh already have heard this, but each fall when I see a flock of Canada geese flying over, I think of my dad. When the geese flew over honking and juggling for their positions, I imagined that my dad was wishing us Godspeed. That made me feel even more safe than I was feeling. (I know what a good and safe driver Steve is, but I little help from heaven can’t hurt us.)

     It’s funny, but once we arrived in Ontario, I felt at right at home with the trees, lakes, boats, cottages, docks, and people. It’s SO different from the mountain towns and the prairie towns that we had driven through. In one day in Ontario, we saw more cars and people than we had for days in the Yukon and northern British Columbia. In keeping with my paying attention to the mottos — Ontario’s is “More to Discover.” That’s a good one. 

      On Saturday night we stayed at another amazing provincial park, White Lake in White River, Ontario. For Disney fans, we read that it is the hometown of Winnie-the Pooh. I have to Google that.  Another interesting fact about White River: This at one time had its fame as the coldest spot in Canada. Glad we are visiting in August.

      One of the nicest parts of being in Ontario is that now we are in the same time zone as our family and friends. I’m pretty happy that I have such an interesting and fun traveling companion. This is a long trip. 

     I’m sorry that we haven’t been in touch, dear family and friends, but we haven’t had the Internet here in the provincial parks — just lakes, trees, quiet, space, evening darkness and birds. My goodness, that sounds like Waterford, Maine!

     Tonight we still are in Ontario -- Sturgeon Falls. We opted for a commercial campground tonight so we could have Internet access. We dearly love the wilderness campsites of the provincial parks, but it's tough not being able to communicate with our loved ones!

Saskatchewan

Bonnie here:

  Our views were not as dramatic today, but they were lovely nevertheless.

Bonnie here:

  Time for some a travel photo updates! We are half way home! As you can see, we have met some new friends on this long, strange trip!

From the Mountains to the Prairie

Bonnie here:

    White moths fluttered and darted everywhere today as we drove along Route 16 (in a clean truck!), the Yellow Head Route. Truck grills in this area are loaded with moths. The folks who have moose catchers on the fronts of their trucks? Those moose catchers are full of moths. We saw hawks and Canada jays, too, as we traveled through the prairie communities where it is still hazy from the British Columbia fires. ( Did I mention a few days ago that we could smell the smoke in our camper? We had driven in British Columbia where we saw smoke coming up from the ground. Orange tape was strewn around some trees, and we saw signs warning people of the danger of fire.)
     In Saskatchewan we drove by the picturesque town of Big Quill in the Quill Lakes. We saw no boats or marinas -- just lots of farm equipment and lots of grain elevators. The farmers were still out in the fields working at 6:00. It is very different from home.
   Yesterday seeing the trucks hauling logs and oil and then today seeing farmers trucking hay and grain made me think of Walt Whitman's "I Hear American Singing." Only since we are in Canada, the words would have to be "I Hear Canada Singing." So many people working hard. A lot is right with our world. I always am happy to be able to witness this for myself.
  You know how I have been paying attention along the trip to place mottos? Foam Lake, Saskatchewan's motto is "The Best Place to Live." At first I thought what a cocky motto, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Good for them. They love where they live.
    Tonight we are in Neepawa, Manitoba. Their motto?  The Land of Plenty. I like that one, too.

Homeward Bound!

Steve here:
Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015

Stayed in a nice, rustic campground last night.  The gentleman has done a great job, but is working his tail off.   For whatever reason, he hauls water for the 24 or more campsites.  He has a big tank in his truck and bigger ones at the campground.  Perhaps his well is not good or he can't afford a well with more reservoir?
I delayed our leaving for a while this morning while I put our first spare on our most worn tire ( on the camper).  I have another spare, but need to have it mounted on the rim I just removed.
We are definitely eager to get home, but I had no intention of setting the pace we've maintained these first four days.
Doing my fuzzy math, I figured we had 4030 miles to travel from Haines, Alaska to Waterford, Maine.
So:  If we were to be home in 10 days, we needed to travel 403 miles per day,
       If we were to be home in 11 days, we needed to travel 367 miles per day,
       If we were to be home in 12 days, we needed to travel 336 miles per day.
I set us up a little schedule of 350 to 400 miles per day, but there are not always campgrounds where I said we could stop.  Surprise!!
Today was a great example.  I figured that if we made it to Lloydminster, SK, that would be a good day.  We arrived in good shape and the gentleman told us he had no available sites, but he bet that by 8:00 there would be some cancelations.  It was only about 4:30!  I looked at my navigator and she looked at me and that looks said, we can make another hour or two by the time he knows there is a site available.
We had no intention of driving 515 miles today, but by 6:30 - well shy of his 8:00 time line - we were settled in in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan!!
Tomorrow we should pass the half-way-home point!