Day 1: Mississauga-to-Sault Ste. Marie (700ish kilometers)

In one word: Success!

In more than one word … well let’s see how many I can fit in before I fall asleep…

Rain woke me up around 6am to let me know it was time to get ready. Already?? Yes, this was the plan but I was pretty beat. Sleep has not been an easy thing for us these last couple months and last night was a rough one for Moxie and myself. But hey this is road trip day so I get up, shake it off and get ready for our Road Trip Adventure!!

Thankfully I’d loaded most of our stuff into the car last night so getting ready was blissfully mindless. We left the house just after 7 and after a quick stop at Starbucks, we hit the highway.

On The Road Again – http://youtu.be/QexOuH8GS-Y

(Rain had requested to start the trip with “Celebration” but alas that is one tune we don’t have…although stay tuned for tomorrow’s start off song)

starting mark: 047085 miles

The entire ride went really well – kids barely squawked in the backseat all the way to the Soo. They drew, read books, listened to music, played travel games and I indulged them in letting them play their ‘devices’ without much restriction. Rain was so helpful and helped Moxie whenever she had questions about how to use her Kurio since I was driving. (Okay let’s face it; Rain is always the go-to guy in the house when it comes to gaming/device questions.) They were awed by the scenery and I don’t think they actually believe me that the Rocky Mountains could possibly be bigger than the ‘mountains’ today. {Those minds are about one week from being completely blown away – and I can’t wait to see it!!!} We stopped for a stretch at a rest centre a couple hours into the trip and then a couple hours later we stopped for lunch. We stole some space at picnic tables at one of many Trading Posts between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. I made peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks (this might be a common meal for us this month). The kids are thrilled because I bought the ‘junky’ peanut butter – with sugar – as opposed to the all-natural peanut butter I serve at home.

First stop – stretch legs and breathe the fresh air

Lunch – Peanut butter sandwiches – yum!

At around Parry Sound we started a new game – count the Canadian Flags. From what I hear, our final tally today was 42 flags! I think we should start taking bets for a final tally by the end of our journey… Any takers? Winner gets a jar of Maple Syrup!

The Sudbury-Sault Ste. Marie leg was unexpectantly emotional. Their father used to take them up here to his parents camp every summer. I hadn’t been up in years but every once in a while I saw something that would trigger a memory and consequently an emotion. (There’s the picnic table Rain fell off and smashed his ice-cream cone, I remembered hiking for wild blueberries with Moxie in a baby carrier so we could bring them back to camp and Grandma would add them to her pancakes). I remembered times of visiting when Rain was a baby and then again when Moxie was a baby. We used to bathe them in bins out on the deck with lake water we’d heated on the stove. Jason loved being out at camp and was always his most peaceful state while there. We pulled off the road in Spanish at the corner of the road leading up to their camp to take a picture but time did not permit us to go any further. This is probably a good thing because the kids would not have wanted to leave. At least not without fishing for a couple hours. One day I’ll come back and have a beer on the dock for him. Cheers Hoop. We miss you.

Road to Papa’s camp

Moxie and her Daddy out on the lake at camp

Rain and his Daddy fishing at camp

Moxie in the ‘tub’ at camp.

There were talks of stopping for ice-cream but it didn’t happen; mostly because we were so excited to just get to the hotel and go swimming!! Also about an hour before our final destination the sky opened up and torrential rains poured down on our Ford Escape. We actually had to pull over (along with most other drivers) for about 20 minutes waiting for it to let up a bit. This gave me a bit of time to search for the hotel we were booked at. Somehow I had misplaced that tiny tidbit of information… Ah yes – Comfort Suites!!  We found our accommodation without any difficulty (8 hours of driving and not lost once)

The kids and I immediately jumped into the salt-water pool and agreed it was the greatest feeling EVER!! They chose to stay in the pool longer and eat food we had brought with us rather than get out now and find a restaurant – I couldn’t agree more.

So after a great swim, we showered up and got into our pjs. Then we ate a strange feast of whatever food we had in the car. (microwaved leftover sausages on bread, KD in a microwave cup, tail mix for dessert). I helped the kids highlight our days journey on their Ontario maps. Rain was amazed that we had driven so far – “We drove right off the map!”

Tomorrow the plan is to get to Thunder Bay which is another 8-hour journey. And in saying that I guess I should find us a hotel room and get some …zzzzzzzzzzz…..

“Look where I fit – Moxie close the door!” boys…??

The greatest feeling in the world after an 8 hour car-ride!!

Dinner!

We drove right off the map!!!

so tired..must highlight map…zzzzzzz…..