Duxford Girl

Another day on the road and although still hot, it was much less muggy the further east we got. On the advice of Candice, we stopped in Thunder Bay for a late lunch at the Hoito. This unique little cafe was originally set up to help Finnish workers get an inexpensive meal in the early part of the 20th century and has remained a good, inexpensive place to eat.

The pancakes were amazing and the burger Evil Scientist had was an actual formed patty rather than a pre-made one. It was definitely worth the stop. Thanks Candice!

Thunder Bay itself is like any harbour city. The oldest parts of town are closest to the water and there are some unique homes and gardens on the streets that we drove through. A lot of the older streets still house various shops and my favourite was the one that boasted “gifts and lighting”.



On the way out of town we stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial. The statue is in a great spot that overlooks the highway and Lake Superior. The park that surrounds the memorial is a pleasant place to stop for a bit and get some shade. Simon took the time to run around like a wild thing before being trapped in his seat again.



Once out of Thunder Bay we were officially on the Nipigon Sub so I recognised many of the names along the way. Once passed Schreiber, we headed to Marathon on the Heron Bay Sub. I've heard much about how awful the drive is in Northern Ontario but I've been enjoying how pretty it is. Granted, I realise that this is a leisure trip and that I'm not trying to get anywhere in a hurry but for all the talk of “nothing but trees and road” I actually find that it's quite an interesting place to watch go by. Mind you, I'm also seeing it from the perspective of someone who knows the names of a lot of these places but hasn't actually been here until now.



The evening found us in the Ney's Campground. For the third night in a row we pulled in to find that we were camped next to another family from Alberta that we've been meeting up with along the way. We saw them first on our second night in Winnipeg. Then, they pulled up right behind us in Ignase. At Marathon we pulled in and the guy gave us a friendly and ironic wave as we pulled into the spot across from them.

Simon loved the playground at the Ney's and it was all we could do to get him to come in for sleep. This morning, he couldn't wait to get back out. It kept him busy until we finished getting ready to go.