Mother of all Road Trips -- Day 4

The fourth day is over and we are in Red Dog Inn run by a South Indian origin family. The lady gave us a room with single Queen but at the backside. We accepted paid and drove behind and did not like it. So we came back and asked for refund, so she gave us one in the front with two doubles. Yet it is costing us $111 plus. Should have researched more I feel. 

We had a pretty steady drive on Highway 17 or the TransCanada. We stopped first in Sault St Marie to look at the waterfront of Lake Superior and the bridge to the land of Trump. Earlier we had stopped at a scenic locale to take pictures on the banks of Lake Huron. The entire drive is scenic but boring at times.

At one stretch we had heavy rains for about 45 minutes. Even the wipers at the highest speed could not clear the windshield and this was through high passes and valleys. So at some points we could see clouds rising over the valley!

It was also sad to note at certain points, the Fall colours were visible and it is only the second last day of August. A lot of construction is going on and we had to stop quite a few times to obey the flagperson directing the traffic. 

Canada seems to be a really vast country and we are experiencing it firsthand. Most of the north is full of forests and reservations for the First Nation folks. The names of the tribes and the local art were a treat to read and see as we drove by. At some places they even had wigwams set up.

Mother of all Road Trips--Day 3

The third day began with us having no breakfast. After getting ready we did walk to Mohini’s place to call her down and say our goodbyes and return her sunglasses that she had forgotten in the car. However, we did miss giving her the honey-whisky liqueur that she wanted to pass on to Austeja.  Priti was driving and we did head out of Montréal without any issues. 

After being on the highway, however, we wanted to fill up gas and that made us leave highway and go backwards! This #Ultramar station was the worst one I ever encountered. This was in #Beaconsfield, and the puming machine just would not initialise. I went in to asked why and the lady said I have to pay at the pump and I could pay inside only for a specified amount. This is stupid, I wanted to fill up and how am I going to predict.

So I took a chance to use a credit card. But it kept on saying “error”. Mind you, every instruction on the terminal was in French and there was not an iota of English around. After spending 10 frustrating minutes a good fellow stopped by and helped me through the complicated process. However, it still did not get me an option of filling up and I had to choose an amount worth of gas. If possible never again will I travel through #Quebec in a car and will avoid #Ultramar stations. It is sad that we are in a bilingual country of impotent rulers who are nobody is able to discipline Quebec. At least have bilingual staff and machines if you are in a service industry.

Later it was a pretty staid trip with one lane undivided highway and the passing lanes every few kilometres. It was mostly agricultural landscape which then changed to mountains, lakes and valleys. We did a couple of stops for scenic spots. One was for some rapids, which was nothing but details about the original canoe route. The second one was at #Nippising Indian Reserve No 10 to look at the Ottawa river. And then we were in #Sudbury. We filled up gas at a Petro Canada place where the surprise was two youngsters coming out and filling up and cleaning the windows, despite the pump being marked as Self- serve. On payment, he took my Amex and was out with the receipt without my requiring to enter my pin or even sign, surprising.

At this #Motel 6 nee #Pioneer Motel, owned and operated by a Punju, we decided to stay put. We had a couple of drinks (vodka and one can of coke) and ate from the “lots of food” that we are carrying with us. Prominent among them, was the leftover pizza, and the famous and delicious Masoor rice by Priti. The plan is to leave early tomorrow morning on way to Terrace Bay, Ontario.