Storyline: Westward Ho!
Fri, Jul 14
We head back. Eh, not due to the looming emergency yet. After breakfast we fill Doranya up with water (who knows where the next refill will be?), dump the holding tanks, disconnect and head up the hill to the highway.
Driving through Kelowna is frustrating. Have the feeling we are on 401 in Toronto in a smaller scale. The city has nothing to do with what I remember from some 28 years ago. It has grown up and spread wide and high up into the hills.
We drive by an unrecognisable Okanagan College (see my Kelowna post), out of the city, through Lake Country, uphill by Wood Lake, down towards Oyama,
then up again twisting by Kalamalka Lake, through Vernon, Armstrong and eventually we reach Trans Canada Hwy 1.
Air quality has not been good. But now in the foothills of the Rockies the smoke is getting really thick. We fill up with gas in a hazy Revelstoke. Beyond Revelstoke one can barely see the mountains. I can’t believe these are the same mountains we drove through less than 3 weeks ago.
We reach Canyon Hot Springs in mid- afternoon. The parking lot at the visitors centre was so sloped that what seemed like half of our fresh water overflowed onto the road through the overflow. Didn’t like the staff at the reception. The hot springs looked like a swimming pool with some minerals thrown in.
A small but expensive pool. We found our spot in a mossy, wet and buggy area. As a first and last thing we refilled the fresh water tank. Alex is spitting blood (infrequently, but non the less…- A). Perhaps it’s not the smoke that’s causing this, we both think.
Sat, Jul 15
We finally decide to get the hell out of the mountains and head home. Toast our last two frozen sandwiches (they’ve travelled with us all the way to the Yukon and back, so far – A), have breakfast and then hit the road. We drive through heavy smoke and barely visible mountains. We pass Golden. We had a reservation there.
Can’t even call to cancel since we have no services. Entering the Alberta part of the Rockies we drive at 100 km/hr for over 10 min by a long two-lane lineup of cars in the opposite direction.
We didn’t notice any accident at the beginning of it (I recall that it was construction with only one lane partially open – A), but it was impressive how fast the highway could clog and traffic halts to a stop (we’ve seen this often in southern Ontario, but out here? Well, I suppose that this is the main east-west highway across Canada – A).
Bow valley. Mountain silhouettes. Banff. Mountain silhouettes. We filled up with gas in Canmore and phoned the Best Western hotel in Bassano. We had decided to find a hotel and stay for two nights inside in air-conditioned rooms shielded somewhat from the smoke. Perhaps things will improve.
We get off the highway and aim south of Calgary. We drive through some nice empty roads through green fields. Eventually we reach Bassano and check in around 6pm. We take our food and wine from Doranya’s fridge. We also take our utensils and plates. It is annoying when there is a kitchenette in a hotel but nothing to cook with. Best Western is one of those frustrating places.
But it is cheaper than other hotel chains that don’t even have kitchenettes. And since we were fully equipped it was not a problem. We bring all our needs for 2 nights and lock ourselves in. Eh, we’d go for the breakfast and coffee downstairs but that’s about it. Actually, we’ll take our breakfasts and coffees/teas to the room.
Mon, Jul 17
I don’t cough and Alex’s cough seems under control. He still spits grey and brown stuff but less.
Today we drive to Moose Jaw. We had cancelled our campground bookings for the rest of the trip. We’ll play it by ear. If things are OK, we’ll book some places later. We also had called the Best Western in Moose Jaw and booked the night. We know this place well, since we stayed there on our way west.
We drive through smoke so thick that the Canadian flag looks grey. We pass Medicine Hat, where on our way west we had noticed the red sun for the first time. Things now are worse (sun, what sun?? – A). We leave smoke-covered Alberta. We stop for lunch at Swift Current. Things are not bad here. We stop at the same Greek restaurant we had lunch before. And as before we only have a photo from their sign in front that they write every day. This time it says “Eat here or we will both starve.”
Approaching Moose Jaw, it looked a bit better. After check-in we drive to a restaurant, we had liked during our first stay. Streets Steakhouse and Bar. I have my sangria; Alex has a beer and we share seafood linguine. Next morning we’ll fill up with gas and food from the Superstore in the area and continue east.
We had called and booked 2 nights at an inn in Portage La Prairie, MB. Looked like a place we could walk around if air is good.
Tue, Jul 18
Things with the air began to improve. We are on the road for another long drive. For the first time in days, we see blue sky. The yellow flowering canola borders the highway in beautiful contrast to the blue sky speckled with white clouds. My cough is gone, my eyes are not itchy. But Alex still coughs and when he has strong fits, he still brings up blood. Just not that often.
We stop by The Crate House at Moosomin for lunch again. This time we are greeted by some young people. We ask for Anne and Doug and they told us they were their nieces. They call Anne from the back.
She makes me the same cappuccino bringing her only cappuccino glass from the back. Alex has his lemon merengue. I also have lunch and Alex a sandwich. We chat. She remembers us. I want to buy some jerky. Doug packs some for me. I also buy frozen soup. Alex likes their big mugs. We buy 2 – one for him one for Dili.
We check in Westgate Inn in Portage La Prairie around dinner time. Air looks clear of smoke. Somewhat. The manager of the inn is a musician and very chatty. Alex spends hours chatting with him. An all-day basic breakfast is available. I bring our things from the van for 2 days. Some wine and food too. Alex brings me coffee. Tea and muffins for him.
Next day we’d walk to the lake, then to the Timmies for lunch and have dinner in the room. There is apparently a nice RV park across the bridge on the other side of the lake, but we didn’t know if the air will be OK.
Thu, Jul 20
Our last stop before entering Ontario is in the centre of Canada. We missed this part of the highway on our way west because of the storms triggered detours. It is a big sign on the highway in Manitoba. The longitudinal centre of Canada.
Kenora. We are finally in Ontario. We had rushed to get here because of Alex’s blood in his saliva. He is not covered for cancer and we didn’t know if this is related to the wildfires smoke or related to his leukemia. If anything happens, we can go to emergency now. (Sort of…there are news reports that many emergency departments in smaller Ontario communities are unable to open or have limited service due to staff shortages – A)
We stop for lunch at Lake of the Woods brewery’s pub in Kenora. Then we check into the Anicinabe campground, where we had stayed on our westbound journey. This time we are in a different area of the park and the mosquitoes are gone. Lots of grasshoppers. We have a good night. I am a bit sad we had to rush back home for the third year in a row. We book a night at the Lone Pine Inn in Ignace. It is on a lake. If air is bad we can stay inside and still watch the lake.
Fri, Jul 21
Arrived at the Lone Pine Inn early afternoon.
Smoke is still heavy over certain parts of the road. Didn’t look bad at the lakeshore, though.
We sat with a glass of wine each at a small table on the terrace and enjoyed the views of Agimak Lake. The inn has an interesting history presented on the photos below.
The solid wood rustic furniture in the inn’s rooms is still the original owner Mike had built himself.
The bed, the side tables, stools, desks, tables, lampshades. The only new accessories were the fridge and the microwave.
The sun was still red though, with a haze over the lake before sunset. From here I booked the following two nights at The Sleeping Giant Provincial Park east of Thunder Bay.
Sun, Jul 23
What a beautiful sunset we have at the Sleeping Giant. The campground is a long way into a Lake Superior peninsula, with no cellular service. In case of emergency there is a pay phone at the registration building. Disconnected from the world, we spend 2 nights and a full day strolling through the park.
We breathe easily although Alex’s cough has not fully disappeared. Weather is nice too. Perfect temperatures. Blue skies. Nice beach on Marie Louise Lake.
Finally. We are out of the wildfire smoke and its dangerous effect on us.
Thu, Jul 27
Home! The last few days smoke has been present here and there but not in such excessive amounts as in the West. The drive north of Nipigon on Trans-Canada hwy-11 by Lake Helen in nice.
We’d overnight at Hearst, stop in Kapuskasing visiting the railway and POW (prisoners of war museum), then stop at Moonbeam (nothing impressive) and overnight at Rene Brunell Provincial Park.
The latter had big campsites, nice beach and walks but very annoying (non biting) bugs of unknown (to us) origin. And the showers were coooold.
Staying home, Alex’s cough and bringing up blood did not improve. By the weekend he’d been to emergency. The X ray will show lung inflammation and he’ll be on antibiotics for ten days. That’s what wildfire smoke can do to one’s lungs!
Join the conversation around our e-Table