Road Trip Day

Today we spent nearly the whole day driving. Our destination was Sudbury, Ontario. From when I set the odometer at the Esso station near our house in Ottawa to when we arrived in Sudbury, it was exactly 300 miles.

Sam and Caroline were great for the car ride. Really they were. But dinner didn't go well, which was a shame given that it was our first meal out of the entire vacation. It's pretty exasperating to see that much food go to waste. However, I enjoyed my meal at MIC (Made in Canada). Sherry captured a photo of me readying to dive into my course of whisky before the meal.

A flight of Canadian whiskeys at Made in Canada. I really didn't mean to look so menacing. 

The drive here was uneventful, not just because the kids were well behaved, but because there really wasn't much of anything between Ottawa and Sudbury. Was it pretty? Yes, but it wasn't necessarily interesting. We were driving through lots and lots of pine forests. There were few towns along the way, and the ones we did go through, well, they didn't seem too exotic.

The Tim Hortons in Mattawa, a town that marked the 2/3 point of our journey. Not exactly a ready-for-the-chamber-of-commerce photo, eh?

You might get an idea of where we were by seeing photos of where we ate lunch. It was at a picnic area approximately 1/3 of the way through our trip.

One odd surprise, we passed through North Bay which has a stunning exhibit dedicated to the Dionne Quints. In fact, the Quints' home is located along the highway we used to make our trek.

Sudbury is an unusual town, but likeable for a one-night stay en route to something more interesting. I've talked with quite a few locals and they look with puzzlement at the idea of Pennsylvanians road-tripping through this area. However, we had a great meal (at least Sherry and I did), enjoyed a dessert*, and got to see a rather unusual source of civic pride . . . The Giant Nickel!

A penny was also available for photos, but since Canada has discontinued the use of it, I refuse to publish the photo I took of Sherry looking out of it. 

This might be Christmas card material. 

I wonder what tails looks like at sunrise. Am I silly enough to drive up there and find out? Stay tuned. 

Tomorrow we're off to Science North, a museum here in town, and then to Mackinaw City. So, we leave the Canada part of our vacation in about 20 hours. I'm a bit sad. Sherry and I have concluded that Ontario is our favorite province (though Quebec remains our favorite Canadian city). However, the good news is we're done buying groceries in in the True North, where prices are considerably higher. I won't get out of Canada before having to fill up with gasoline again, however. Which is a shame. Today's full-service stop to fill up and top off windshield wiper fluid cost $95.

Sherry convinced me to get the full-service treatment at this Esso in Westboro before leaving Ottawa. Classy joint. 

*Dessert tale. So, I went to Dairy Queen and ordered a Kit Kat Blizzard. I requested that they make it with swirl chocolate and vanilla. The associate told me that wasn't possible. I furrowed my brow. She then told me that they have so much demand for chocolate ice cream cakes that if they sold chocolate at counter, they would run out. Obviously, I have entered a different area of the country.