Turning West

After a couple of days in Barrie where the Truck was serviced and the last warranty work performed on the truck before the warranty expired, we started our journey back west. As we had taken the southern route along the Great Lakes on our eastward travels we decided to travel back via the northern route.

We left Barrie in a north bound direction on highway 11 along Lake Simcoe and past Lake Muskoka. As it was mid afternoon our destination would be Hunstville which is about 120kms/75 miles away and a 2kms/1.2 miles off the main highway. This would be our most easterly point on this trip east, from here we were westward bound.

We parked in the downtown area where we found a brewhouse for a refreshment and a bite to eat.

After dinner we strolled around town to visit some of the local sights.

When we had finished our self tour, it was off to find a spot for the night. We found a location just outside of the downtown where we set up for the night and had a nightcap as we watched the sunset.

Next morning we took a walk up to a lookout to see the surrounding area.

From here we would finally start heading west. We would still be travelling north but in a northwest direction.

Next stop would be North Bay which was only an hour and a half away, located on Lake Nipissing. First order of the day here was to have some brunch. After a quick internet search for the best brunch in North Bay we stopped at Ivan’s.

From here it was down to the lakefront where we would take a walk through the lakeside park where we found some items of interest.

We moved to another parking lot overlooking the lake to watch the sunset.

Now it was time to find a spot for the night. There are not too many options in North Bay, after checking them we settled on the local Walmart parking lot as there were a good half dozen other travellers there already. We chose what we thought was a quiet location, what a mistake it was. More rigs of various configuration came after us. A group of about 4 units from Quebec (French Canadians) parked near us and proceeded to party till about 3am.

We hit the road early next morning as we had a long driving day ahead, but not before Stewart set off the truck alarm as we packed up LOL.

Our destination this day would be Hearst, stopping along the way for breakfast then at Moonbeam to stretch our legs.

We eventually arrived in Hearst to find everything closed including the restaurants. As it was a long drive, we wanted to have dinner out. The only restaurant open was in the Companion Motel, well beggars cannot be choosers.

From here we drove to the southside of town which is across the river. This is where we knew we could stay at the local ball diamond on the edge of a town park.

After breakfast next morning we continued on, stopping at Longlac and Geraldton, Stewart worked in this area between the two towns and lived in Longlac while some work collogues lived in Geraldton.

From here we continued to Nipigon where we would stay at the Nipigon River Campground.

Next: West to Manitoba

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