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My (best) memories of northern Ontario…

In northern Ontario, on the same day, we saw 3 bears, 2 deers and 1 million mosquitoes.

In northern Ontario, when you itch, you don’t scratch, you hit yourself because there’s no doubt something  just bit you.

In northern Ontario, they have it all: Mosquitoes, black flies, horse flies, name it.

In northern Ontario, Minnie put on 3 lbs from eating mosquitoes.

In northern Ontario, I went out in the woods to have my first dump of the day, sprayed my butt with repellent but still got 15 bites.

In northern Ontario, I went out for my second dump of the day, lowered my pants and 5 mosquitoes came out loaded with blood.

In northern Ontario, you don’t just shake it after having a leak, you shake it WHILE having a leak.

But seriously folks, we’ve come to admire the people who live here. How can they do it? How can they manage? It is beyond us.

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Our first day of the trip goes by quickly in good byes and see yous to our respective families. Very emotionnal moments when you know you’re leaving for maybe a couple of years… Tears of joy mixed with sadness…

We sleep just north of Montreal, not even 200 kms from “home”… In the back of an office building… How adventurous…

Our second night, we spend In Lavérendry provincial park. We thought they had mosquitoes there…

Our spot:

The view:

…And then we crossed into northern Ontario. After about a thousand kilometers, we thought there were nothing but spruce trees.

And Minnie also is getting bored.

“Are we almost there yet?”

“Not quite, honey. Not quite…”

If you look hard enough though, you will find beautifulness here too!

As proof, here’s where we spend our first Ontarian  night:

Lake Palangio:

Photos don’t do it justice but the place is really beautiful.

Perfect place for a hot shower. Make it quick though, the little blood suckers are thirsty and happy to see you.

Back in the spruce trees… For litterally thousands of kilometers.

At 85 – 90 km/hr, it gets pretty loooooongtario.

So, is it just driving all day and finding beautiful spots every night you ask? Well, the first half you kind of have right (driving a 40 series Land Cruiser all day is not just driving) but even out here, it’s sometimes impossible to find THE perfect spot. And sometimes one has to be creative to find any spot at all. Like this time at the back of a natural gas compression station, in the rain…

…Or that time at the back of the local M&M meat shop, or wherever we think we’ll be safe and undisturbed.

The driving.

Geared for the bushes, No4 simply wasn’t meant to be driven on highways all day long, day after day. Even with the suspension seats, the comfort level is…low.
Diesel, 4 speed transmission and no A/C combined with 30*C (86*F) outside temperatures means a slow drive with the windows rolled down which means a hot and noisy drive today, tomorrow and…

And for those who know France and her stats (see here), I can tell you it’s 34,5*C (94.1*F) on the dashboard, 30* (86*F) elsewhere in the cab, 37,7* (99.9*F) at Frances feet, 37’5* (99.5) in the glove compartment and 5*C (41*F) in the fridge…

All of a sudden, we realize how much of a big country Canada really is…

And how far Alaska really is…

And how far Argentina is from Alaska…

The routine.

At least, after 5 days on the road, we are kind of getting into a routine and finding our stuff gets a little bit easier. But, before leaving, we got tricked into thinking we were going to enjoy much more time outside of the camper (relaxing from the road) then in it. But that was before we hit northern Ontario.

Oh well, maybe in the prairies…

Stay tuned.