Tobermory to North Bay, Ontario – 16 May 2023

Innisfil, 16 May 2023

We retraced our drive to Tobermory back down the coast and then headed towards Innisfil where we were to stay for 3 nights at the Bee Happy campground. When we arrived the owner had just given our pull through site to someone else who was staying for 2 months. Luckily he had space in a large field and was ok if we made ruts in the grass.

The next day we drove about 45 minutes to Orillia to visit Alpha Raw Dog Food, one of our dog wash customers. We met Katelyn Arroyo for the first time, a lovely girl who had just opened her second Raw Dog Food store. The store was very upmarket and nice and the dog wash looked great off to the side of the store. We stayed for a while helping her with a few things and discussing ways to increase customer traffic. Then left to go for brunch in downtown Orillia at the One Twenty Five Breakfast Club. The food was good and we enjoyed studying the painting above our booth which was forced perspective. Very interesting to see it sideways and then face on.

After brunch we took a walk down to the port of Orillia and then back up through the town. There were a lot of interesting art pieces here and there. At the top of town we came across the Orillia City Hall which had a statue and numerous posters of Gordon Lightfoot. Just the previous week there had been a remembrance ceremony for him there as Orillia was both his birth and burial place. Gordon Lightfoot had died on the 1 May.

The following day our parcel finally arrived at the campsite. What a business – it only took nearly 3 weeks to get here via UPS after it was supposed to arrive in 7 days. Well at least we have it for servicing machines in the Maritimes. We did a bit of shopping in the afternoon but otherwise just caught up with work and piano practice.

North Bay, 19 May 2023

The next day was our longest drive yet. What we have found very frustrating is that RV trip wizard/RV Life where we do all our planning indicates one distance but then when you plug it all into the GPS to go, we end up sometimes doing 2 hours longer as it diverts you to “RV friendly” roads. In this instance a 3.5 hour drive took us 5.5 hours. I find it very hard to sit for that length of time as my left leg is continually bothering me since my back went into spasm. Im fine to walk but when I sit for long periods its hell. Ideally we need to stop every hour or so, so I can get out of the car and stretch it, but that is not always possible. North Bay, known as “Gateway of the North” is located about 3.5 hours drive from both Toronto and Ottawa and is a short distance to U.S. markets. We arrived in North Bay amidst a heavy downpour, which continued all day turning the campground into a bit of a swamp. The following day finally the sun came out and we could check out the waterfront and downtown area and walk along the Kate Pace Way trail. Kate Pace is a Canadian retired alpine skier. Born in North Bay, she won six World Cup medals and three Canadian downhill championships. We found a little coffee shop and enjoyed a coffee on the patio – they even provided a pup cup for Jax so he was happy.

North Bay is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. It developed as a railroad centre, and its airport was an important military location during the Cold War. It lies on the route of the Voyageurs; a famed network of rivers and waterways that lead to the interior of North America, along which many legendary explorers traveled in search of fame and fortune. The area of North Bay contains a number of ancient volcanic pipes, including the Manitou Islands and Callander Bay and many exposed dykes and five named batholiths.

The following morning I took Jax for a walk around Lake Nipissing just a block away from our campground. With over 40 species of fish, the Lake is a popular spot for lovers of fishing. There were many families fishing off the side of the lake and several small fishing boats. Lake Nipissing has been named the number one ice fishing destination in Canada for 2023. A monument indicated that the park was the spot where Samuel du Champlain had landed 26 July, 1615, representing the first of the French manifestations of the French language in the province of Ontario.

In the afternoon, we went for a hike at Duchesnay Falls, North Bay which is very popular for hikes in the summer and cross country ski-ing in the winter. The Falls were running quite rapidly after all the rain and while the ascent to the lookout was steep and rocky, the view of Lake Nipissing at the top was well worth it.