November 10 – November 11
I have fallen behind with writing for a few days, but the big push was on to log some miles, and hopefully the weather would cooperate for a change. The weather radar and road condition websites tell me the storm is moving north and east out of our path, but we have no idea what it has left in its wake. We hope to reach Sault St Marie by Wednesday night, which will leave us a reasonable ride home on Thursday. There is little time for much else but driving, eating, and sleeping, so today’s posting will cover Tuesday and Wednesday……a two for one special installment.
Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin’ back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
I am singing a rather different prairie tune these days that doesn’t sound anything like the Guess Who number, and only some dry roads, clear skies, and warmer temps, would cause me to change my tune. It is deep winter cold out here. I have no idea just how cold it got overnight, but in Moose Jaw at 8am when I started the truck, it said -22. The Airstream websites have been helpful, and especially the owners forums where people discuss problems and issues they have encountered with their units, and of course solutions for the same. It turns out that I can run the furnace while driving, and should also turn on the water heater to keep it from freezing……..combined, they will be sucking propane at a pretty strong rate, so I am advised to keep my eye on the tanks, and fill up daily to ensure I have a good supply on board.
Staying in the hotels has become essential, unless we want to join the truckers in rest stops and parking lots……..can’t find any campgrounds open, or with vacancies since Golden…….Plan B stays nice and warm, and would be very liveable with the furnace on, and all the plumbing works fine, even at -22….we still move the BC wine purchases back and forth from truck to trailer every morning and evening just in case. The Days Inn folks have been really nice, and they have plug in’s at the back of their hotel for us, so no need to run the batteries down. I think we will end up using hotels for the balance of the trip. We do miss our comfy beds in Plan B though.
So onto the road we go, and although there is some improvement, there are still long stretches covered with snow pack and ice. It is not until Moosomin that things start to look a little better, and I decide to find a truck wash to clear off some of the debris from both the truck and trailer. We find this indoor truck wash on the edge of town……what a blast…….this is a car wash on steroids…….probably 80 feet long with 4 hoses, one in each corner and stairs for the truckers to reach up top. It made short work of the road grime, and we are back out there looking shiny and pretty once again………at least for a few minutes.
Our target destination is Kenora, and after a pit stop just east of Winnipeg, we get back on the highway in the dark. I mention this because my night vision is not what it used to be, and even with my snazzy new Clark Kent night driving glasses, definition and distance perception can still be a challenge. Fantastic……we reach Kenora, 8:30pm, and head right for the Days Inn……parking for Plan B with a plug-in appears to be a problem here although I have found a couple of spots I think would work………apparently their 80ft wide garbage truck would not be able to get in if I parked there, and is he really going to show up tonight, or before we leave at 8am? Pissed off, we decide to go elsewhere, and embark on a hotel, Tour de Kenora……..no luck…….this is a busy town, and all the parking lots are pretty tight. New plan……let’s try Dryden…….only another 146km and we would just be sitting around the hotel for a couple of hours anyway, road conditions are ok, so might as well be driving. Dryden is much more welcoming, and the Holiday Inn Express works just fine……plugged in, wine moved…….didn’t even have a nightcap……zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Guess what?……Another storm has passed through in front of us…….if it wasn’t for bad luck, we’d have none at all……..it has moved on, but once again, lets see if the roads have been cleared. Another 8am start. We found only one bad stretch near Upsala, home of one of the best pickerel dinners, ever, at the Black Spruce Motel & Restaurant……..Bill and Sid will remember from the ride……..I still have the T-shirt. We are in Thunder Bay in time for lunch, and silly me, I bypass about half a dozen gas stations and even more restaurants on the way through. I am convinced there is a Flying J truck stop just north of town (saw it on a map pre-trip), but we are now well out of town and no Flying J ………the low fuel light has not come on yet, and if it does, I know Jutta will hit the roof. We are discussing a 25km return to town when we clear a small hill, and off in the distance, glowing in the sunlight, a beacon on the horizon……..Flying J……..saved once again. Gassed up and parked amongst the semi’s, Jutta whips up some tuna sandwiches, and we have a giggle…….or at least I did.
The push is on to make it to Sault St Marie, and I have to bypass a stop in Marathon to see my cousin Dave and his wife Margaret (next time you two)……..Clark Kent glasses on, we drive off into the night. We stop in White River to pay our respects to Winnie the Pooh, and with some mixed precipitation falling, discuss stopping in Wawa if it gets worse. The weather forecast for Wawa is not good……snow! I am pacing myself with a semi in front and we are making good time…….we drive on through and hope the weather doesn’t get worse…….good thing the roads are still in good shape for the most part. It is another 230km to The Soo which I figure will take the better part of 3 hours.
I am sure if you have driven north anywhere you would have seen the wildlife warning signs on the side of the road………some for deer, but in this part of the world it is all about moose. The signs give warnings for specified distances…….”for the next 5km”etc………I guess they know the terrain and where the moose would be likely to cross the highway………but let’s be honest, have you ever seen a moose on the road?…….I figure the chances are somewhere between once in a blue moon, and never. The sky was completely overcast with no moon in sight, but above those clouds, I’ll bet it was blue. I had lost my semi pacesetter back in Wawa and was now running solo with the cruise control punched in at 95km/hr…..I came around a long sweeping turn, the road straightened, and there it was, dead ahead, a full on adult bull moose, dark in colour, full rack, absolutely huge, taking up the entire lane……….what I describe next took probably 3 seconds or less………the headlights hit him and he turned away from them, so instead of broadside I would now impact right up his ass……..he is tall enough that the top of the truck hood would hit him just below the hind quarters……….I stand on the brakes, literally, my ass is out of the seat I am pressing so hard………I hear a screech of tires as Plan B’s brakes lock up and I am holding it as straight as possible……….there is no way I can stop in time so I let the brakes go and swerve left into the oncoming lane just missing the big fella by less than a couple of feet……….if he hadn’t moved after the lights hit him it might have been a different story. No doubt it would have been the end for him, and the front of the truck would have been mangled.
From that point forward I was sure I spotted at least 15-20 more moose……..ok, they all turned out to be traffic signs, trees, or shadows, but you never know! Jutta noticed that our estimated arrival time in The Soo was getting later and later……..of course it calculates on speed limits, and I had slowed considerably after the close call. We made it to The Soo around 10pm, and while I plugged in Plan B around the back of the Marriott, Jutta was inside whipping up one of her famous 3 cheese grilled cheese sandwiches and a tossed salad………sitting inside, nice and warm, we wondered why we even booked the hotel. Either way, moved the wine, hit the sack, tomorrow we will be home.
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HUGEBLOGSITE 
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