A Road Trip like no other .......

This year our annual 4J’s road trip began a month earlier than usual which saw us leaving in June after school ended. Leaving more than a month early was allowed by DaddyJ taking vacation time (those of you who know him well will find this to be surprising) in June, not waiting until the business year at the end of July. This it would turn out would be only the first of the shocks he had in store for the kids and I who would see something NEVER seen before on a summer vacation!

This year’s road trip had us heading out to Thunder Bay, Ontario and to Northern Lights Lake for almost two full weeks. I must say it was so nice to have those extra days for the annual road trip rather than the usual eight or nine days that we cram it all into as it allowed for more time to relax and enjoy the sights. I dare say that DaddyJ may even have seen the value in taking 9 vacations days, double the number ever taken for a vacation!

Our trip began at 5pm on Monday evening with us heading off to Medicine Hat for dinner a mere 300km away. After an incredibly busy end of the school year, the draining effects of the flooding on my time at work and the usual chaos of packing for the trip I was so exhausted that I did not stay awake after the first 30kms of the drive. So for me the first three hours went by in a flash and we were having dinner at Arby’s. At the time, Medicine Hat was preparing for the incredibly swollen rivers making their way from already flooding devastated areas to them. After days of watching the Bow and Elbow here in Calgary, we could see that the river was getting very high and fast out there too. Thankfully, the flooding would not be as bad out there as they had predicted and people were well prepared.

Happy to get out of the potential flood zone, we were off to Winnipeg, MB. Only ten and a half hours of driving for DaddyJ. The 1035kms went by with us following the massive storm that had brought all of the flooding to Alberta across Saskatchewan and into Manitoba! While driving through western Saskatchewan we encountered a massive lightening storm with howling winds and a biggest tumble weed I have ever seen. It was so big that it came up to the top of the hood of the car! After it ripped across the highway, both DaddyJ and I let out a chuckle as it was like something out of a spaghetti western movie. We arrived in Winnipeg just before 6am and headed in for a delicious breakfast at the Pancake House.

 

After breakfast we toured the sights of Winnipeg and headed off to the Royal Canadian Mint. While the LittleJ’s and I did the tour, DaddyJ tried to get a quick nap in the car. Given that the temperature was already +24 with 80% humidity at 9am, it was a short nap!

 

We really enjoyed the tour of the Winnipeg Mint. It is significantly different from the Ottawa Mint which we visited a year previous. This location makes the circulation currency not only for Canada but also for 73 other countries. The automation at this location is sight to behold. Where else can you see them making 750 coins a second, or 20 million a day when running three shifts a day!

After Winnipeg, we were off to Kenora, Ontario. I must confess I was shocked at the sheer beauty of Lake of the Woods. It has that jaw dropping effect ... Our pit stop included a delicious lunch looking out on the lake. After a wonderful Italian meal we were once again off with DaddyJ’s anticipation becoming palatable to the rest of us.

 

A few short hours later, by comparison to the previous legs, we into the outskirts of Thunder Bay and at our first stop, Kakabeka Falls. The falls were quite nice, and the water is surprisingly red. It was a great first stop and our first chance to see massive volumes of granite.

 

After that we were into town to see the sights of Thunder Bay. While in town, we enjoyed seeing all of DaddyJ’s favourite spots, the schools he attended and eating at the town favourites:

Visiting the Amethyst Mine, the largest of its kind in Canada and watching the kids hunt for good specimens.

 

Stopping at the Terry Fox memorial over-looking Lake Superior.

 

Visiting Centennial Park where DaddyJ had run more than a few cross-country races.

 

Eating the most delicious Finnish pancakes ever at the Hoito! In fact, they were so delicious we ate there four days in a row. I hear that both Rick Mercer and You Gotta Eat Here also had very good visits while in town. Eating the Persians, a fried doughnut that is like a cinnamon bun (without the usual amounts of gooey sugar) topped with this light pink icing. They too were quite good.

 

We enjoyed a trip to Lakehead University, where DaddyJ did his undergrad degree and oddly I did not take any pictures! While touring the campus and shopping at the bookstore we ran into some staff members who seemed convinced we must be lost. I explained that we were visiting the Alma Mater of DaddyJ, and this led to udder SHOCK on their part. “Really, you went here?!! Oh, well your Dean is still here, I am sure that he is still in his office, you should call extension XXX and pop over to see him. WOW, you went here!” I am still not sure if the shock was that someone came back to visit or that he had gone there, LOL. The second best part of the on campus visit, as we are looking out this window into a serene field before a small lake, with a canon, which causes DaddyJ to blurt out in our peaceful moment “You know, that canon still worked when I was here!” This led to our explaining to our kids how the Engineering Departments at every Canadian Uni I know have to play some dumb prank in their grad year! Seems that using the canon was his prank.

We went to Chipewyan to see the Sleeping Giant across Lake Superior, you know I understand why they named it that now. Really, it is the largest fresh water lake in the world, but when you can spend 15 hours driving the short side of it, is it not time to call it a SEA? LOL Anyways, the Sleeping Giant is the "mountain" across the lake that looks like a giant laying down on his back sleeping.

  

We visited historic Fort William, which was a Scottish run trading post for the North West Company. We had a hilarious and knowledgeable tour guide Sally (or if you did not like the tour, her name was Isabelle) who managed to bring the history of the place to life in an engaging way. Given the kids and I’s recent trips to Fort Calgary and the Glenbow museum to learn about the fur trade and our knowledge of trapping in David Thompson country around Jasper, we found it interesting to see that this was where the furs headed off to Europe. For me the most striking thing about trade here in Fort William was that each fur was worth less in trade by the time if got here. It cost far more pelts to buy a gun, ammunition, traps, fabric etc once you had portaged them across the country than it did at Fort Calgary. Given that you had taken your 90lb packs by canoe over 3000kms, this seemed counter to the current market conditions. We learned all about the practice of having a country wife and a European wife. Turns out if you wanted to live through the winter, it was far more useful to have a country wife who knew the way of the land verses a European wife who could make a needle point about how you starved and froze slowly. DaddyJ shuttered at the thought of two wives! LOL ScoutJ on the other hand seemed to be pondering the whole thing!  The second funniest thing that Sally said was in response to one gentleman commenting on how heavy the packs were for them to transport, to which she replied, “But not to worry, they were sturdy little French Canadians” It was quite funny as BrownieJ and I were fairly sure that the travelers might not have appreciated that description of them!   

 

One of the best parts  of our time in town was meeting DaddyJ’s university friend “Tbaytel” who DaddyJ has remained friends with since University. He has a wonderful partner, DeTbay and an amazing daughter LeTbay. BrownieJ and LeTbay hit it off over a love of Phineus and Ferb like butter on hot bread! Our time with them began with a trip to the Keg for dinner and a chance to meet while the boys caught up on life. Then, very thoughtfully they generously had us over on Friday evening for a fire and delicious food. For any of you who know my husband, once there is beer and burning involved, the fun really begins!

 

 

The whole drive to Thunder Bay was absolutely worth it as soon we saw DaddyJ yucking it up with Tbaytel! There are not a lot of people that my husband truly enjoys spending time with, let alone people whom he keeps in contact with after not seeing for fifteen years. It was not just watching the guys laughing over their shared past, or catching up on the people they know but the real joy that it brought DaddyJ to hang out with his friend.

 

Truly, these are wonderful people. LeTbay is a smart, kind and thoughtful young lady who is generous in her time and friendships. She is very respectful of her parents, does well in school/sports and seems to have surrounded herself with great friends. For a fourteen year old, she is the whole package and someone that I hope BrownieJ will grow up to be like. DeTbay is an amazing Mom, who takes a true interest in her daughter, her friends and her likes. This is a Mom who has been to the Cody Simpson and Maroon Five concerts in Minniapolis which is a five hour drive away. That is a trooper who will suffer through screaming tweens at Cody Simpson! Not to mention, she is a great hostess who makes her guest feel very welcome and serves wildly delicious food. Considering we were thrown together through the friendship of our spouses, I really lucked in meeting such great people.

 

Now, TbayTel, aka Jethro, he is genuinely funny! This is a man who is thoughtful of his family, enjoys his life and has fun. I can see how he and DaddyJ have gotten along for so long, they are both family men focused on giving their families a good life, doing a quality job at work despite all and a LOVE of burning things. I must say the Tbay family really was a huge part of making our time in Thunder Bay as great as it was. Thank you for the wonderful memories, the generous hosting and TBayTel, thank you for going out of your way to make us feel welcome by sharing some insight into DaddyJ’s youthful days at home. MUH HA HA HA!

After our time in Thunder Bay we were off to Northern Lights Lake (NoLiLa) which was DaddyJ’s favourite childhood lake to visit in his summers. It is about an hour and one half outside of the city, with the last stretch being half an hour down a dirt road past the last cell tower. It would turn out that being out of cell range, without television and limited SLOW internet access was WONDERFUL. It allowed DaddyJ to continue on the NEVER before seen trend of not hopping onto every staff call all vacation long, so nice not to be making sure that were are in cell range for the thirty minute calls and not replying to every important email that makes its way to his phone. Quite honestly, other than during Christmas vacations when cellular service is a zillion dollars, we have never, ever, once seen this happen. It was FANTASTIC, it was a real vacation from work for him. Given how relaxing and wonderful a time it was, I think that we just might be able to convince him to try out this fancy new vacation method again, here’s hoping!!!

 

We enjoyed doing absolutely as little as possible at the lake. Every day we headed down to the beach, which was made up of soft brown sand, set up our chairs and spent the next eight hours there. We jumped off the dock into the armpit deep water, swam, read, ate, drank and absorbed lots of vitamin D for our bones. The temperature hovered in the 30’s each day which really helped to warm up the water. The day we arrived, it had been raining out there for three days and the water temperature had risen five degrees to 69˚f! Okay, even by Alberta/Montana standards, that is quite cool, so as the week went on and the water got warmer it became very pleasant. 

 

The kids made many new friends. ScoutJ was popular with the girls and BrownieJ enjoyed everyone! We saw several people launch their fishing boats with quads, not something we have ever heard of, nor it turns out anyone we know out here or at Bowcycle (huge quad dealership)! It is a whole new use of a quad. We also learned that when the waves are moving left to right at a 60˚ angle, it is the “Walleye Chop”! That phrase will be used for years to come in our house. We did not see many people catching Walleye or the other fish in the lake as it was so hot. Funny after years of being on fishing trips in far too many remote places, it is impressive the knowledge that you retain. There were several times that I found myself announcing to DaddyJ under my breath, might as well save that bait and gas, it is FAR too hot to catch anything this evening, no fish will be rising through that warm water for food. LOL who knew all the stuff that is stuck in your brain.

 

On the Saturday night, the campground owners put on a nice Canada Day celebration. There was a live band who did some good covers of the usual songs and fireworks on the beach. They even lit some Chinese lanterns which looked like they just might catch in some of the very tall tress surrounding the lake! Haha, that would have sucked.

 

Northern Lights Lake is magnificently lovely. Our cabin was close to the water, had everything we needed like a stove, fridge (so nice not to have to get ice everyday), a flush toilet, shower and lots of beds.  What I most enjoyed was that we spent hours enjoying the water before heading up to our cabin to have dinner and then sit around the fire reading and swatting the HORDS mosquitoes that came out each evening. On our trip, ScoutJ and I each read two books and DaddyJ J completed the Steve jobs book! Seriously, DaddyJ reading, it was like a whole new guy had joined us. Hopefully not just for this trip home.

 

 

On our last day at the lake, we took one of the fishing boats out for spin. It is one of those standard metal fishing boats with a 20hp motor. It did the trick and let us see some of the many little islands in the lake, check out the summer homes and generally be snoopy. Really, the whole trip around the lake was a chance for all of us to reminisce about all of the fun that we had on our trip.

 

With our time at the lake over and a Canadian Scout’s Jamboree back in Alberta to get home to, we were off on Friday morning. I think that the trip was the perfect length of time as we were all feeling good about getting home to our house. We made a quick stop in Kakabeka Falls to see TbayTel who had a great surprise for all of us, a big box of Persians to take home! Yippie, the doughnut hero TBayTel.

Tan lines fade, memories are forever! BrownieJ eating the biggest breakfast meal ever!

 

Next we headed back to Kenora for dinner where we went to Bijou a great steakhouse where ironically DaddyJ and I had walleye which was amazing. (I think my mouth is watering just writing about it!) A quick walk around the waterfront and we were back in the car to head to Winnipeg. After a quick pit stop we were off to Moose Jaw SK.

Moose Jaw was the stop we made so that we could see where my Dad’s family lived when they first arrived in Canada. We were able to see the house where they first rented the front room when Grandma arrived from China, where the kids went to school, the church they attended, the place their store was and it gave us the chance to place flowers on the grave marker of my Grandparents. It was surprisingly moving opportunity to see their lives come full circle.

Six years ago, BrownieJ and I went to the village that my Grandfather was born in and the beautiful house they left behind for a better life in Canada. Then to have this occasion follow it up with where their lives in Canada began was like reading the perfect ending to a book you loved. I can hardly believe all that they did to bring my life to this point of seeing my roots. How truly lucky we are.

Top Right, The House Grandpa was born in, Top Left, their house before they left, Bottom Left their first house in Canada, Bottom Right, their final resting place

 

In the end, I think that this trip was a great way for the kids to learn more about where they come from. Without realizing it, our trip sort of became a cool history lesson crossed with an episode of “where do you think you come from?”.  It was amazingly fun to see DaddyJ’s hometown, relive his childhood favourites and to make our own memories in Thunder Bay.  We will all remember the trip, not just because to has taken 15 years to get him home but for just how relaxing a driving trip half way across the country can be!  Who knew Thunder Bay and Northern Lights Lake would be as fantastic as they were. Thanks for the memories Road Trip 2013!