The last day of our road trip and we are both looking forward to being home, even though it isn’t for long.Left Swift Current in the sunshine and no wind…quite a relief to not have the vehicle constantly buffeted about on the road. First time since northern Ontario that we spent the day on the Trans Canada Highway.

Managed to catch sight of three herds of pronghorn antelope standing on south facing slopes. About 20 animals in each group.Four coyotes, hundreds of geese and smaller flocks of ducks as we passed into Alberta.

Along the road into the sun and then finally driving up the driveway to our home, after a wonderful cross country adventure.

Along the way….18,360 km!

The morning in Minot was cloudy and sub freezing. Feels like we must almost be home! Spent some time at the Scandinavian Heritage Society grounds and were surprised by the terrific displays and information available.

Set off for the border at Portal North Dakota and along the way the sun came out. Gorgeous day but cold. Lovely drive along the river valley of the Des Lacs River. All the graduating classes for decades have placed stone markers denoting their year in the hillsides.

Crossed the border with no problems other than navigating through the construction. On to Estevan for a snack and along highway 39 to Midale, Saskatchewan. Lots of interest to our family as my paternal grandparents homesteaded there and are buried in the cemetery.

Neither of us had been to Midale before so it was gratifying.

On to Weyburn for more food and then turned west along 13 west towards Assinniboia on the Red Coat Trail from Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills to the Qu’Appelle Valley where we began our journey.

Drove on to Swift Current where we hunkered down for the night.

Breakfast in the hotel at 7 am and it was still dark. A weather change has come to us in the night and so we began our drive in light rain. Made our way first to Bemidji which is the home of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe.

No snow but increasing rain and wind all the way to Grand Forks as we passed very large fields of wheat, corn, soybeans and lentils.

Reached the Minnesota/North Dakota boundary and once Graeme began to drive the snow hit. Along with vicious side winds which gave all the birds trouble flying. Most of the white knuckles came as the slush started to build up along the road.

Finally made it to Minot and pulled up for the night.

Up early for breakfast and then off exploring the area around Munising…glorious sunny 20 degree C day. We chose to have a look at Miners Falls, Miners castle and Miners beach on the south shore of Lake Superior. All close together and they provided a very good sample of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Miners Falls is a 50′ waterfall over the sandstones on the Miners River. A walk through the woods of 1.5 miles full of coloured leaves.

Miners Castle is a formation not unlike what we have seen on the Bay of Fundy and no less exceptional other than it is high above the shore of the lake.

And finally we descended to Miners Beach where we of course met some other travelling fools and became fast friends for half an hour.

Continued along the northern coast of Michigan to a place called Cornucopia Wisconsin which is a lovely beach with an artesian well right at the highway pullout.

Continued through Wisconsin and into Minnesota at Duluth. We sped right along without stopping towards our next nightly stop.

Grand Rapids is near the headwaters of the Mississippi River and was absolutely full…nat a room or campsite to be had. So we continued on to Deer River. We took a room at the White Oak Lodge and had dinner at a bar next door. The bar was clearly a sportsman’s hangout as it is full of animal trophies and we learned how to count the points on a rack in Minnesota. Apparently the method varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction

Woke up in Tobermory to sunrise over Georgian Bay. Got in line for what we hope is the last water voyage of the trip and had a quick breakfast before embarking.

Gorgeous day with a very calm and quick crossing to Manitoulin Island where the trees are lively with colours. Manitoulin is the largest island in the world in a fresh water lake. It has over 100 inland lakes itself.

Easy drive to Espanola…a place of fond memories for my days on geological field trips while at U of T. Back on Highway 17 all the way to Sault Saint Marie where we crossed over a very large international bridge to Michigan.

Drove right by Whitefish Bay where there is a Marine Museum and gained some notoriety after finding a place in Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.

Decided to finish the day in Munising which is famous for “17 beautiful waterfalls” and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along the south shore of Lake Superior.

Tomorrow hope to have a look at both.

Light breakfast with Nate and Jasper at the hotel before leaving in a cloud of dust for the Bruce Peninsula. Traffic was wild and more complicated than either of us remember.

Finally turned rural near Caledon and remained beautiful until we stopped for the night.

Corn certainly seems to be the big crop…a few grapes tossed in. Took a side trip to Sauble Beach and checked in at the Big Tub Harbour in Tobermory.

Dinner at the Tobermory Brewing Company and an early night.

Met up with Jasper and Nate and walked up and down Queen Street to get passport photos for the visas. Got them and then took a leisurely walk through Trinity Bellweather Park on the way to a very satisfying milkshake stop.

Back to the hotel to get ready for a great dinner at Union on Ossington.

A very lazy morning at the hotel…we missed breakfast…and then had lunch with Nate before the work began. Mary and Nate filled out their visa applications for the impending trip. They surprisingly wanted all kinds of information about work history, education, military training and amount of time they had spent in war zones!

Luckily there was beer in the hotel and Jasper joined us again for dinner.

Intended to leave early but the usual good conversation, and croissants for breakfast delayed us somewhat. Jean and Jane are driving their airstream to Virginia today for the winter.

Got caught in Montreal road construction, the 401 traffic and rush hour on the Don Valley Parkway. But we finally met up with Nate at his house and the three of us – Mary perched on my lap in the passenger seat – found our way to a hotel on Lakeshore.

Great dinner at Petros 82 in the hotel with Nate and of course Jasper.

Spent most of the day around North Hatley helping move the sailboat and lawn furniture into winter locations. Waffles, eggs, strawberries and bacon for breakfast and then a small tour around Lake Missawippi (deep water).

Later in the afternoon we drove into Sherbrooke for a delicious lunch of sweetbreads and beer at a local brew pub. The beer is good enough that i provisioned for the trip back to Calgary.

On the way hoe stopped at a fromagiere and loaded up just before a bus load of people showed up.

Dinner was cocquille de mer followed by wild conversation and funny stories by everyone sitting before the fire.