Taking the scenic route!
Day 7 and 8- We woke up early on Tuesday morning as we needed to get to the Ferry and this wont surprise you, we were the first car in line! There were 2 trucks ahead of us, but we were the first car, and in my competitive mind it is all that matters. The ferry was as cool as I dreamed it to be. A two hour ride, it can haul 160 cars and 600 passengers! It is the third largest passenger vessel on the Great Lakes.
Below and you will see through the window the front of the ferry (bow) coming down after all the vehicles were loaded - in 4 pictures
The cruise stared off very foggy which made for an interesting ride among the islands as we had real "fog banks" where you could see a "wall of fog" as we sailed right into it. The captain blew the horn many times throughout the trip. It was so cool!! See a fog bank below:
On the ferry and then after, we kept seeing lighthouses. I think we saw about 10 for the entire trip!
The ferry took us to Manitoulin Island. As you know, we like to see "world largest" oddities. This island has several:
- It is the Worlds Largest Island in a freshwater lake.
- It has the Worlds Largest lake that is on a freshwater Island.
- It has the Worlds Most lakes on a freshwater island - 110!
It has the oldest operating one lane swinging bridge still in operation in Canada (swinging means the bridge deck spins to go parallel with the water to allow boats to pass on either side of the deck).
The drive on the island and through this part of Ontario was incredibly beautiful. There were MANY places where it felt like we were driving a scenic road in one of our National Parks. Below is a panoramic from Manitoulin looking over several other islands.
A view from the same bluff on Manitoulin
As we left Manitoulin Island, we had a choice, turn west toward Sault Ste Marie OR, turn east for 45 miles and see the World's Largest Nickel. Guess which way we went? 
Ironically, after leaving Sudbury and heading back to Sault Ste. Marie, we were able to see the World's Largest Loonie (Canadian $1 coin).
We arrived in Sault Ste. Marie around 7:00 PM and after checking in, went straight to the casino! We both started with the same amount but after 3 hours of playing slots, I had nothing left while Chris had a little more than she had started. Anybody SURPRISED????
Wednesday, we left for the cabin but first, we drove around the Sault a little more and did a little bit of Christmas shopping and then we returned to the US and drove around the Soo (saw a lake freighter going through the locks. We stopped for lunch at Clydes (a classic Drive-in in St. Ignace) and were told to drive slowly over the Mackinac Bridge as it was very windy (nice to have a heavy battery car instead of a tall mini van.
We were so efficient on this trip, we actually stopped in Bellaire, just short of the cabin, and did all of our laundry. As we pulled into the cabin we considered our scenic road trip to be over and it came in at 2,008 miles!
We will stay at the cabin over the Memorial Day weekend and head home on Tuesday, hoping to avoid traffic. While the entire 8 day trip was fantastic,, the highlight will always be Nick & Rayla's wedding!
NOTE: Original post here -> Day 7 - What a day, so much to share. Unfortunately we had time to go to the Casino OR update this blog. Guess which one we did? :-) We will update tomorrow.
Day 6 - A classic Chris & Parry drive today: 4 hours of driving from one oddity to the next as we moved up the Bruce Peninsula to Tobermory. The first picture below is (clockwise starting at top right) a Canola field which was an amazing field of yellow.
A road side that we saw numerous times which we think is 'Adults at Play" warning (can't be kids look of the size of that guy!),
"Beautiful Joe" statue and author story (famous book) dog park.
And finally ...
Someone's garden near Lake Huron which has two very unique wood carvings!
Clock wise again, starting at the top right corner.
Statue to "Wiarton Willie" (Canada's Punxsutawney Phil - YES they have a weather predicting ground hog too!!!,
The logical replacement for what I hope all of you know in the States as a staple at a country fair, the Elephant Ear, which here in Canada is known as a Beaver Tail - a Bananarama in this case, and a menu showing other options. It is fried bread dough with Nutella with sliced bananas and, yes, it was fantastic!
Kincardine and Point Clark Lighthouses.
Day 4 & 5 - We didn't publish Day 4 as it was basically just a drive day from Morgantown to London Ontario. It was a nice drive and it was the first time we went across the border on the Peace Bridge near Buffalo. It doesn't have the view of the falls like the other bridge but still had great views of its own.
The "scenic route" really started this morning because instead of heading west to Sarnia/Port Huron and then home, we turned right and headed north! We are driving around the Canadian side of Lake Huron! We have always wanted to drive around all the Great Lakes and have already done Lake Michigan (a few times), Erie and about 90% of Ontario but after this trip, we can add Huron and focus on Superior sometime in the future.
Our first stop today was Exeter Ontario, home to the White Squirrels. I heard about these squirrels (they are NOT albino, simply white) and while I never really thought we would see any, we drove around this small town and finally found a nice park and sure enough, we found one!! Then, as we were leaving, we found another one! From Exeter, we drove through Clinton and discovered a radar array. It turns out Clinton was the first Radar training facility in all of North America.
Our final stop for the day was Goderich Ontario which is a port town with nice beaches, a craft show and the longest train trestle in Ontario which is now a walking bridge. We had a perfect lunch at a restaurant right across street from the beach. Goderich was founded when the discovered what is now the world's largest salt mine located 1800 feet below Lake Huron. Another unique feature of Goderich is that instead of a town square, it has an octagon (see map picture below). Very nice town and would recommend it if you are ever in the area.
Day 3- The Wedding!!! Nick and Rayla wanted a small, intimate wedding at one of their favorite locations: Coopers Rock State Park, WV. It was a beautiful, touching ceremony but man did It rain hard!! And, YES, it was outside but everyone just went with it and, after all, it's just water!! It all went well and everyone had a great time. So quaint, intimate, and perfectly Nick & Rayla. Speaking of "Nick & Rayla", one of their friends gave them a REAL long sword as a wedding gift. Can't get much more Nick & Rayla than that!
Nick & Rayla with her parents and grandfather. He is 97 years old and a WWII Navy Vet!
If the wedding wasn't enough, Nate and Andrea took us out for Chris' B-Day dinner! What a day!
Day 2 - A very relaxed day as we only had a 2 1/2 hour drive to Morgantown so we slept in and determined that there were three unique sites just off the expressway for us to see. We had the day so we took advantage and visited all of them. They were worth the small detours to see.
Finished the day with a nice dinner at Oliverio's Italian Ristorante in Morgantown with Nick, Rayla and Rayla's family. Tomorrow, the wedding!
Day 1 - Nick and Rayla are getting married on Friday, May 17 in a WV state park. We left Grand Rapids today (Wed) so we could take our time getting there AND stopped by the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Yes, there is a National Park in Ohio. If you have ever driven the Ohio Turnpike to PA, you have drive directly OVER it. Obviously, we have driven over it at least 50 or more times between our trips to DC and Morgantown. However, this time we actually visited it and we were very impressed. A beautiful valley with a scenic railroad (not running today so we will have to stop again in the future to enjoy a ride on the rails), several waterfalls, amazing hiking and biking trails and also the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath along side the Cuyahoga river.
Brandywine Falls
