POOH COUNTRY: The Transcontinental Canadian Highway

DISCLAIMER: The following is simply an entertaining outline of our Canadian tour thus far. As per our Abagado’s (Costa Rican lawyer’s) instructions (not to be confused with an avocado or abominable snowman), we have left out the hours upon hours worth of travel play-by-play (“Look a tree! Look, another Tree!”), in-depth Canadian research (“Is it ‘Eh?’ or ‘Ehh!’?), and brilliant marketing concepts and meetings, which we will not disclose for reasons of retaining our intellectual property, competitive edge, and secret spices ( Such as the rigorous hunt to discover where Winnie The Pooh really comes from: White River or Winnipeg?) We hope that this edited format will allow the reader to fill any gaps with their own imagination of what Canada must be like. Go ahead, succumb to the fantasy!
-Ryan

Only an hour out of Toronto, toward the Transcontinental Canadian Highway, Lisa and I encountered…snow! And LOTS of it! Those who have lived in large cities understand how drastically weather can change once you leave a town…and this moment was no exception. Driving a car without snow tires and (at this point) window tinting pealing off of the car in huge shiny strips due to the temperature change, The OAKS Travel Team decided to pull off into an outlet mall along the way for some shelter and to get Ms. Lisa a REAL coat!

This place had it all: a leather clothier, sports wear, hip hop apparel…but very little WARM coats. Lisa and I immediately realized that Canadians are much heartier than we, and therefore don’t need coats! It was enough to make the two of us retreat to the warmth and safety of The Oaks! After a great amount of hunting, we found at least one good coat and some very strange pants for me (with glow-in-the-dark, reflective strips at the calves…don’t ask!) After hitting one of Canada’s better chain coffee stops, “Coffee Time”, and with some travel info passed on to us from the very helpful young man attending the place, we were “fueled up” with enough energy to get back on the still snowy road. Little did we know that we wouldn’t be getting too much farther.

As I have mentioned earlier, we had purchased our “chariot”, the JEEP, in Florida and for those who have ever made a car purchase in that area, you know that you don’t get “snow tires” and you DON’T get HEAT! We were freezing cold within an hour, so we consulted our trusty Lonely Planet CANADA guide to learn that not too far ahead was the town of Midland where they were certain to have lodgings, food, and hopefully a place to get the JEEP checked out. Luck was definitely with Lisa and me, as we pulled into the Midland Best Western’s Highland Inn…right across the street from the local JEEP dealership! Huzzah!

Lisa and I took this opportunity to set up “The Oaks Nerve Center” in this very well appointed hotel with wireless connections near an attractive fire-side table in the lounge…entertained for hours by what seems to be the “vocal hero of all Canada”, Rod Stewart! We must have heard Rod’s jazzy duet album in nearly every place we went, as well as in the car! Rock on Rod! With warmth in our veins and some food in our stomachs, as well as the JEEP in the shop, we settled in for more snow and a few days work. Thanks especially to Ms. Tess at the hotel’s restaurant for all her help and good natured spirits, as well as the JEEP dealership’s staff who quickly diagnosed the problem and had it fixed in a timely and cost-effective fashion! A few days’ fast forward, Lisa and I are in our newly warmed JEEP and back on course, heading through the beautiful countryside of Canada along the coast of Lake Huron to our next stop, Sault Saint Marie!

The trip, a mere 5 hours or so, from Midland to Sault Saint Marie was filled with postcard worthy vistas and some unforgettable sights, including the famed Canadian Inookshook- a native creation of piled local granite in the shape of a person to aid weary travelers toward a good path and their destination. Along the way, Lisa and I must have seen over a hundred of these decorative denizens of good tidings, but not ONE moose! We stopped for a delicious breakfast at a roadside cabin styled hotel and restaurant called the Voyaguer’s Lodge and Cook House. The small-town, local atmosphere of this establishment, coupled with some of the most beautiful views of Lake Huron, makes it a must if you make this incredible trip. See the gift shop for music by local artists and postcards to send your less adventurous friends and family.

As you can see from these pictures, if it is pure, unadulterated nature that you want, this is the spot…but don’t expect too many places to stop along the way. One can drive for miles and miles without seeing anything but high mountain views overlooking the Huronic waters and jutting crags of granite…which was fine with Lisa and I. Along the way, don’t miss Sudbury and the world’s largest minted Nickel! A few hours later Lisa and I could see the skyline of Sault Saint Marie, a large and sprawling mini-metropolis a stone’s throw away (no kidding) from the Michigan border where we found lodging at the Holiday Inn. Much to our surprise and joy the hotel was holding a convention for over 200 soon-to-be hockey referees from all over Ontario. Many hours of chatting with these gents gave both Lisa and I a firmer grasp on the ins and outs of that most important of Canadian past times, as well as many opportunities to fill them in on the wonders of Costa Rica and the investment possibilities at The Oaks!

The next morning, Lisa and I found the BEST restaurant in all of SSM, Vincenzo’s with incredible breakfast options and my newly found favorite food of all time… the Canadian Butter Tart. After the morning feed, we set into town with a trusty “what to do in SSM” map, hunting for the must-see tourists traps…and we found them. All ten of them! The local history museum was filled with intriguing information and imagery from the town’s past, as well as trinkets and outfits from days gone by. After a drop by the local music store (where I got a jaw harp and Lisa some drum sticks), we drove over to the famed SSM lochs system which, as you can see, was frozen over but a very nice place to see some wildlife and take a brisk walk. Last but never least, Lisa and I had to try out the SSM casino! With a few dollars in a hand and an equally small amount of time to spend, we sat down at some of the machines, feeding the slots. Low and behold Ms. Lisa was a WINNER and we walked out with nearly double what we came in with. Brilliant!

The next day we said goodbye to our newly made referee friends and Janet Gregorof the Diamond Cut Tribute Band (a Neil Diamond show that was selling out at the SSM theatre) to get back on the road, this time for Thunder Bay! This drive was equally beautiful with must see stops such as the sleepy town of WAWA with its huge goose statues! Just as the sun was about to set, we were within “spitting distance” of Thunder Bay, so we stopped for some dinner at Gus’ Greek Restaurant & Lounge (seeing a pattern in Canadian road-side names?) This may be one of the last places before you meet the shores of Lake Superior where you can get authentic Greek food…mmm.

At days end, we finally made it, all the way along the great expanse of both the Huron and Superior lakes to arrive near the final edge of Ontario in Thunder Bay. We made reservations to stay in the Prince Arthur hotel, historic for being the first of its kind in this area, built by the same men who brought the railway here, around the turn of the century, in the shadow of the famous SLEEPING GIANT- a huge mass of granite hills along Lake Superior that collectively look like a slumbering creature with human features. The story goes that the native peoples’ god of the sea gave them the secret location of Ontario’s gold deposits but informed his faithful that if they divulged this information to the white man, that he would turn to stone and disappear forever from their sight. Well, with the SLEEPING GIANT still in his resting position, you would think the white man succeeded. Actually, at the “foot” of the giant supposedly lies the flooded entrance to the gold mines, forever unavailable to any who wish to seek their fortune there.

Thunder Bay proved to be a beautiful, if not slightly declining, city that reminded me of towns from my youth in Pennsylvania with the young people moving out, along with the businesses, leaving closed store fronts and vacant homes. We discussed “the life” in Thunder Bay with the locals and usually got the same response, “There is so much to do in the summer, this isn’t a really great time to be here.” Well, we will take their word for it because from everything we read in tourist brochures, they are correct. When the snow and ice disappears from this lakeside town, out come the Ontario tourists to enjoy all the natural beauty, camping, hiking, fishing, festivals, parks and all the other things about Thunder Bay Lisa and I will miss out on. Oh well, perhaps we will be back someday. Thanks greatly to our in-town informant and one of the best waitresses EVER, Ms. Megs! Can’t wait to see you in CR!

Check back with us in a few days, as there is so much more to read and see of Ryan and Lisa’s AWESOME (if not once again CHILLY) Adventure!