Life Changes

From Manitoulin Island we continued on to Lake Superior Provincial Park. There we would try to relax by swimming and reading and yes some photography.

Rabbit Blanket Lake, Lake Superior Provincial Park, ON

But mostly we were just trying to get our heads around being on the road. Photographic road trips are never easy – living out of a van especially. But this year because of the health situation of various family members it seemed even harder to get started. We weren’t certain we even wanted to leave the province. The Yukon just seemed too far away,

It was especially hard leaving my Mom on Manitoulin. She had put her name on a waiting list for the nearest nursing home. It has become just too hard for her living alone in the country. It is what she wants but it is a big change for my entire family. Mom has lived in her house since she and my Dad built it in the 1950’s. She has even lived her entire life in the same small community (less a 6-month stint living in St. Catherines when she was a WWII bomb-girl). No, it won’t be an easy change for anyone. But it was her decision. Her strength determination and resilience are always an inspiration to me.

Manitoulin Elm Trees

On Family and Friends

Staying in Killbear Provincial Park meant we wouldn’t get to visit with my sister while on Manitoulin Island. Instead we arranged to meet in Espanola as she headed off the island and we headed on. It was her birthday and the first time in many years that I was able to wish her Happy Birthday in person! Most years we are already on the road on this day and have to sing Happy Birthday long distance. Probably the most unusual spot we’ve sang from was the confessional converted into a phone booth at The Convent, a bed and breakfast in Val Marie, Saskatchewan near Grasslands National Park. Happy Birthday again Little-Big-Sis!

The Island of course is still home to me in so many ways. My Mother is there. And there is just something about Manitoulin.

Cattle - Click for larger

Barrie Island Shore - Click for larger

After Mom’s we put in another long day on the road and drove to Pukaskwa National Park. The sound of the waves hitting the shores of Lake Superior is just so restful.

Pukaskwa National Park - Click for larger

Still following Lake Superior we stopped again along its shores in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park at Thunder Bay. There the whitetail deer are so used to people they graze right through your campsite.

Whitetail Deer - Click for larger

After getting past Lake Superior we took refuge in a lakeside motel in Nestor Falls and watched the thunder storms and pelting rain from the safety of our room. We were glad the motel was uphill of the lake as a raging river soon formed as the water rushed toward the lake from the parking lot. It would have been much worse if we had camped just south of there in Caliper Lake Provincial Park as originally planned. There we would have had to tent camp at the bottom of a hill. I can’t imagine that would have stayed dry during those downpours.

The highway north to Rushing River Provincial Park was flooded over in two places although still passable. The river was swollen but not really worse than the last time we photographed it, but then that was a wet year too.

Rushing River - Click for larger

In Manitoba we stayed with friends Dennis and Frieda - they are such good hosts! While we are with them the conversation never ends - hope we didn't talk their ears off! We also did some wildflower photography in the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve and visited with Christie and the usually barefoot Laura – the guardians of that untouched grasslands.

Wood Lily - Click for larger