Our Datastorm location

Click on the above link to see where we are at present


Our Google satellite image

Click above to see the location from space
On the road again with the new acquisition!


Monday July 16/07 - Back Home!

We returned home after a night in Chutes at Massey. In Southern Ontario, not much rain has fallen in our absence, not like up north or out west. The new camper worked well, only a few glitches that need to be looked at by Morry's, it was very comfortable.

Saturday July 14/07 - Lake Superior Provincial Park

Yesterday turned out to be a good day, we did lots of walking and we had another campfire (after buying some more dry firewood). It rained heavily last night and was still raining when we packed up this morning for LSPP (in Rabbit Blanket Lake campground). We got here (still in the rain) and set up. Looks like it will rain all day, glad we have radio, TV and the net to keep us occupied!

Friday July 13/07 - Staying at Obatanga for another day

This morning, it's a mix of sun and cloud with no rain scheduled in the forecast so we will renew for another day. Last night we got some fireside time before that rains came, hopefully tonight will be better!


Thursday July 12/07 - Obatanga Provincial Park near White River Ontario.

We moved here and arrived just after lunch today. We are still fighting rain, it's been raining off and on since we arrived and it's cool (11C). We took an electrical site away from the lake as we expect to be inside the trailer a lot because of the weather.

This summer is beginning to feel like the summer of 1992 where there were 13 consecutive weekends of rain in the GTA. We haven't kept records, but it feels like we have had only 1 3-day streak of sun during the whole trip. As a result of the rain, the bugs are heavy too. Oh well, looking at the weather in southern Ontario, it doesn't appear to be much better!

Wednesday July 11/07 - Another day at Neys

We decided to stay another day here. The weather is not great, but Neys is a good place to wait out the rain, since it's raining all through the north, it's better to stay here than the other parks in the area.

Lookout Trail

The weather remained clear in the morning, so we decided to take this 2 km. trail. Normally 2 km. would not be difficult but the rocks were slippery after the rain, so it was a challenge. We survived, Kasey did great!

Some pictures:

Kasey & Suzette on the trail.



The CP rail tracks (CP main line) pass close by, lots of train activity this morning.

Great views of the lake:












Tuesday July 10/07 - Neys Provincial Park near Marathon Ontario

We left the TB KOA this morning and arrived here around 1:00 PM.

We are sitting out some heavy rain in site 23 (a great site!) but we are very pleased with our site on the water. If the weather clears, we will take and post some pictures.

The rain stopped long enough to allow Suzette to walk the dog without getting soaked and for Al to take some pictures:

We haven't been here for a number of years and we forgot that there are some great sites across from the beach. This is a view from the back of the camper looking onto Lake Superior:



Same view from the other side:



The beach:



More of the same:



The sites are quite roomy:



A view down the road. Campsites on the right, lake on the left!



Another view of the lake from the campsites:



Later in the day, the weather cleared for an hour or so and everyone seemed to come out of the tents and RV's and walked around. Compare the views to those above!


















Monday July 9/07 - Thunder Bay KOA

We are back here for one night to get some food and fuel. Tomorrow we will try Neys Provincial Park near Marathon for a couple of days.

Sunday July 8/07 - Aaron Provincial Park near Dryden Ontario

We stopped at this provincial park to try a park that we stayed at with the girls back in the 80's/90's. The park was closed for a number of years and recently re-opened. It is operated by the City of Dryden (not Ontario Parks) although it's called a provincial park. I think that it wasn't paying it's way as part of the Ontario Parks system, but Dryden wanted to keep it open.

There is some $$ going into the park, a number of sites are having electricity installed and it is being brought up to standard. Still, some old dry toilets and local garbage bins that were trademarks of the provincial parks in the old days were still present.

We got a non-electric pull through site, we tried out the inverter by listening to some local TV on battery power. Not a bad one night stop.


Saturday July 7, 2007 - Back in Winnipeg

We made it back to Winnipeg (Traveler's RV Resort) early this afternoon. Laundry and provisioning were done, tomorrow we head for Ontario.

Friday July 6/07 - More trails

Yesterday and today we have been trying out more bke and hiking trails (with a stop or two for poutine at the concession!).

This morning, we took a trail that overlooks the Assiniboine river, it is about 30 meters above the river at some spots which is high by prairie standards.



The yellow field on the other side of the river is a farmer's crop:





We were stopped by a washed out bridge near the river, the logs were too soft (waterlogged) to make the plunge across:



This evening we start packing up for our move tomorrow back to Winnipeg.



Wednesday July 4/07 - Got our exercise!

We have been at this park before, but just for an overnight stay. This time, we are able to check out some of the trails and sights in the park.

This morning, we took the Spirit Sands  hiking trail which runs through some large sand dunes. The sand gives the legs a work out, we had some great exercise.

They protect the dunes (much like in Pinery) by building steps and "ladders":



You can see the dunes in the distance as the Spruce forest disappears:



Suzette and Kasey on the way up a hill:



This is a ladder, partially covered over with sand:



A longer distance shot of the dunes:



A shot looking down into a "valley":



This is a shot of Al waiting at the bottom of a set of Ladders:



This is what the same set looks like from the bottom. Kasey "surfed" down the sand at the side of the steps instead of taking each step. Smart dog!



Tuesday July 3/07 - Off to Spruce Woods Provincial Park

This morning we pack up and head to Spruce Woods near Carberry Manitoba. Should be there around noon today.

We arrived and set up in Kiche Manitou Campground, then we provisioned in Glenboro.

The site is quite nice, the sites are arranged in Bays, each bay has 3 or 4 circular cul-de sacs with 4 or 5 campsites per cul-de-sac.





Sunday & Monday July 1-2/07

Canada Day was wet here in Wasagaming for most of the day, the weather cleared up in the evening and allowed for a fire and the fireworks nearby.

Monday is much better, sunny hot and humid. Almost everyone is in town, enjoying the water and doing a lot of shopping. The folks that have only the long weekend off are finally enjoying a good day!


Saturday June 30/07 - No rain so far!

The forecast calls for a 60% chance of rain, so far it's been overcast but no rain or thunder (although there was a severe thunderstorm watch earlier).

We took the opportunity to do a long walk earlier this morning, at least a couple of miles up the lake then returning:

The weather was overcast but the lake was quite calm



This is a new cottage being completed on an existing lot by the lake. It has double 6 ft. patio doors front and back.



The pathway around the lake with the town site in the distance.



Another view of the dock area



Kasey is enjoying the grass while Suzette waits





Friday June 29/07 - The "Monday Morning" Campsite!

I know, it's not Monday.

We had to move sites this morning because the site we had was reserved over the Canada Day weekend. The only serviced site available was this site:

This is a view of the "road side"




And the "curb side"



You will note that the service pedestal is directly in front of the camper door, in fact you have to step to the side coming down the stairs to avoid the sewer cap. We won't hook up the sewer pipe until the tanks fill up for obvious reasons!

I call this the "Monday Morning" campsite because it's like getting a new car that was built first thing on a Monday morning after the workers come back to work after being on a "bender" all weekend. The parks guys who built this site may have had the same problem. It's the only site in the entire camp ground like this, so you know why it was available for the long weekend!



June 28/07 - Sunny Day!

A much better evening last night, after "boiling" the damp wood, we were able to have a fire. This morning it was cool (+1C) but it's now warmer and sunny. The long weekender's are starting to roll in.

We took a couple of pictures of the town site when we went in to pick up some take-out supper:



The local native band have some tepees set up in town:




June 27/07 - Kasey is waiting for good weather!

This morning, it's cloudy with some drizzle and it's about 4C. Kasey went out briefly, then came back in to wait for better weather:






June 26/07 - More of the same!

Very heavy rain overnight again last night! So much that the parks folks got out a gas powered pump and are pumping out low lying area adjacent to a few campsites here in the Wasagaming campground. It's still cool and cloudy (only 14C), so a lot of time is being spent in the camper, also a good day to do laundry. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

June 25/07 - More RAIN!!

It rained heavily overnight, and it's still overcast and misty. We decided to check out the Bison enclosure and do some shopping in Eriksson:

There were 3 bull bison out in the open:







June 24/07 - Interesting Weather!

Lots of unsettled weather around us, last night we got a substantial amount of hail. There were further twisters reported south of us. There actually are a couple of "dimples" on the truck roof, nothing substantial, the awning and trailer roof look OK.

We did our morning walk into town with Kasey and took a couple of shots on the way. These are pictures of the boat docks and swimming area in town:











We took an afternoon hike around the camp ground and bike path. The weather cleared up and we were able to have a fire in the evening.



June 23/07 - Yesterday's tornado missed us!

There were a couple of tornadoes in southern Manitoba yesterday late afternoon, near Portage. Here in Riding Mountain the dark clouds missed us and we didn't get any wind or rain. Today is supposed to be a rerun of yesterday in terms of weather, we will be looking out for any dark clouds.

June 22/07 - Riding Mountain National Park - Wasagaming Manitoba.

We got into Riding Mountain just after lunch today. The weather is hot and sunny, but a thunderstorm watch is posted by Environment Canada. Looks like the storm passed us by, we are keeping a close watch.

As I was updating the web site, Suzette called me outside to look at a young deer in the empty camp site beside us. He was tame enough to allow a couple of pictures until Kasey barked and sent him on his way!







We will be here until after the Canada day weekend.


June 21/07 - Traveler's RV Resort, Winnipeg Manitoba

This is our usual stop before we hit Riding Mountain NP north of Portage. Weather is great, bugs aren't too bad.

A picture of the high $$ class "A" units beside us:



Beautiful sunshine and green grass:



Our unit with the dish set up. The carpet is drying out from last night's rain.



The Class "A" beside us:



Suzette and Kasey enjoying the weather:



June 20/07 - Rushing River Provincial Park near Kenora Ontario

We stayed at this park as a stop between Madsen and Winnipeg Manitoba, we couldn't get on-line because of trees.

June 18 - 19/07 - Madsen Ontario

We are at our daughter and son-in-law's house, we are enjoying being here! Al has been put to work helping with installation of a new laminate floor.

Pictures and details to follow!

June 17/07 Noon central time - Sandbar Lake Provincial Park

We arrived at this very quiet park, got a large site with a clear shot to the satellite, so we are on-line!

Some pictures of the lake and beach:



This is a fishing lake, a few boats are out, these fishermen are properly attired, life jackets and all.



The lake is quite rocky on the shorelines except at the beach, it's also shallow which means wavy.



Suzette couldn't resist getting back at me for all those pictures Ive taken of her! The new Clarks black walking shoes look strange on the beach



This is the main beach, a small creek empties into the lake in the center of the beach area.



Another picture of the beach, the buoys are ready for the summer swimmers.



Another view of the lake. It's partially overcast, but I don't think it will rain. This is one of the cleaner, better organized Ontario provincial parks that we have been in.



June 16/07 - Leaving thunder Bay

Kasey's problems turned out to be relatively minor, and his hot spots are on the mend. This morning , we hit the road for Sandbar Lake Provincial Park, about 300 km. west of here in the central time zone, so we gain an hour!

It rained heavily yesterday evening and it is cloudy this morning, hopefully it will clear later today. We got almost bitten alive, the bugs really came alive after the rain last night!


June 14/07 - Thunder Bay KOA

This has become a regular stop for us, it's a good spot to do laundry and it has full services including sewer. It's pretty quiet at this time of year, and the bugs are not too bad.

Change in plans (June 15/07)!

We had intended to stay here only one night, but we had to book a vet appointment for Kasey today(he is a high maintenance dog you know!).

He has some hot spots and the bugs did some biting inside his ears, so he will be poked and prodded this afternoon at 2:30.

In the meantime, we went into TB and took some pictures, gassed up and checked the vet's location for this afternoon's appointment.

This is the Terry Fox monument just east of T. They did a great job setting up the monument in a rest area:



This is a view of the grain elevators from a nice park/marina on the lake shore:



Another view of the marina:



A large stitched image was taken of Thunder Bay from the Terry Fox monument. It's about 1 meg in size, so it will be slow to load. View it here

June 12 & 13/07 - Pukaskwa National Park, near Marathon Ontario.

We stayed at our favorite northern Ontario park for 2 days, we were one of perhaps a total of 3 campers in the park.

This is a stitched image of one of the coves in the park, the lake was almost calm when the pictures were taken:



This is a shot of the harbour near the visitor center:



On the radio, someone indicated that Lake Superior was at it's lowest level in almost 80 years, you can see on the rock where the high water level normally is, seems about 4 feet low!!



Kasey got more than his share of swimming in while we were there!




June 11/07 - Obatanga Provincial Park near White River Ontario.

We stayed here for a night, the bugs continued to be troublesome, but we did have a fire!!

June 10/07 - Rabbit Blanket Lake campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park.

We made it here about 2:30 pm today. No pictures yet, it's too buggy outside (lots of no-see-ums!). We are inside the RV trying to keep bite free.

June 8 & 9 - Chutes Provincial Park

We are heading to northern Ontario and into Manitoba for a shorter summer trip this year. We expect to be on the road for about a month.

This year we bypassed Grundy PP and made it directly to Chutes near Sudbury, a distance of just under 500 km. from home.

Here are some initial pictures of the new trailer and of the park:



It's spring, a lot of water is flowing over the rocks.



There are two bridges across the river like the one below. The construction is custom fabricated steel, not sure how they formed the angles on the tubes.




















Suzette took a few pictures of the new trailer. At 30 ft. it's a foot longer than our old unit, but the 3 slides really increase the inside space.

The two awning arrangement actually gives us more shade than the older unit.


























We are very happy with the new trailer, the first night sleeping in it proved to be very comfortable. There are a few minor glitches to work out, but no show stoppers.

Tomorrow (Sunday), we leave for Lake Superior Provincial park, with a short stop in the Sault to gas up.