From Thunder Bay, we decided to take the northern route through Ontario (Hwy 11) as neither of us had been there before. It was much nicer than I was expecting with rolling hills and landscape. Not a lot of campgrounds to choose from so we stopped at Wild Goose Lake Campground near Geraldton. We were so remote that I couldn’t even get a signal for the data on my phone (yikes … no phone or email!). Needless to say, we only stayed one night here. The next day we drove through to Moonbeam where we stayed at a large resort/ campground with a waterpark, beaches and even a restaurant. It was neat to experience but a little too much excitement for us.
Our plan was to stop at the cottage in Latchford and visit the parents. They were arriving on June 27th and we would spend a few days together. We were a little faster then expected so we decided to just arrive early anyway and park at the local campground. The next day they arrived, and we moved the RV to the cottage property. It was a great few days visiting, eating at the local restaurant and taking in the Canada Day festivities in New Liskard.
We left the cottage on the morning of June 30th. Our plan was to go about half way and do the rest in the early morning on Sunday to avoid traffic in Toronto, but as usual, things didn’t go quite according to plan. We decided that Casino Rama in Orillia would be a good stopping point for the evening. When we arrived, there were quite a few RV’s but lots of parking. We saw another trailer that was parked across multiple parking spots, so we decided to do the same. It was still brutally hot, so we went inside the casino immediately. We got new casino passes and we each got $10 free play. We played a little (and lost our free money) and then we went to the buffet for dinner. We went in at 3:55pm and dinner was starting at 4pm so we actually got dinner for lunch time prices … awesome!
After dinner we went out to the RV again, where we were approached by security that said we had to move the RV as there was a concert that night and they needed the parking (we were taking 7 spots). There was a spot where we could move to but it would involve backing in and for that we would have to remove the car first. Seemed like too much of a hassle so we decided to just drive a bit more to Barrie and find a Walmart.
Well, when we got to Barrie, we decided we should still go a little further, so we passed by Barrie and went all the way to Vaughn. We found a Wal-Mart just off the highway there, pulled in and after settling in we saw the signs that said, “no overnight parking”. There was another trailer there so we thought we would just stay and take our chances. At about 9:30, after a long rest, we thought, why don’t we just go to Hamilton already … we are only 45 mins away now.
It was starting to get dark now so I said, if we are going to go, we should do it now while there is daylight. So we decided to go. Of course, it got dark quickly so we were now driving in the dark down the 400, 401, and QEW with vehicle and tow over 50 feet long … CRAZY! But with Joerg’s great driving and my knowledge of the highway, we made it through and found a Walmart in Waterdown with no “prohibitive” signs and lots of room. We were only 15 minutes from the canmpground but the campsites website said they were full so we knew not to arrive early.
The next day, we arrived at the campground around 9:30am, but the people on our site had not left yet. We went into Dundas and had a coffee and a walk around and then back to the campground to check in. We are staying at Olympia Resort and Campground … very nice and with a pool. We are staying here for the full month of July, and with temperatures in the 30’s, if you can’t find me … check the pool.
The Itinerary for our Journey from Winnipeg to Hamilton
Day 50 (June 19) – Winnipeg MB to Dryden ON – Total driven: 340km
Day 51 (June 20) – Dryden ON to Thunder Bay ON – Total driven: 351km
Day 54 (June 23) – Thunder Bay ON to Geraldton ON – Total driven: 261km
Day 55 (June 24) – Geraldton ON to Moonbeam ON – Total driven: 398km
Day 56 (June 25) – Moonbeam ON to Latchford ON – Total driven: 348km
Day 61 (June 30) – Latchford ON to Hamilton ON – Total driven: 557km
