Day 3 - Nipigon to Dryden – Moose Street Party?

It was a pretty uneventful day today. I’d stayed up until about 1:00am working on a web site for a client. The bed was a bit too soft. I woke up at 8:30 with a sore back and a burning desire to get out of that town. The wind was blowing the light cold rain around us. I think the temperature was about 5 degrees. The skies were overcast, again! That’s what the weather has been like all the way so far.

We drove straight to Thunder Bay and searched around for a while to find a decent place for breakfast. A Western Omelette, 2 glasses of milk and some toast and 30 minutes and we were off again! We headed straight north along 121 to 11. I was supposed to head west for about a half hour to visit Kakabeka Falls. That’s the second travel tip that Wilf has sent me, and I’ve missed them both. Send one more Wilf – I’ll make it to the next one. I promise!

We drove past the Arctic Watershed and got a picture. We stopped at “The Beaver Post”. I HAD to see what that was. It was somewhat disappointing to find they sold souvenirs, moccasins and hunting stuff. We got a coffee, a coke, heard a story about “Good Christian Community” and got the hell out of there. We both had to pee. They had an old fashioned outhouse over by the trees. That’s a smell I won’t forget soon!

We put Winnipeg in the GPS as our waypoint when we headed out this morning. We switched that to Kenora part way through the day, and then settled on Dryden when we got to it about 3:30 in the afternoon.

We’re starting to get bored of the same old scenery. I’m sure the flat open prairies are going to break that boredom for about an hour. Not sure how we’ll get through the next couple of days after that!

We saw a lot more of those 'Night Danger' Moose signs. I got to wondering about moose hunters. I must admit, I’ve never gone hunting but, from the little I’ve seen, they seem to get all dressed in camouflaged clothing. Then they put on a red vest and hat (presumably so they don’t shoot each other, but, I think the moose can see that red stuff too) Then they go walk through the woods like camouflaged stop signs, and spend days and week looking for a Moose. It looks to me tat the moose wait until dark and then come out onto the highway and run up and down the road. Wouldn’t the hunters be smarter to just drive, in regular clothing, and shoot them when they pass by!

Maybe I’m spending too much time thinking of dumb shit while driving 6 hours a day!

I remember Dryden from the Polka Dot Door days. (Kathie, I’ll post that story soon). We’d traveled up this way a few times on tour. It looks pretty much the same as I remembered. I’d posted something on Facebook when we got here and, wouldn’t you know it, I have a friend who grew up here! I’m glad I hadn’t gone on one of my rants about the wonders of the place. I’ll go say Hi to Camille in the morning Louise.

It seems every town has its own big frickin’ statue up here. I went and got pictures of the BF Moose, from the front, side and back. The back faces south, towards Toronto. Are these folks telling us something?

I found a great bag of cheese curds at the grocery store and quickly devoured them. I thought they’d make a good snack along with a half quart of chocolate milk, and then I’d pass on dinner. That should help me loose a few ounces, I thought. Then I read the side of the bag. 880 calories to a bag of cheese curds! No wonder I’m blowing up! I’ll bring in my running gear from the car tonight and go pound the pavement for a wile tomorrow morning to see if I can get rid of some of those curd pounds!

We should hit Winnipeg tomorrow. I’ve got the center o Canada marked in my GPS. I hope to get a picture of that tomorrow too.