Sudbury Ontario to Sault Ste Marie Ontario

The travel season was about over but I had one more thing on the bucket list for this year. Although I had lived in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario for three years before moving to Sudbury at the end of 1970 and had been visiting my mother and brother for almost fifty years since then, I had never taken the Agawa Canyon Tour Train operated by the Algoma Central Railway. The fall colour change was very popular so I had made the reservations back in June. Even then, all the weekend seats had been booked but that never bothers those of the retired persuasion.

It was a beautiful fall day as we drove the 180 miles to the Soo. The temperature was about 55 F under mostly sunny skies. Surprisingly, the colour changes on the trees was less than I would have expected for this date.

Construction on the Joe McDonald Memorial Bridge on the Southwest Sudbury Bypass

A small splash of colour...

...but lots of green

A bit of yellow

And the odd early tree

Serpent River

Work on the bridge at Iron Bridge

Near Brownlee Road where we lost Doug in 1983

The roof of the Carolyn Beach Motel - Thessalon Ontario
(which figured greatly in my and Sandy's history)

A beautiful day for a drive

Maples change early

This pole line always attracts ospreys

PetroCanada is looking ahead

We arrived in the Soo about 5:00 PM. The Days Inn and Suites was located on Bay Street and had underground parking. Bay Street was still heavily under construction. We checked in, got our room and then drove over to the new and much downsized ACR station to pick up our tickets.

Approaching Bay Street

The first part is paved - sort of

The stone building on the right is the old ACR office

This is the new ACR building

Some of the Safe Ride Home folks will remember this guy

After we picked up the tickets, we met my brother Dave, aka Rabbi, and the Soo casino for supper. He seemed well known there. Food was great. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and got to bed early.

Today's Route (195 Equinox miles):

Interactive map

Cornwall Ontario to Sudbury Ontario

It was 70 F under a light rain as we left the hotel about 7:00 AM. Traveling north on Highway 138, we saw another southbound V of Canada geese. Rain was still falling when we reached Highway 417 and stopped at McDonald's in Casselman to pick up breakfast.

Approaching Ottawa on 417 around 8:00 AM on a Monday morning was not, in retrospect, one of my best ideas We had encountered some moderately heavy rain after we left Casselman but that had eased by the time we got into the heavy traffic. Past the city centre, our side eased off and, once we left the city, the highway was largely empty.

Bumper to bumper approaching the Ottawa city centre

Past the city centre, traffic on the other side was worse

Highway 417 west of Ottawa

Traffic was light as we continued on to Deep River, where we stopped for fuel.

A hint of blue sky approaching Arnprior

Ominous clouds near Pembroke

We went south of the main storm

One very slow driver

Rain had eased again when we stopped in Deep River for fuel. Gas was relatively cheap and but the spelling wasn't so good..

The next leg took us to Mattawa.

More rain ahead

Construction at Bissett Creek

Deux Rivieres

The gateway to Mattawa

The new Tim's in Mattawa was busy and the parking lot was tricky for trailers. It was raining fairly heavily and the umbrellas were under the suitcases in the back, so we got a little wet at this bathroom break/coffee stop.

When I am done with my travel mug, I usually put it in the wastebasket in the back behind the console for safekeeping. I guess when I swapped it out for a water bottle a while back, I inadvertently put it in the McDonald's bag from Casselman. Then, at the gas stop in Deep River, Sandy threw the McDonald's bag in the trash can. Oh well, I didn't like that travel mug anyway...

Mattawa was our last stop. The rain devolved into an intense fine mist that was hard to keep off the windshield.

Construction at the Corbeil turnoff

A bit of Blue sky near North Bay

The rain is in our rear view mirror

Road straightening at the Veuve River

Using rock from the blasting as fill down the road

We pulled into the driveway about 2:50. Within a half hour, we had the bike unloaded, the trailer disconnected the luggage moved into the house and were off to the grocery store to restock the kitchen

It was a very good trip but bittersweet, since fall was upon us and winter was just around the corner.

Today's Route (359 Equinox/trailer miles):

Interactive map