Dominic is determined, persistent and commited to going it alone. He decides what he wants to do and how he will do it. If it does not go his way, any alternative suggestion is met with feirce resistance. He wants to work through whatever the challenge. This is at once a wonderful and frustrating exercise in patience and and problem-solving. “Hey Dom, let me put your helmet on.” He responds “No,” also his favourite word at the moment, “I do it.” Time to get dressed, let me put your shoes on, let me help you with that, walk the dog, put you lifevest on, take that lifevest off – “I do it” ALL!

I do it.

I did it!

A short day of travel to finish the journey was actually a six hour affair, but we made it! We hit our stride right away and Catherine went with Jules, Gramma Yolo and cousin Carter to the market and a play in Wakefield. The rest of the boys settled into the patio and got the long term camp set up.

It has been swimming everyday, visits to the markets, campfires, sunsets, trampoline time and all sorts of adventures for the family and our four legged companions.

We took our time at Pancake Bay in the morning. Family needed a re-group after the late arrival the previous night. We did pack up relatively efficiently and as we completed the process we all went to the lake. We dipped our feet in Superior, collected stones for Houdini’s garden and ran and played in the sand. We checked out good campsites for potential visits on the way home or in years to come. There are lots, the whole place is very beautiful and I think we could spend an entire vacation there. As we left, a fun run just began and we checked out the other events on the park bulletin…lots happening, great place!

The next leg saw us get 80kms down the road and break for lunch in Sault Ste. Marie. We ate Aurora’s pizza which was amazing and had a two plus hour break. So, at about 2:30pm we set out for our second to last destination, Bracebridge, ON. It was a bang on trip. Good timing for pit stops and cooperative young ones. We arrived at the Wilson clan’s humble abode by 10:30pm and all settled in for a good sleep.

We had a couple of restful nights parked inthe driveway and some great walks on the trail system. The pit stop in the Muskoka’s was highlighted by Russell Guy meeting his Aunt Sas and Uncle Scott for the first time and the whole family spending time with Great Grandma Ivie.

Building from our success of the previous day’s travel we set out from Thunder Bay in the hopes of a repeat performance (worth noting that this had not happened on the trip yet). We set out late. Having lost an hour, this was not so surprising. In fact this was to be more of an omen. Nothing lined up for us, the kids didn’t cooperate and Catherine and I were off. Yet we pushed on amidst swarms of blackflies at stops of interest. The first stop of interest was the Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay. This is a must stop on any cross Canada journey. Jules was riveted by his story and for the next 500kms asked regularly “Is this where the Fox man ran?”

We had some fun, but fought the day. Our three step long distance day plan did not work out; no one napped, no one slept on the final leg, and I would have kept driving into the night once they had fallen asleep but Catherine stopped us at Pancake Bay. Good call!

Setting out from Falcon Lake, MB we did end up with wet feet and damp shirts. However, we did dodge the brunt of another surly day and were on the highway again before the rains began in earnest. We weren’t quite sure where we would end up on this the day we bagn the long haul across the top of Lake Superior. There are many nice provincial parks on route and we had even whispered the idea of making it all the way to Thunder Bay. In the end the stars aligned and we did just that.

Our dodging of dodgy weather did continue though. We stopped in Dryden, ON and found the Rotary Park for lunch. We basically had the place to ourselves and so we chose the picnic table closest to the lake and playground. No sooner was the avocado being doled out that the skies closed in around us. We decided to head for the shelter and as soon as we started to organize our things it became a sprint for cover. I had to make several trips, which Blizzard interpreted as play time, and despite the torrential downpour I was happy to oblige. A good break for everyone meant several good hours on the road. Our next stop was White River, ON.

Stopping for dinner at the Winnie the Pooh park and White River visitor centre, the boys hopped on and off the stationary train car and explored all of the playground completely oblivious to the constant rain. I whipped up some tomato soup, noodle soup and assorted leftovers for a quick but warm meal, capped by a round of ice cream sandwiches. Everyone, then into their PJs and on the road again. The rest of the evening miles were naming each lake as we passed it for Julian and explaining how they might have come by their monikers. He then took up the challenge to name all the lakes that we could not based on some observation. Tower Lake, Hill Lake, Round Lake… In the end, we actually made it to Thunder Bay. As we rolled in, Jules piped up “There must be lots of lightning and thunder here. Thunder Bay must be named for thunder!” On that note we arrived to Trowbridge Falls municipal campground and set up for the night. Lots of cool sites and great campground roads for learning to ride a bike!

If you missed the 10 second news report on       CBC’s the National, then you might have missed that Dawson Creek had a once in a hundred years flood in June. This extreme weather event saw 110mm of rain fill the city with water. After that, the Henrys just tried to keep their heads above the surface in the days leading to our trans Canada adventure. Pushed events, changed meeting schedules etc. etc. kept us hopping. We managed to dodge most of the potentially major hiccups and hit the road only a day late.

That’s not Mr. DC in the picture…

From dodging schedule disasters we are now dodging thunderstorms and as with our schedules we are being mostly successful. Starting night one on the road, at Carson Pegasus provincial park, we just got a fire going after wrapping up a walk and jumping in our PJs when thunder roared around us and the heavy sky finally burst. (This only minutes after I told Julian a ghost story revolving around thunder. I even made a point of surprising him at the end of the story. This required a solid Freddy the Frog anecdote to calm nerves before bed.) It was a quick scramble to clean up and overall everything stayed dry, except me. Early to bed on night one.

After a night of rain we awoke to dreary skies but no drizzle. We packed up and hit the road. No sooner were we rolling then the rains came down. We were heading for Saskatoon and it was on and off rain the whole way. Lunch in Edmonton was great. We found an awesome school playground with ample parking and an adjacent leash free dog park. Nice work Edmonton. This was all by accident though and city driving/navigating is not where Catherine and I excel at making collaborative decisions. In any case, we all played and walked and as soon as we started for the trailer to get set for the road again…boom, the skies opened up. Another leg of the journey with wet feet and damp shirt. We arrived just to Camperland RV park just outside of Saskatoon late, quickly set up shop, and hit the hay.

We casually got going on the morning of day three. We were going to see where the road led us. We were going to try and swim at the park pool. Alas we were not allowed as rain was predicted. With this prediction we started to organize. Laundry started, trailer organized, impromptu bike riding lesson. As Catherine showered, I was loading up the boys and gathering our scattered belongings.

Trailer was packed up dry, which was great because as I was sorting the remnants of a tornado that incredibly struck only my lot, the skies unleashed a prairie monsoon that soaked me to the bone in a minute. Catherine made it back, showered twice, and so we drove to the laundry house and waited for the dryer to finish.

On the road again, heading for Manitoba. Wet feet? Check. Damp shirt? Check. Our drive on day three meandered through Saskatchewan but did not stall out. We drove through some epic weather on our way to Russell.

Stopping in Colonsay for gas, the tap turned off. We headed to Manitou springs and passed through blinding sheets of rain,  only to arrive with parting clouds. Highway 15 took us the rest of the way to Russell MB and as we neared, the skies darkened to the colour of Saskatoon berries. This was an unbelievable contrast to the fields of lemon yellow canola. About 30kms outside of Russell the boys were antsy and we were trying to point out anything of interest, praying another prairie train would roll by soon to keep their attention. Then the two storms on either side of us came together. It was as if the lights were turned down and any noise from the boys vanished.

Lightning exploded next to us and a sideways rain drove into the side of the trailer, pushing it sideways. As I strained at the road ahead we emerged from the storm as quickly as it surrounded us. The temperature changed 5-10 degrees three times as we passed through the storm. Entering the town of Russell as the last light of the day faded I fully expected to set up camp in the rain. This was, amazingly, not to be. The clouds drifted away and we stayed dry. I stared at the Big Dipper drifting off to sleep.

The only rain in Russell came as we departed. In fact, only as we did the tourist picture at the Welcome to Russell sign did we get drenched. Day 4… Wet feet? Check. Damp shirt? Check.

Camping was free in Russell at Peace Park and the drive through Manitoba was awesome! We definitely passed through some more prairie rains, but all rather quickly. For lunch the skies even provided some sunshine in Portage LaPrairie, where we barbecued and picked strawberries. At our arrival in Falcon Lake we grabbed our site and ate well. We even went for an evening walk to the beach. Forced back to camp only as the clouds collapsed around the lake and the rain began. We made it back though and Catherine was the only one to suffer wet feet and damp shirt working to get stuff out of the rain as it began in earnest.

Maybe hitting a stride… I think Manitoba, with its good camping, good roads and beautiful communities helped us out.

Looked at the forecast for tomorrow and it seems there is s good chance of wet feet and damp shirts!

On the road again! Makin’ miles! Keepin’ time with the telephone poles! As the school year closed, a corner in 2016 was turned. The last seven months have been a blur. It seems like haulin’ across the country is actually a change of pace. What happened seven months ago? What happened over the last seven months? Many things, hopefully many posts to tell the tales. But for now…

We are road trippin’! We are travellin’ the beaten and untrodden path! We are in Russell Manitoba!

As I write this post (it has taken three days, spotty internet etc. etc.) I am making coffee, feeding the young man of the same name as our host village and getting a lunch bag put together. Everyone else by some road trip miracle is sleeping in.

It has taken us this far to find our groove but we are also more seasoned and have not had any roadside meltdowns. (Thinking circa 2012, potential divorce by Grande Prairie!) Our groove seems to be changing every day though as we figure something out and get better. That being said, it seems that the spirit of Houdini is pushing us along as every day it is “squirrel!” And we choose the left turn instead of the well researched right. Yesterday this took us to the ‘Dead Sea of Canada’ found in Southern Saskatchewan. Who knew? So Squirrel turned into three hours on a sometimes super sketchy secondary highway. However, it provided us with quintessential Saskatchewan.

Good Mornin’ Dom. ‘Bout to get goin’…

See Catherine’s Facebook for pics. Catherine Ducheminski