SUMMER '06: Day 3-Part 1-Manitoulin Morning

Good morning Manitoulin...gosh you are a chilly one in August!

We woke with our alarm clocking beeping in our ear, telling us that it was 6am and it was time to get up and get the car packed and ready to go. We were off to our first provincial park today!

The evening before, we had two racoon visitors to our campsite. Of course we hadn't fed them, and while packing the car this particular morning, we found that racoons are pretty smart creatures! They must have known that we had put all of our food in the car, as their paw prints were all over the bumper and the car doors! This incident would later inspire an idea of my own.

The drive for Day 3 was an estimated 6 or 7 hour drive, and would take us all along the north shore of the north channel of Lake Huron, past Espanola, Massey, Sault Ste. Marie., and then into Lake Superior Provincial Park. We were booked in at Agawa Bay Campground for two nights, on a beach-side campsite. Should be awesome if the weather prevails!

We had our car packed within 20 minutes and were ready to go. Luckily the front gate was open for us, so that we could continue on. We stopped for a few minutes at the boardwalk to say our good-mornings and goodbyes to Providence Bay. The sun was setting quite beautifully over the bay. The air was crisp, with a slight cool wind emerging off the soft waves coming in from Lake Huron. A beautiful spot, but we had a long drive ahead, so we only did stop for a few minutes to enjoy the sunrise.
We did stop once more for a lovely sunrise shot over Lake Mindemoya. The lake was like glass, casting perfect reflections of the wispy morning skies above.

After a quick stop for a perfect shot, we continued on to the town of Little Current, which is located on the north shore of Manitoulin Island, and the last town before crossing over to the mainland.

We stopped along the waterfront of Little Current for a quick break and to grab some early morning shots of of the North Channel narrows and the Iron Swing Bridge crossing the channel.

Nice thing was, we were able to view the bridge as it swung open for approaching vessels!

We stopped for gas in Little Current and this was the first place where I noticed some good looking beef jerky being sold. I would regret later the brand I bought, however this set off a chain reaction of buying beef jerky at nearly every major town centre along the way.

After gassing up, we drove across the Little Current bridge, back onto the mainland, and to the city of Espanola, where we could stop for a refreshing break at good old Tim Hortons Espanola is one of Ontario's leading pulp and paper towns, and is located just 45 minutes West of Sudbury.

And then we we were back on the road and off to the shores of Gitchee-Gumee

Next! Day 3-Part 2: Hello Lake Superior!