A.J. Gets Ready for his Big Adventure
That’s my grandson, Adrien James Munger, anticipating his first road trip beyond the limits of the state line. From the serious look on his face, he’s obviously worried about traveling with his parents, his paternal grandparents, and his Uncle Jack in two separate vehicles on a journey that will take him through two Canadian provinces and six American states. But, as it turns out, other than a little glitch in Quebec City, A.J.’s concerns proved unfounded.
When my wife Rene’ and my daughter-in-law Lisa came up with their “big idea” to take a road trip through Ontario and Quebec to Bar Harbor, Maine, well, I have to say, A.J. wasn’t the only one who viewed the adventure with a skeptic’s eye. In fact, given that the trip was being planned during the ugliness of this past winter and my grandson wasn’t even out of the womb, I believe that I, not my grandson, was the original critic of this planned excursion.
“Two cars.”
“How’s that?” my wife asked as we considered the route and the cities we’d visit on the trip.
“I will love my grandson or granddaughter to death in the confines of a rocking chair,” I advised, “but I am not driving three thousand miles in a car with an infant. Been there,” I asserted, referencing our own four boys and the countless road trips we’d taken as a family. “Done that.”
So it was that, with A.J. newly arrived and in the process of being breast fed, that the six of us began our journey north, towards Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. We were shooting for an early departure. There were two problems with our plan: A.J. was hungry and needed to be fed. And so did his dad, my eldest son Matt. So the first leg of our collected trip (Matt and Lisa and A.J. drove their first leg from Hibbing to Duluth) ended at the Duluth Grill in Duluth’s West End. Our tummies and gas tanks filled, we left town a few hours behind schedule.
Near Bruce Crossing, MI we chanced upon a tiny stream with a remarkable waterfall that begged inspection. Jack, never one to avoid the water, decided it was a great place to take a quick shower…with his clothes on!
Jack’s Unscheduled Shower
Lisa and Jack at a Bistro in Marquette, MI
We stopped again in Marquette and spent some time in the park along the waterfront before eating at a local bistro in the quaint old downtown. Then it was back into the Suburban (Matt’s car) and the Pacifica (mine) for the long drive to Sault Ste. Marie. After crossing the International Bridge in a line of cars composed mostly of Canadians returning home, we pulled into the KOA and our waiting Kamping Kabins three hours behind schedule. After a night of rest and a quick shower followed by a MacDonald’s breakfast, Rene’, Jack and I took in the Canadian locks on the St. Mary’s River and walked the adjacent Ojibwe wildlife sanctuary while Matt, Lisa, and A.J. got an early start on the drive to North Bay.
The Canadian Locks at the Soo
North Bay, Ontario proved to be surprising, both in its size and its beauty. I’d never been that far north in central Ontario, and certainly had never stopped at Lake Nippissing.
The town is built right up to the white sand shores of the lake, a body of water that, through the St. Francis River, empties into Lake Huron. We met Matt, Lisa, and A.J. at the Terrace Suites just east of town, our arrival delayed additionally by Maggie’s reluctance to cooperate.
Maggie? Who’s Maggie, you ask? Well, my Pacifica has a built-in GPS display which, in most situations, proves to be accurate. I’ve named this helpful tool, Maggie. Or, when she’s non-compliant and I want her attention, I’ve been known to be call her “Margaret”: As in, “Where the hell are you taking me, Margaret?” In any event, using a GPS that has 2007 data (I assume that’s the age of the information stored in the thing;the car is a 2008 model) doesn’t always jive with present reality. It took several cell phone calls to Matt to sort out just where the Terrace Suites of North Bay was actually located. In the interim, we had a lovely tour of North Bay following Maggie’s lead and Jack learned a few new words from his father.
Sunset over Lake Nippissing, Ontario
The next day we covered the remainder of north central Ontario and part of western Quebec before arriving in Montreal. Once situated at the Best Western on the outskirts of that truly international city, Rene’ talked to the desk clerk (thankfully, most folks speak passable English because none of our crew speaks French…a fact which will become important later on in this tale of adventure) and that helpful mademoiselle gave us directions to the nearest subway station.That evening, our third of the trip, while exploring Montreal, we learned the following: We had landed in one of the largest cities in Eastern Canada smack dab in the middle of preparations for Canada Day so there were hordes of people everywhere; and we also learned that Lisa isn’t all that fond of crepes.
Rene’ in Old Montreal at Night
Why is it that some big cities are smart enough to include rail service, either subways or trains, from the ‘burbs to the center city? My family, on various trips over the four decades we’ve been parents, has taken trains in Montreal, Chicago, Washington D.C., and, with the addition of the light rail in the Twin Cities, from Bloomington to the Dome for Twins games. It’s an easy way to avoid parking headaches and, as you’ll learn in part two of this travelogue, something that would have saved us grief in the capitol city of Quebec. Even traveling with a newborn, the subway in and out of downtown Montreal, on a night filled with drunk Canadians (including a group on the train who were downright obnoxious) getting tuned up to celebrate their nation’s freedom from the Queen, mass transit was definitely the way to travel.
In the morning, we went back into the city on Canada Day. There were mimes and characters on stilts and speeches and food covering every square inch of old downtown, all engaged in the festivities and open for business despite the fact it was Sunday. Taking a break along the harbor front, I had Rene’ snap a photo of me reading New World Finn, a great little newspaper that I just happened to have in my back pocket as we sat down for coffee. I gathered, as the photo will attest, quite a crowd as I perused the news.
Mark Reading “New World Finn” in Montreal
It was a hot, full day in the old city. Despite the still, heavy air and throngs of people, we managed to maintain our composure as a group and take it all in without incident. Of course, there were ample opportunities for Rene’ and Lisa to shop. In fact, there were so many shops lining the cobblestone streets that there was no way the women could visit them all, though they made the boldest of attempts to do just that! Jack was content to buy a couple of soccer balls, neither of which, by the way, had even the remotest connection to Canada or Montreal. Go figure.
The Mungers (minus the patriarch) in Montreal on Canada Day
The next morning, we were back in our cars, headed for Bar Harbor, Maine to spend three days and nights (including Independence Day) on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. But that’s the subject of the second installment of this blog.
Peace.
Mark
