A Long Ride from Park To Park

Finally a rather uneventful day, spent driving through Ontario. We left the Rideau River Provincial Park around 8:30 AM and headed north via back farm roads and small towns until we intersected with the Trans-Canada highway (Route 417). Then we headed west. Around 9:30 AM we saw a sign for the Equator Coffee Roasters, next exit, so we took it.

Unlike the food signs on US Interstates, which usually indicate an establishment right off the highway, the sign at the end of the ramp said this one was 14 Km away! We went anyway and were glad we did. If you are ever in Mississippi Mills, Almonte, Ontario, stop at the Equator Coffee Roasters, they have great coffee. We also used the internet to check our bank records and cancel my cash card just in case it's somewhere it shouldn't be.

It is in a small town in the middle of the countryside, on the banks of the Mississippi River (not our Mississippi River--this one runs north into the Ottawa River, which, in turn, runs into the Saint Lawrence at Montreal). Not a likely place for a small coffee roaster to be successful for six years and have a brand new store complete with a "cupping" lab. They seemed to have a steady clientele--not like the line of cars outside the Tim Horton's down the block, but they were probably waiting for the donuts.

After that, it was more country roads back to the now two-lane Trans-Canada 17 and west for another 350 miles, through an exceedingly large number of road construction sites to the town of Massey and the Chutes Provincial Park which contains a pair of nice waterfalls along the Aux Sables River. If you are ever in Massey, the Dragonfly is the place to eat--actually, it seems to be the only place to eat, but the field greens salad, the penne rustica and the baked capelletti were pretty good.

We took another electric site at this park, as they are only four dollars more than the non-electric ones. This means we can bask in Speedy's air conditioning until the outside cools after dark. These Ontario provincial parks are a bit pricey. We expect that we will be able to stay in the Glacier National Park campgrounds for about two weeks for the price of our two nights in Ontario.

Tomorrow, back to the USA.