Day 2 - Lake Eaton to Mew Lake

North to Canada

It was cold and wet in the Adirondacks this morning ... good weather for traveling on. We didn't have much packing to do as we'd not unpacked much yesterday when we arrived.

We will enter and leave Canada twice on our way to Alaska. Our planned route takes us through western Ontario, over Lake Huron into the Michigan Upper Peninsula, across the northern states to Montana, then back into Canada traveling north to Alaska.

Most of the day it was lightly raining so there wasn't a good reason to tarry. We continued to follow twisty roads through the Adirondacks to Ogdensburg, NY, where we got fuel (before the expensive gas and diesel of Canada) and crossed the border. Because we've had vegetables confiscated during previous border crossings, we didn't bring much in the way of fresh foods. Also, we were a bit concerned about the half case of wine as it was two bottles over the limit.

Our worries were wasted, however, as all the border agent asked us about was weapons. We declared our bear spray. He only asked to make sure it was labeled "Bear Spray" since pepper spray (aka Mace) is not allowed because it is considered a weapon. Bear spray, more potent and in a larger size, is allowed; it is a defense against wild animals.

Into Ontario, we were headed towards Ottawa. At mid-morning it was time for a coffee stop to discuss where to spend the night. We got off the highway at North Granville following the trail to Geronimo's Coffee, "coffee to wake the dead". Unfortunately, it was closed as was almost everything else in town. Unbeknownst to us today was Victoria Day, the annual celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday. Canada is the only country that still celebrates Queen Victoria's birthday. It is treated much like Memorial Day in the US, the first three-day weekend of the summer.

Thwarted in our quest for supposedly excellent coffee, we found an open Tim Horton's (one of thousands in Canada). Over "perfectly uncomplicated" (Horton's name) lattes, we discussed where to go next.

Algonquin Provincial Park, a few hours up the road and a bit off of our planned route, became our next destination. By the time we arrived, the rains had stopped and things had dried up. We stopped at the Visitor Center to find out about campgrounds, only four are open, and to get the bird list. We stopped to check-out the campground at Mew Lake and scored another pair of lakeside campsites. We probably shouldn't get used to this kind of luck. The forecast for Tuesday is for cool but dry and mostly sunny. Ellen and Sally have a morning birdwalk planned already.

We bought some firewood but eventually decided that it was still too cold and windy to sit out around the fire for dinner, so we all squeezed into Speedy for dinner. "Speedy Pasta" for us, salad nicoise for Harry and Sally, dog treats for Nina.

After another early start and long drive, we all retired early even though it was still light at 9 pm.

Travel Details—Lake Eaton, Adirondack State Park, New York, to Mew Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
Start Time/Mileage: 7:08 am; 53,055 miles
End Time/Mileage: 5:15 pm; 53,369 miles
Travel Time: 10:17
Distance: 314 miles

Photos.