VE1BC Spud Roscoe


The 2011 Trip
Part 177 – Wawa to Sudbury, Ontario
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 We were up at 3:30AM and Joan managed to get this beast to work so that we could send emails. Joan sent one to her brother Glenn and I cleaned up what I had been trying to send last evening. I finally went back to bed at 4:25AM. This computer business can be very frustrating at times. I got up at 7:45AM to find Joan sitting here sending emails. At 8:15AM I had a good chat with Dave, VE2EDB, running the TPN – Trans Provincial Net – on 7055 kilohertz. It is good to be back. Our neighbour up on the hill owns a Volkswagen and Audi dealership in Switzerland. He said he felt it would hit zero last night. Joan claims there was frost on the red car the guy from Canning was towing. It was cool and the temperature had a hard time getting above 44F yesterday. It is a nice sunny morning but there does not seem to be the heat in the sun here that one would expect. Oh well, as long as it is sunny one can live with the rest of it. This was the poorest Internet connection we have had. It is so slow it was liable to meet itself coming back. I tried several times to open an email from cousin Liz. We made it on the fourth try but was unable to open her attachment. After my morning shower we got around and on the road. We had water and electricty only at site 70. We dumped at the dump station, the first time we have done that in a long while; like several years. The owner was around with her ATV and probably son or grandson, Parker. A cute little guy about three years old. They were collecting the garbage and checking things. We finally got on the road at 10:32AM. It is beautiful country but a long tiring drive. The sun shone most of the time. The trucks thermometer had a hard time getting above 45F. We came to Pancake Bay a place we remember from a previous visit at 12:19PM. We pulled into the Agawa Indian Crafts for diesel. I'll be darned. Two teenage boys came out and listed all the things available. They topped up our diesel tank and washed every window on the truck including the back window and cleaned all the running lights on both the truck and trailer. We took on board 60.102 litres of diesel at $1.369 per litre for a total of $82.28. Unreal and highly recommended by Joan and Spud. They had everything from a dog collar to a doughnut for sale including free complementary coffee. The boys wanted to know where we had been and were fascinated by our trip thus far. We got back on route 17 South or East depending on where you are on that route. A nice sunny day and several vehicles to either pass or let pass one. We went through a bit of Sault Ste. Marie because that is the way route 17 takes one. We went through several sets of lights and so on but no big deal. We were pretty well out of cash and kept an eye out for a TD Bank but did not see one. We have had our credit cards for years and years and they were renewed with a chip and pin number. We have never used the pin number until coming down 17. They want the pin and we have no idea what it is. That is the reason we want a TD Bank to sort that out. There is always something. Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury is 303 kilometres so we kept trucking. We pulled into a snowplow turn out with an 18-wheeler already there. We had a half hour snooze and left the 18-wheeler still there when we left. Right after leaving the snowplow turn out we passed a proper picnic area. The only one we saw from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury.

These are three of Joan's scenery photographs of the day. It was up and down hill a lot. I used the manual shift on the Allison transmission a number of times to hold her back going down. Lord, the road was rough coming into Sudbury. It nearly shook things to pieces especially in the city. I swerved to avoid a deep pot hole once and managed to drag the trailer tires along a curb. Oh well, at least I did not bend nor break anything. The traffic was thick rush hour and I did not hit anyone so I reckon one can do no better. We pulled over into Bob's Service Centre at Spanish, Ontario, at 4:30PM and topped up the diesel tank. We took on board 56.967 litres of diesel at $1.299 per litre for a total of $74.00. The old gal working the diesel pump wanted to know what part of Nova Scotia we came from and all about our trip when she noticed the license plates. She was French and said she had an aunt living in Berwick at one time. I failed to get the aunts name. It is highly unlikely I would have known her but now wish I had in case someone else would have known her. We kept trucking and could not decide whether to go to Wal-Mart or a campground. We decided to pull into Wal-Mart and see if we liked it and if not carry on to the campground. We pulled into the Wal-Mart at 6:03PM and have decided to stay. There was no TD Bank in sight but we managed to get some cash from a CIBC bank machine that charged our TD account $1.50 for the transaction. We will find a TD Bank later on down the trail. It was a long tiring day. The navigator was as tired as I was and claimed she would have one of her headaches in the morning from all the driving. The mileage from Wawa to Sudbury was 543 kilometres. Yes, it was a long day. We did not realize it was that far. We parked the truck and trailer down alongside the Wal-Mart store and went right in to the store. We finally found the CIBC machine in the food court and once we had money we had a Tim's coffee and a Subway sandwich. We shall call it dinner or supper, the choice is yours. Joan went into the Wal-Mart store and bought some milk on the way back to the trailer. I simply went to the trailer. Joan sat here for a few minutes on her return and decided to go back in to the store. She will have our camping fee paid before she is finished and the reason Wal-Mart encourages we campers to park here. A motorhome was here with us when we came out. I moved the truck and trailer under a light stand when I came out. An 18-wheeler was quite close to me and backed into the discharge shoot of Wal-Mart shortly after I moved the truck and trailer. We do not want to be a nuisance and in the way. Besides we feel better under the light and according to the sign on the post they want me to smile because I'm on camera. I'm smiling! Our day ended when Joan returned from creating inflation at Wal-Mart. Another interesting day is history.
Click HERE to email Spud

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

We were up at 3:30AM and Joan managed to get this beast to work so that we could send emails. Joan sent one to her brother Glenn and I cleaned up what I had been trying to send last evening. I finally went back to bed at 4:25AM. This computer business can be very frustrating at times.

I got up at 7:45AM to find Joan sitting here sending emails. At 8:15AM I had a good chat with Dave, VE2EDB, running the TPN – Trans Provincial Net – on 7055 kilohertz. It is good to be back.

Our neighbour up on the hill owns a Volkswagen and Audi dealership in Switzerland. He said he felt it would hit zero last night. Joan claims there was frost on the red car the guy from Canning was towing. It was cool and the temperature had a hard time getting above 44F yesterday. It is a nice sunny morning but there does not seem to be the heat in the sun here that one would expect. Oh well, as long as it is sunny one can live with the rest of it.

This was the poorest Internet connection we have had. It is so slow it was liable to meet itself coming back. I tried several times to open an email from cousin Liz. We made it on the fourth try but was unable to open her attachment. After my morning shower we got around and on the road. We had water and electricty only at site 70. We dumped at the dump station, the first time we have done that in a long while; like several years. The owner was around with her ATV and probably son or grandson, Parker. A cute little guy about three years old. They were collecting the garbage and checking things.

We finally got on the road at 10:32AM. It is beautiful country but a long tiring drive. The sun shone most of the time. The trucks thermometer had a hard time getting above 45F.

We came to Pancake Bay a place we remember from a previous visit at 12:19PM. We pulled into the Agawa Indian Crafts for diesel. I'll be darned. Two teenage boys came out and listed all the things available. They topped up our diesel tank and washed every window on the truck including the back window and cleaned all the running lights on both the truck and trailer. We took on board 60.102 litres of diesel at $1.369 per litre for a total of $82.28. Unreal and highly recommended by Joan and Spud. They had everything from a dog collar to a doughnut for sale including free complementary coffee.

The boys wanted to know where we had been and were fascinated by our trip thus far.

We got back on route 17 South or East depending on where you are on that route. A nice sunny day and several vehicles to either pass or let pass one.

We went through a bit of Sault Ste. Marie because that is the way route 17 takes one. We went through several sets of lights and so on but no big deal. We were pretty well out of cash and kept an eye out for a TD Bank but did not see one. We have had our credit cards for years and years and they were renewed with a chip and pin number. We have never used the pin number until coming down 17. They want the pin and we have no idea what it is. That is the reason we want a TD Bank to sort that out. There is always something.

Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury is 303 kilometres so we kept trucking. We pulled into a snowplow turn out with an 18-wheeler already there. We had a half hour snooze and left the 18-wheeler still there when we left. Right after leaving the snowplow turn out we passed a proper picnic area. The only one we saw from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury.