Where on Earth is Wawa?
May 13, 2006
Gas in Marathon, Ontario cost us $1.269/litre – the most we’ve ever paid. But we parked in the back of the gas station and managed to receive the wifi signal that eluded us the night before.
Ontario doesn’t cater to RV travellers. There’s a terrific lack of scenic viewpoints or even pullouts on the Lake Superior coastline even in the provincial parks. Where they had picnic areas, they were down winding narrow roads and we were never sure we’d be able to turn around in them. We finally found a scenic lookout that we could pull into and met a local man there – he was from north of Wawa (this means wild goose in Ojibway and there’s a huge statue of a goose at the entrance to town). 
He was interested in our motorhome and the tow vehicle in particular so we had a discussion on the merits of towing four wheels down as opposed to on a dolly. While he chattered on incessantly, his wife kept her distance and Fernie clambered aboard Maggie and started up her motor. That gave me the excuse I needed to say, “Gotta go!”
As we drove south, it was apparent that spring had progressed and it appeared we’d finally left winter behind. The various trees were clad in the colours of their spring foliage creating a patchwork quilt of textures and shades. The evergreens were still spindly and over shone by the melange of deciduous trees. Huge boulders and cliffs of pink granite gave additional colour to the scene.
Sault Ste. Marie was our destination for the day and its Walmart was our host for the night but we had plenty of time to wander around town and revel in its sights. We had our first restaurant meal since we left home at the Docks Riverfront Grill. It was on the St. Mary’s River, which connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron and also runs along the Canada/US border. It was here that we finally had a moose sighting. The sun was lowering in the west and the water was glistening as if a million jewels lay beneath the surface and there was no better place to enjoy a meal.
It was Saturday night and the locals came out to celebrate in large family groups. The onion ring tower seemed to be the most popular appetizer and we watched families devour them quickly and reorder a second. We tried their specialty, something called ‘white fish’…. the no-name fish? I guess it’s probably a Great Lakes fresh water species, but funny they didn’t give it a name.
I’ll have to find out more about it. With a little persuasion, I convinced Fernie to order the ‘senior’ dinner, when our server told us it was exactly the same as the regular – just a bit smaller. It arrived on square platters (14” square) – I can’t imagine the size of the regular one. We partnered our dinner with an Ontario Chardonnay…..it tasted more like Chablis to me.
Gas in Marathon, Ontario cost us $1.269/litre – the most we’ve ever paid. But we parked in the back of the gas station and managed to receive the wifi signal that eluded us the night before.
Ontario doesn’t cater to RV travellers. There’s a terrific lack of scenic viewpoints or even pullouts on the Lake Superior coastline even in the provincial parks. Where they had picnic areas, they were down winding narrow roads and we were never sure we’d be able to turn around in them. We finally found a scenic lookout that we could pull into and met a local man there – he was from north of Wawa (this means wild goose in Ojibway and there’s a huge statue of a goose at the entrance to town). 
He was interested in our motorhome and the tow vehicle in particular so we had a discussion on the merits of towing four wheels down as opposed to on a dolly. While he chattered on incessantly, his wife kept her distance and Fernie clambered aboard Maggie and started up her motor. That gave me the excuse I needed to say, “Gotta go!”
As we drove south, it was apparent that spring had progressed and it appeared we’d finally left winter behind. The various trees were clad in the colours of their spring foliage creating a patchwork quilt of textures and shades. The evergreens were still spindly and over shone by the melange of deciduous trees. Huge boulders and cliffs of pink granite gave additional colour to the scene.
Sault Ste. Marie was our destination for the day and its Walmart was our host for the night but we had plenty of time to wander around town and revel in its sights. We had our first restaurant meal since we left home at the Docks Riverfront Grill. It was on the St. Mary’s River, which connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron and also runs along the Canada/US border. It was here that we finally had a moose sighting. The sun was lowering in the west and the water was glistening as if a million jewels lay beneath the surface and there was no better place to enjoy a meal.
It was Saturday night and the locals came out to celebrate in large family groups. The onion ring tower seemed to be the most popular appetizer and we watched families devour them quickly and reorder a second. We tried their specialty, something called ‘white fish’…. the no-name fish? I guess it’s probably a Great Lakes fresh water species, but funny they didn’t give it a name.
I’ll have to find out more about it. With a little persuasion, I convinced Fernie to order the ‘senior’ dinner, when our server told us it was exactly the same as the regular – just a bit smaller. It arrived on square platters (14” square) – I can’t imagine the size of the regular one. We partnered our dinner with an Ontario Chardonnay…..it tasted more like Chablis to me.
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6:08 AM
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