Rouyn to Lennoxville

From Rouyn we drove south to a spot in the Laurentions where my mother has a cabin. No one has been up in over a year so we were a bit concerned. Last winter there was a good deal of snow and we wonder at times how long the roof is going to last.

We found everything in good shape and after some repairs to the chimney and some of the screening everything was fine.

Did I mention we saw a bear on the drive in. Very cool.

Chris and I took the canoe out after super as it was getting dark, and the moon was rising. Very pretty.

This morning early. a pair of mature loons and a young one swam no morethan 30 feed from where I was standing. It was a beautiful, misty morning.

We drove out early this morning, dropped off in Ste Anne de Bellevue for a quick visit then were off the Lennoxville and got Chris moved in.

This is a lovely small university town. Chris will have a great bike ride to class but a bit of an uphill climb home

Well it turned out it wasn't Crickets.

After breakfast at our favorite Petro-Canada restaurant in Marathon we noticed a kind of chirp from the engine. We investigated but couldn't figure it out.

By Wawa is was worse but seemly manageble. By Timmins (Shania Twain's home town) it was like lying in a bed of crickets. After a quick lunch and a further investigation we decided that perhaps the Chrysler dealership would be the best bet.

So, 3 hours and $340.00 later we had another serpentine belt and a new tension thingy and we were on our way again.

We quit in Rouyn-Noranda and grabbed a room at the east end of town, tired and hungry. We drove back into downtown and had a good pizza and a beer at Pizzadelic.Good to be back in Quebec.

Tomorrow we are off to the cabin.

Kenora - Marathon

To be honest before my friend Vance moved to Morden,Manitoba, I had never heard of the place. So, imagine my surprise when I opened the Winnipeg Free Press over breakfast this morning (It isn't owned by CanWest so is still like a real newspaper) and there was story about someone from Mordon who is now farming oysters on Cortes Island in B.C. Who knew?

So we are on the road again. We were going to drive the nothern route vis Kapiskasing but the thought of that mind numbing drive made us look for alternatives. So, today we drove from Kenora to Marathon. At least you get some good Lake Superior views. So, another 800 km and then some. There is not much to Marathon, The papermill closed so there isn't much work.

The desk clerk at the hotel told me her husband worked at the mill for 40 years then retired. The mill closed some time after that and with the closing the company took away his bridging and 25% of his pension. No matter how you cut it that should not happen. The fact that that employer, still operates in this country, untouched, is criminal.

There are not alot of choices to eat in Marathon. It was either the Chinese Restaurant which everyone recommended but, where there was a line up or the restaurant at the Petro-Canada station. Not exactly fine dining but, as good as it gets in Marathon, on a Sunday night.

Off to Rouyn tomorrow.