I was up early, which is easy to do when you go to bed by 8pm!

I packed up as quietly as possible and then drove to the comfort station for a shower before rolling out at 7:30am.

I really enjoyed driving highway 11 instead of the 17. I went from Quetico to Atikokan (it is just 2-3 km off the highway) and Fort Frances and then I took highway 71 up through Nestor Falls and Sioux Narrows.

There is so much less traffic, and very few transports. I think this way is slightly longer than the Ignace, Dryden route, but I’d highly recommend it for its peace.

I saw a moose, some deer, some swans, and a bunny.

All along the road from near Thunder Bay there is a new transmission line being built beside the old one. There are pieces of the new massive power towers staged all over.

The line leads to Atikokan and all the work going on here.

A bit of Googling tells me this is the new Waasigan Transmission Line Project that isn’t expected to finish for another two years.

My photos from today are minimal. Fort Frances is neat to approach. There are bridges and lakes and rivers.

In town, it seemed like all the streets were under construction but Apple Maps expertly guided me through.

It started drizzling early which led to rain most of the day.

I stopped at a lot of the rest areas. Usually I had a mental list of things to do at each stop. Put in eye drops (I don’t think I blink enough when I drive and get dry eyes), fix my seat (my seat was perfectly comfortable last month but this month it feels all wrong on my back so I keep tweaking it), get a drink from the cooler, or top off my water from the water jugs, find where that package of gum fell, or remember to spread out that wet towel to dry.

Or make lunch!

It was early afternoon by the time I got to Kenora.

I was thinking I’d stop at Rushing River provincial park to camp or at Whiteshell in Manitoba, but the rain was giving me some doubt.

I got gas in Kenora and parked for a bit to check things out. It was going to rain all night so by the end of my break, I had my eye on a hotel just past Winnipeg.

The drive from Kenora to Winnipeg is dull. All highway, mostly divided. But you see nothing. You just navigate the traffic. I don’t want to do that across the prairies. I want to see and do things.

It was a long way to drive today, and I don’t intend to keep driving so far everyday, but it felt like the right thing to do today.

So good night from this comfy king sized bed! They don’t have a Little House on the Prairie channel but they do have a Highway to Heaven channel so that’s what I’m watching. Hardly any commercials!

Good night!