This is a story I found in a box of my papers in the garage from 1985 that I had typed on our typewriter. Possibly for school? Or maybe just for me. Unsure. I’ll share it here with you. If you like it, I found a couple more! Also, the photo is from a different vacation, but some day I’ll dig up photos from this trip and update.

Last summer my family had an adventure in northern Ontario. We travelled 2,514 km. We took everything you could want in our van.

On our trip we first stopped to see where the tornado struck in Barrie and Arthur. We also saw where my father and some Atwood Lions helped clean up a barn after a tornado. We stayed the night at old friends of Mom’s and Dad’s. They live on Lake Nipissing in North Bay. Don owns a recording studio in his house. That night he treated us to 3 scoop ice-cream cones and then we toured the town. The following morning we started out again north. We stopped for lunch and right next door there was a huge statue of a cow. We each got our picture taken while we pretended to milk it.

Then we came to Kirkland Lake. We saw some gold mines and I saw the place where I first went swimming. Then we went to a motel to rest. That night after we went out for supper we went to the theatre to see “Back To The Future”. The next morning we started out again. It was pouring rain, so Brian, Julie and I began to sing a song about the sun to make it come out. It worked for a bit but not for long.

Then we came to Iroquois Falls. We toured ABITIBI PRICE, a paper mill that makes newsprint and sells it all over the country. ABITIBI PRICE is the largest paper mill in Canada. We saw the process of making paper from beginning to end. Boy, did we get a lot of information, pictures and we even got some newsprint. When we came out we got soaked. After the tour, we went to Kapaskasing to a motel with an indoor pool. That night we went swimming.

After breakfast, we went to Hearst, the Moose Capital of Canada. There were large piles of logs and sawdust beside each sawmill. After Hearst we started south again.

Then we went on this terrible road. It had quite a lot of construction. Then we came to Nagagamisis Provincial Park. We asked if they had a lot of bugs and they said “no”. But they sure were wrong, because we went on a hike and it was wet and there were millions of mosquitoes, deer flies and bugs you have never heard or seen before. In the morning we packed up and left the site.

That morning we drove through Hornepayne, the only town in 100 km. each way. Finally, we got off the terrible road and into White River. Then we came to Wawa and got our picture taken with the Canada Goose. After, we came to some falls. They were nice and Mom said they sounded like Niagara Falls. Then we began to drive on a road along Lake Superior. In a little cove we went swimming and had lunch.

Then we came to Sault Ste. Marie. We went to a trading post. I thought you had to trade something. But, if you don’t, then why is it called a trading post. Then we toured some locks and we got wet. Then we went to a motel and went to bed. In the morning, my brother, Brian found a go-bot underneath the bed. He was pretty happy!

That morning Mom called Nicky, her friend and that afternoon we went and visited them. After that, we started to travel again. We came to Chutes Provincial Park. We unpacked and went for a hike. This time there was only a few mosquitoes. It was a hike along a falls and rapids. That night was pretty cool. In the morning we headed for Sudbury about 10:00. Then we went to Science North, a new museum in Sudbury.

I went to a corner and there was a real live tame porcupine. The man said we could pet it, so I did. I also got my picture taken with it. In another room, we got to play on lots of computers. There were quite a lot of scientific experiments. On another floor, there was a weather station and we saw a film about tornadoes. We went back to where the porcupine was but he was asleep but there was a flying squirrel. Everytime the man put the squirrel on the tree it would jump on the man and go into his pocket where he had put some food. After that we saw a 3-D wilderness film. It looked like you could reach out and touch it.

When we were finished there we went to South Bay Mouth to get on the Chi-Cheemaun. Wow, was the water calm! In fact, it looked like glass. Last time we were on the ferry, it was so rough that Mom just about got sick. After we got off the ferry, we headed to our Grandma and Grandpa’s cottage which they share with the family. They were out for the evening so we just went to bed. In the morning after breakfast Brian, Grandpa and Dad went fishing, while Grandma, Mom, Julie and me went swimming. That afternoon we finally went home.

Our holiday was 8 days long. We were very tired when we got home. But, we did see a lot of Northern Ontario!