Joe & Wilma's Excellent Adventures

 May 20, 2024

Marathon, Ontario, Canada

Today is Victoria Day in Canada, the Canadian holiday on which British sovereign's birthday is celebrated.  Most businesses are closed today, and Marathon does not have many businesses to start with.

There has not been much traffic on Highway 17, but it was especially light today.  We traveled 115 miles, took us 2 hours.  The highway speed limit is 90 km which translates to 56 mph.  Slow moving.  Before we left Wawa, we fueled at the General Store and I took a picture of the moose on the porch, since we are beginning to think we are never going to see one.  Joe is ready to sue the province of Ontario for false advertising, since the highway is regularly marked for moose crossing.  

Also on this parking lot was a cairn which is supposed to resemble a human form.  I didn't recognize it as such until I read the plaque.

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As we drove this highway, full of lakes and curves, it was pretty to see the different greens on the slopes.  The leaves on the birch (we think) are beginning to open up and contrast nicely with the evergreen trees.

As we neared Marathon, we passed this huge operation, with a big pile of tailings behind it.  It had a sign, Barrick, which is a gold mine.  "Barrick Hemlo has produced more than 21 million ounces of gold, and has been operating continuously for more than 30 years.  Located just north of Lake Superior on the Trnas-Canada Highway, about 35 kilometers east of Marathon, Ontario, it's currently an underground operation."

We will have to see if there are tours available.  We continued on to our campground at Penn Lake Park, a very quiet spot on the edge of town.  Penn Lake is walking distance from our site, and we did walk down to check it out. 

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It had pebbles at the edge, not many but some were colorful, 

so I gathered a handful.  There is a "pebbly beach" here that we will check out tomorrow, although I think it says they want you to leave the rocks there for others to enjoy.  We will see about that.  

We had an easy day and an early evening.  The weather was nice, a little cloudy, but no wind.  Temperatures probably in the 60s, but it's supposed to have a low of 43 tonight, high of 66 tomorrow, and rain on Wednesday.  Joe is checking out things to do on his phone, so we hope to have some things to explore tomorrow.  However, it is time to do laundry again, so that will take a chunk of the morning (since our mornings don't start very early).  We are enjoying the manner in which we are traveling, taking our time to explore the area every 100 miles or so, driving the side roads, spending 3 nights at each campground, and looking for wildlife.  We usually have more of a deadline and agenda, but this suits us this year since neither of us is walking very well.  I think I finally kicked the virus I had in Ft. Wayne -- it pretty well went through everyone there.  But I am back to my normal chronic cough now, so that is good.  I have put all the medicine away, hopefully to never have to get it out again.