Day 38 - Sudbury to North Bay

Saturday, June 24, 2017

We woke up early to get a jump on the day as there was (more) rain in the forecast.  After a quick stop at Timmies we headed to another BST (Big Stupid Thing), except this one is very cool, The Big Nickel in Sudbury.  We were the first to arrive for the day, so took advantage and got a few quick shots in.
The Nickel was nice and shiny.  It appeared to be made of stainless steel.  A nice improvement from the past.  My son Paul was in Sudbury years ago and came home and gave me a rusty piece of metal. "What's that!" I asked.
"A piece of the Nickel" he replied.  It was rusting out and in pitiful shape and the piece was sitting on the ground!

We've been meaning to get a shot of us, the bikes and the back of the RV since we left.  Neat to also have the Nickel in the picture.

Big Shiny Nickel!

Shortly after we got there a bus full of Asians showed up.  They all wanted to get their picture taken with Ritchie and Caroline.

They were Rock Stars for a little while!!

This is Constable Kevin Santi of the Sudbury Police Force.  He is also a 10 year veteran of the Armed Forces.  He was very appreciative of what Ritchie and Caroline are doing and mentioned a number of his colleagues in the Police Force also served in the military.

You can see which direction the glaciers travelled during the ice age!

The Inco Superstack with a height of 380 metres (1,250 ft), is the tallest chimney in Canada and the Western hemisphere, and the second tallest freestanding chimney in the world.  It is also the second tallest freestanding structure of any type in Canada, behind the CN Tower.  The Superstack is located on top of the largest nickel smeltingoperation in the world at Inco's Copper Cliff processing facility in the city of Greater Sudbury.  The sulphur dioxide from the smelting operation in the past have turned exposed rocks black (see above - the rock on the left was exposed, the rock on the right side was covered by earth).

Caroline had another great day.  She has really logged the miles the last few days.

Who is that approaching the RV?

Look at that smile!  It's our buddy Denis Paquet!!

His bike weighs a ton WITHOUT all the panniers!

This may be last time we see Denis, but I'm really hoping its not.  He is an amazing and friendly guy and always fun to be around.  He also left us with a very generous donation for Soldier On and Honour House.
Safe travels Denis!

This was a bonus sighting for today.  At one of the spots where Ritchie pulled off we noticed an Osprey nest much lower than normal.  One of the adults brought a fish to the nest, but unfortunately we didn't capture the moment.

Awesome!!

Another big day for Ritchie.

We arrived at our home for tonight, Dreany Haven Campground.  It had a small lake on it, so I thought I'd take a few casts.  On the way to the lake I noticed this small trailer that I was thinking was pretty cool and then I noticed the stepper for a step.   I know that trailer!!!!  It's Larry and Lorine Hooge!!  Today is old home week.  First Denis, now Larry!  Their truck was gone so I would check on them later.  I had business to attend to!

Yeah Baby!!  Finally got my hands slimed by a nice largemouth.  Today was opening day up here so that was cool.  This is my happy face in my happy place!

I caught two that both measured 16".  No monsters, but lots of fun non the less.

And on the way back I ran into Lorine & Larry!  Note to self, don't hold fishing rod in front of people's faces when taking selfies!!😎

After Ritchie finished his chores (cleaning the bikes), he picked up the guitar and serenaded me as I worked on the blog!🎶🎶

We finished up the evening with a nice visit from Lorine & Larry.  Lorine went inside and coloured with the girls.  She took her unfinished work home which will be reviewed next time we meet.

We plan to get together in Ottawa.

We are starting to near the end of our journey.  Ottawa is in sight!