If you’re just reading this blog for the first time, we are a family of three traveling across Canada (and likely beyond) in a 1994 VW Westfalia camper van called Juju Jr. Our son Ethan, age 9, is unschooling and so we want him to learn from being on the road and traveling. So he’s also now a roadschooler and we are documenting the trip and his learning on this blog.
Last night, we stayed in Marathon, ON at a local spot right by the water. This was an excellent find, as it had a toilet and there were only two other van campers there. And even though it was incredibly windy, we had a restful night’s sleep.
Today, we left Marathon and made our way to Sault Ste. Marie. On the way, we wanted to see the giant Canada Goose in Wawa. Ethan has been really into Babbel and using it to practice French. He likes to say bonjour, merci and de rien
Morning
Each morning after breakfast, we get cleaned up and ready to hit the road. Ethan has been very good about helping out and doing his chore, which is the sweeping. He’s also been getting better with cleaning up his own things.
We went to the library to use the free wifi, as I had a Skype call and some emails to send. While on my call, Ethan watched some magic videos. Lately, his interests sway from origami to magic.
He then did some reading on his Kindle.
After leaving Marathon, we spent much of our time in the van, as our next destination was a couple hours away. However, we did stop in White River, Ontario, where in 1914, Lieutenant Harry Colbourn purchased a black bear cub and named her Winnie after his hometown of Winnipeg. Winnie, of course, became the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh.
However, Ethan seemed much more interested in the playground behind the Winnie monument.
Afternoon
We arrived in Wawa after driving through a bit of rain and cloud. We’ve seen Mac the Moose in Moose Jaw, so we were curious what the Wawa goose was going to be like. Well, it’s certainly one impressive bird overlooking the Trans Canada.
We stayed here for a late lunch, and while waiting for Dong Eun to finish cooking, Ethan and I worked on the computer. Ethan mostly watched magic videos and I worked.
We also enjoyed some fresh popcorn and Ethan got in some more reading time on the Kindle. The Kindle is always in his hands, if he’s not listening to a podcast. It’s really been great to have it, as he’s able to read old favourites and download new books, too.
From Wawa, we made our way to Sault Ste. Marie. It was pouring rain but on the way, we stopped at Old Woman Bay Beach because it looked a bit out of the ordinary, as we made our way along the Trans Canada Hwy. There were people fishing for Rainbow Trout and they told us there were salmon swimming up the river to spawn.
We went to check it out and sure enough, there were quite a lot of salmon in the water. These were much smaller than the salmon we see back home making their way up the Capilano River. Not sure what species of salmon they were but it was cool for all of us to get an up close glimpse of them.
One thing that Ethan has enjoyed doing on the trip is collecting interesting rocks. We should find out what kind of rocks they are, as some are quite unique looking.
Evening
After the beach, it was time for the long drive to Sault Ste. Marie. The sky’s opened up and rain poured down in buckets for part of the way. We even saw some flashes of lightning and briefly considered stopping the drive and finding a place to camp for the night.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any free camping spots along the Trans Canada on this stretch of the highway, so we decided to carry on. Luckily, the sky was also drying up and we didn’t have any rain, if at all, until we reached Sault Ste. Marie.
Ethan was tired for whatever reason and took a nap in the van. He hasn’t napped in ages so we were surprised he fell asleep.
We camped at Walmart and went in for some grocery shopping. While leaving, Ethan saw some Walmart smiley face stickers and asked where he could get them. So we asked customer service and the woman there gave Ethan about 12 stickers. He was happy, and placed them on various parts of the van and in his notebook.
Then it was dinner time and off to bed for Ethan.
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