Day 28: Sept 30. Wawa to Espanola ON

The rain was barely perceptible as it pattered lightly against the motorhome roof, sounding like the gentle pull of an incoming tide—a steady, subtle rhythm that kept the quiet at bay. With the daylight shrinking a little more each morning, Tad’s sense of urgency seems to arrive earlier every day. He’s such a good dog when he isn’t chasing or pulling—never noisy, just executing a little prance to let us know it’s time to step outside and tend to business.

​I gave him five minutes to do his duty, then stepped back inside and lit the coffee pot. I kept the flame on the lowest setting, ensuring a slow percolation so the water could thoroughly filter through the grounds before the next surge of heat toppled over the top.

​With a good fifteen minutes to spare, I crawled back into bed and promptly dozed off into another rabbit dream. Julie was the star this time: she had brought a collection of rabbits into the office, while Melanie meticulously logged each of their hiding places in a bound ledger. Tad took an immediate liking to them, and they nestled right up against him. But, true to form, the population quickly began to multiply, and Julie’s little project rapidly spiraled out of control.

​I never found out how the story ended—Kasey rolled out of bed to turn off the coffee, breaking the spell before I could resume the dream. But I’m sure everything is just fine back in Roseburg with those 2 in charge.

Breakfast consisted of turkey bacon, shredded potatoes with green onions and eggs. All items we needed to utilize as we have had them a while. Add a glass of orange juice and it was a perfect meal. The turkey bacon was shared with Tad so he would consume his dog food. Tad does not know he is a dog so we have to trick him with quality human food so that he consumes the food meant for his species. He finds all the bacon and leaves the dog food giving me the look that says "You expect me to eat that?" Well, good enough. He ate most of it. He is a thin dog and we work at getting him to eat enough. Dry food is usually always available. We promised him walk but wanted him to digest a bit beforehand. 

Our Harvest Host is a blueberry farm and has a gift shop. Kasey did not have to twist my arm to amble over there. We sampled some wines and jam leaving with some quality products for later consumption.

Then came time for the walk where Tad could stretch his legs. The gravel road nearby leads to a waterfall. We didn't make the trek but there was a little traffic headed that way. A sedan slowed down before the turn to the falls. The one on the passenger side rolled his window down. There were 2 young guys, probably originally from India, excitedly asking about the falls and if it cost to see it. We pointed to the next turn and said that we had not been there but it appears to be free to visit. A hearty thank you and all smiles as they drive away. In the US, I would be worried that they would be hassled by ICE, but we are in Canada. What a great thing to be free of that fear. Free to just go about your business and not a care in the world. We continued our walk to where Tad could be off leash. A successful walk is measured by the amount of tongue hanging out of the canine's mouth. 

Returning to the motorhome, the farmers are plowing nearby as the 3 of us get ready to load up. Rolling east out of Wawa, fog threatened to block the view, but we couldn't miss the town's iconic giant goose. It was planted at the highway intersection specifically to catch the eye of passing travelers and keep Wawa on the map after the new bypass threatened to leave it behind.

Travelling in a different country sometimes brings driving challenges. But in Canada there are many similarities, for example they drive on the same side of the road as the US, use English as the primary language and have many of the same products and franchise services. Road signs are almost all universal.

There are some differences that are enough to remind you that you are not travelling at home anymore. I started noticing these green/white diamonds along the highway and quickly realized they were always associated with highway barriers. Apparently, they are only used in Ontario and used to alert snow plow drivers to the start and end of roadside barriers and other items so they can lift their plow. The order of the white/green or green/white matters. Green on top is the start of the barrier and a sign to lift the plow. White/green is the end of the barrier signifying it is safe to lower the plow.

Other signs are curious as well. Canada has signs in both English and French. Moose are a thing here too.

Fall colors started to turn from mostly yellows to oranges and reds as we headed east as did the vegetation. Where we started with conifer trees short in height and branch length, we finished with mostly hardwood, deciduous vegetation.

Kasey was continually wowed and the scenery did not disappoint.

We arrived at our next Harvest Host site, Clayton Farms, just west of Espanola, ON. We positioned ourselves behind a shipping container to block the highway noise, notified the owner that we arrived, and asked to be able to walk the dog. They have to put up their guard dog so we waited for the go ahead. It was fairly wet from the recent rain and the trail was slippery in places. Lots of fall colors here too. I can't help but take pictures for my iNaturalist entries. 

At the end of the walk was a nice peaceful looking pond. There are so many lakes and ponds that we saw today. Here are a couple.

We returned to our motorhome to find the owner and his neighbor working on moving the shipping container next to our camping spot to a place up the hill. There goes our sound barrier. Oh, well. Traffic died down quite a bit.

We had chicken soup for dinner and played a few games of Rummikub. At some point in the last 24 hours, I managed to pull a muscle in my arm making it very painful to lift my right arm or turn it a certain way. There is a lot of reaching and stretching on this trip. Dropping my phone by my feet, reaching for shoes on the lower step, reaching to turn a light on all the way across the bed or trying to make the outhouse door stay shut when the wind blows it open. I pop an Advil in order to get some sleep. I don't take many medications but there is better living through chemistry.