Canada is a BIG Country

I am a Canadian. I have always known that we are one of the largest countries in the world. It is one thing to know it and another thing to experience it. In the last few weeks, I embarked on my summer adventure. Being in a transitional period in my life, I am still sorting out where I want to be and what I want to do. An important part of this transition is re-connecting with people who I haven’t seen in a while. Winter is behind us and while summer is not yet in full swing, the weather is still fabulous for a cross country road trip with my trusty canine.

There are a lot of people who live in Fort McMurray who have a lot of family ties in the east coast of Canada. As such, there are tons of tales of people who drive across the country in 2-3 days of non-stop driving. That is a little nuts to me. And, I think something that is more realistically done with multiple drivers in the car. Since my dog has yet to be able to drive…

In my younger days, I would easily do 12-18 hours of driving by myself in one go. Now, that is not something that I would do. I feel the fatigue more than I did in my youth. Or maybe I just acknowledge it more??

Before leaving, I actually sat down and did some proper planning. The most that I wanted to do was 8-10 hours of driving per day. That was the basis for my plan. It worked out that it would be about 7 days of driving to take me from Fort McMurray to Prince Edward Island. It seemed a little crazy to take that long, but I have the time and I was wanting a more leisurely, relaxed pace. 

So, now that I have done it. I will say that seven days in a row is a lot of driving. By Day Six, I was so looking forward to not being in a car. It was my shortest planned day and I was so glad for that. I was really craving rest at that point. I was also glad that I had chosen shorter days for the entire trip. The only thing that I would like to adjust for the return trip is to take a break of a day or two in the middle. I have yet to plan the return trip, so there is definitely room for that adjustment.

In the seven days of driving, I got to really appreciate the landscape that makes up this large country. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are largely flat with these large, open skies. I even thought about why the sky seems so much larger on the prairies. I think that there are just no hills (or very small ones) to break up the horizon. This gives the illusion of the sky being so large. 

I think the most notable scenic view was that of the valley around The Battlefords as I drove the Yellowhead Highway through Saskatchewan. The way the light played the greens and the blues was stunning. Was some of the other scenery beautiful? It was, but this was the one that really stood out to me.

As the TransCanada Highway moved from the prairies into Ontario, the terrain changed rather drastically. It was no longer flat, but instead mountainous. This brought a different type of beauty and a different driving experience.

The Rocky mountain range in western Canada is pretty impressive. They are towering and majestic. That range throws shadows over the other Canadian mountain ranges. For this reason, the Laurentians do not get their due. 

The road between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste Marie really left an impression on me. It was stunning scenery with glimpses of Lake Superior as the car climbed and descended, twisting through mountain passes and valleys, ascending and descending through fog. This part of Ontario felt so remote and uninhabited by anyone other than wildlife. 

I saw a moose trying to decide if she wanted to cross the railway tracks or the highway. Thankfully, her indecision allowed me to pass through on the highway without incident.

I found that the northern Ontario wilderness and the subsequent sign for the last spike on the railway had made me really appreciate the monumental task of building the railway across the country in the late 19th century. This was no small task, and for it to be laid through such challenging wilderness at that time is quite remarkable.

I am a huge fan of Pierre Berton’s books that he wrote on Canadian history. In my younger years, I read The National Dream and The Last Spike, which were the two books that he wrote on the building of Canada’s railway. They were meticulously researched and very well-written. Now that I have seen more of the country and have a concept of the vastness, I am thinking that these might be worth a re-read. Luckily, my copies are still sitting on the bookshelves of my old bedroom. It is kind of like shopping at the back of your closet. 😀

Traffic patterns started to change after Sault Ste Marie. The road was busier and became divided around Sudbury, as we started out on the fifth day from Elliot Lake. We stayed just outside Elliot Lake with friends. My dog was so happy with the lakefront cottage and he was happy to hang out with their two labs.

The Ottawa Valley was the section that brought back memories. I spent five years in the Deep River/Chalk River area. It was interesting to see the changes along that once familiar section of road. Once past Petawawa and coming up to Pembroke, the woods gave way to fields, with the fields giving way to the urban sprawl that spreads out from Ottawa.

We stopped in Ottawa for the night, leaving for Québec on Day Six. I was so thankful for the shorter day. And what was even better was the view of the Saint Lawrence River from our accommodations. It was a short day of driving and a spectacular relaxing evening.

Our final day of driving was through another, much older mountain range - the Appalachians. The highway is now mostly twinned all the way to Moncton from Rivière-du-Loup. It made for a much faster trip than what I have been used to over the years. There are so many trees along that stretch of highway. New Brunswick is a heavily forested province.

Our driving was clearly coming to an end as we crossed the Confederation Bridge. We were here, the place that is always called home.

In the days since our arrival, we have essentially been relaxing and my dog has been exploring all these new places and relaxing in the shade. There has not been much excitement and I am okay with that.

The journey was interesting. We will have a return journey, which has yet to be planned. In the meantime, we will enjoy the shore and being home.