On to Grundy Lake

Sat. Sept. 17 Grundy Lake Provincial Park: It didn’t get as cold as we expected; in fact, the temperature stayed right about 44° all night and rose quickly on a clear, sunny morning. We took the time to make oatmeal for breakfast before packing up the trailer to continue north on Highway 69. Before leaving Killbear, though, we wanted to see the Visitors Center, which was opened on Saturday. They have a nice display there on the history, animals and geography of the park which we enjoyed very much. Then we got on the road. We only had about an hour and a half’s drive today so we didn’t need to hurry. We wanted to check out the Little Brit Inn, which our brochure said is listed in “Where to Eat in Canada”, to see if it was worth coming back down to for dinner. Not realizing that there isn’t a bridge across the Magnetawan River, I tried to take us to Britt from the south side of the river at Byng Inlet. The tiny First Nation village had gravel roads and no businesses that we saw. There were some tense moments as we searched for a way to turn around but then the GPS showed us how we could go around a “block” and get back to the road into Byng Inlet. But we were glad we made the detour because on our way into town a large, glossy black bear ran across the road in front of the truck. On the way out of town in the same place near the town dump Ross said he saw a bear lying in the road ahead of us, but neither Marv nor I saw that one. Retracing our steps, we got back on Highway 69, crossed the Magnetawan River, and then turned west to find Britt. Britt is a sleepy little enclave that may have a bit more going on in the summer, but by fall it is really quiet. The only grocery in town had closed and was for sale. We did find the very unassuming Little Britt Inn and it was opened but in talking later we all agreed it didn’t look worth the return trip, since we were still going to have to go north to find some groceries. We soon arrived at Grundy Lake Provincial Park and were happy that they could give us two electrical sites next to one another. This is our first park that isn’t on Lake Huron or the Georgian Bay but it sits on three small lakes next to each other, Grundy, Gut & Gurd) and has several littler lakes sprinkled throughout, as well. All the sites in our campground (with the boring name of “Trailer” while all the others are named White Pine, Red Cedar, etc.) on Gurd Lake are pull-through and we were worried it might be a field of tightly packed trailers but it is as wooded and nice as all the other campgrounds we have experienced in Ontario. After setting up we walked with Pat over to the lake and found that there are a couple of sand beach areas where the campgrounds are situated and the rest of the shoreline is rocky and lined with pines. The sky was nearly cloudless and the temperature had risen to 63°. So we came back and got out our inflatable kayak and took it out on the lake. There was a busy loon fishing and we had a great time paddling around about half of the lake. When we had enough we came back to the campsite and I decided to get a shower and wash my hair. The nearby Comfort Station is closed for the season so I had to drive to the farther away one. When I got back Ross & Pat came over to our camper for Happy Hour. As we were leaving the campground for dinner and to find a grocery store, a small red fox was trotting down the camp road towards us on the other side of the road seemingly without a care in the world. We drove in our truck north to French River and then east to Alban, where the young woman who checked us into Grundy Lake had told us we could find a grocery store. After buying a few things we needed, we drove on to the Beausejour Inn for dinner. They had two fish dishes, a pickerel dinner and a fish and chips basket, but the waitress/owner, Wendy, told us that neither used local fish. When I expressed my disappointment she said that the Georgian Bay whitefish was local. “We didn’t see that on the menu!” we exclaimed. To which she smiled and replied, “It’s not on there.” So we all ordered the whitefish dinner and were very happy with it. It was lightly breaded and fried but not greasy; in fact, it was a little dry but it still tasted good. As we were leaving we asked where the closest WiFi would be. Again Wendy smiled wryly and said, “My restaurant.” So she gave us the code and Marv & I Skype-called Ken, who told us that MSU had lost to Notre Dame L and that he had more possibilities but nothing yet in his job search. Then we tried to call our respective Moms, neither of whom was home at 8:30 on Saturday night. Not bad for a couple of 90+-year-olds! We got back to our campsites by soon after 9:00 and retired to our own campers to prepare for our day trip to Killarney Provincial Park tomorrow. Marv and I walked down to the lakeshore to look at the stars but were surprised to find they weren’t as brilliant as they might have been because the still pretty big moon was just rising and giving off a great deal of light.