Moving to Alaska: Part One

Location: Holland, Michigan to Wawa, Ontario to Thunder Bay, Ontario
Lodging: Agawa Campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park and Prince Arthur Hotel
Mileage: 764 miles
Weather: 40-70°F, sunny

The first part of our Alaskan relocation adventure began in southwest Michigan and took us through the Canadian province of Ontario.  It took us two days to reach Thunder Bay, a mid-sized city in western Ontario.  This portion of the drive was a bit of a bucket list item for me because I've always wanted to visit the northern shore of Lake Superior. It definitely lived up to my expectations.

The first day, we drove north through the very hilly and scenic part of northern Michigan, and then we crossed into Canada shortly after entering the UP. The opportunity to cruise the shore of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior both in one day was pretty special.  When we finally hit Superior it was absolutely stunning, and a big change from our views of Lake Michigan earlier in the day.

The northern shore of Lake Superior was breathtaking. There's just no other way to describe it. Huge rocky cliffs, thick forests, and expansive views of the lake dominated our drive.  I was constantly screaming, "STOP!" at Cody and making him pull over at every scenic overlook. Thankfully, the traffic was nonexistent, so no accidents were caused due to my screaming. Cody's eardrums may never be the same though.

The campground that we stayed at was the Agawa Campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park. This campground gets a five-star review from me.  It was incredibly scenic and well taken care of, with easy access to restrooms, a water source, and firewood. I could have easily spent the whole weekend (or longer!) camping in this location.

The second day of driving was equally as scenic.  There were huge stretches between towns (roughly 150km) and we had to be very careful to fill up on gas at every opportunity. We rolled into Thunder Bay in the early evening, and it definitely gave off the impression of being a highly industrialized town. The downtown was busy, but not particularly picturesque. We stayed at the Prince Arthur Hotel on the second night, and were fairly underwhelmed with it.  The room was tiny and we could barely fit our overnight bags in the room.  The TV was broken and the street noise was a little tough to sleep through.  We were in a roadside "standard" room instead of the deluxe lakeside rooms they had available, so that may have had something to do with it. All in all, it was an ok hotel, but not my favorite stop of the trip. Thankfully, the scenery made up for it!

We drove out of Thunder Bay the next morning and eventually Ontario too. On our third day of driving, our travels led us into Manitoba. Stay tuned!

Your turn...Have you ever visited Lake Superior?
Currently listening to...Great Wide Open - Tom Petty