Wednesday, September 10, 2025
42 degrees at 5:00 am
We straightened up, hooked up, dumped, filled the fresh water tank and were on the road by 8:30. TCan 11 wasn’t so daunting heading back east. The road reconnected with TCan 17 west of Thunder Bay. Before the city, we turned south on 61. It was unexpectedly different and beautiful. Great farmland adorned both sides of the road before winding its way through small mountains and valleys. We crossed lovely streams and creeks.
Finally, we wound our way down to the border. “Where do you live,” the agent asked. “Did you buy anything?” “Alcohol? How long have you been in Canada? Where are you going? Have a nice trip.”
At first the road was similar, but by Grand Marais, it got busy. It was socked in with fog, so we couldn’t see the sights of Lake Superior on the left. There were lots of lodges, especially on the lake side. Cabins sat right on the lake, with some sitting 50-100 feet above it. We had a nice lunch at The Sisters’ Restaurant. I had a walleye sandwich while Martha had a whitefish sandwich. Both were good.
Next door, we did a little grocery shopping. A car wash across the street that would accommodate a trailer tempted me, but we opted to move on. Hiking in Tettegouche State Park is highly-rated, so I wanted to stay in Baptism River Campground in the park. The website was confusing, and I thought it was a first come, first serve campground. When we pulled into the packed Visitor’s Center, I knew it wasn’t good. Wednesday, and it was a very busy place.
We drove across a very narrow bridge and followed a very rough road to the campground. We asked a lady, who was walking from the shower house if it was first come, first serve. She said no, you have to go to the Visitor’s Center and book it. No sites were available, so we drove down 61 to Silver Bay and the Black Beach Municipal Park. We booked two nights. It was completely full on the coming weekend. We were glad to have a place to stay for the night. Too many people, but we will try some of the hikes in Tettegouche.