Freaked Out In Thunder Bay

Day: 3
Start: Sault Ste. Marie, Ont
Finish: Thunder Bay, Ont
Time: 9 hours
Distance: 694 km
Remaining: 2,035 km
Harry Potter Discs: 4-6

Today was our day to feel uneasy. It started when we almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere and it continued until the evening, when a drunken man in an elevator told me he wanted to "tear me apart" right then and there. Then, to top it all off, we've discovered that some water from the intense rainstorm got into the truck and got a few things wet.


The gas indicator came on in the middle of a national park, more than 100 km from Wawa and and the nearest gas station. My nerves were nearly shot when we finally rolled into Wawa and hit the first gas pumps we could find.


I'm not sure what the capacity is for the fuel tank of an F-450, but I think we pushed it pretty close to empty. When I refueled the truck earlier today, it took almost 137 litres (about 36.1 gallons), which is almost 30 litres more than I've ever put in in before.


Much of our journey today traced the shore of Lake Superior. While the lake wasn't in constant view, we still saw plenty of it. It's very beautiful out here, but it's hard to capture it with a picture.


Instead of allowing the driver (me) to take all the pictures, we played it safe and passed the camera over to R for a few shots.


As I mentioned yesterday, Scott has a set of booties that double as rattles. It keeps him occupied for quite a long time.


Scott also has wristband rattles. He likes to suck on those.


When we first drove into Thundery Bay, it seemed like a very pleasant place. But, we left those nice parts of town behind as we located our hotel. The Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel has quite a spectacular view of the water, but that is the main thing going for it. I was stopped three different times by people who had obviously been drinking. The last time -- the elevator incident -- was a little on the freaky side. The guy got right up in my face when I got on the elevator (which he was riding up and down like a carnival ride).


We went out for a walk this evening to find something to eat. We did not realize that our hotel was right at the centre of the seediest part of town. We hardly found a storefront that wasn't boarded up or just closed. In the end, after much deliberation, we went to McDonald's. Even that was strange, though -- especially when some guy went cruising by our table wearing no shirt.

Last night I was poking fun at The Sault because its Queen Street Promenade was so quiet at night. I think I prefer The stillness of the Sault to the drunken rowdiness of Thunder Bay.