Hi everyone! I’m writing this post in Alberta! From the east to the west! We arrived safely out west in one piece. We finally had some downtime from all the traveling, and we are very close to our destination in British Columbia. Anyway, as you probably know, I am touring across Canada doing a fundraiser for Food Bank in a bright orange car. And as the title says, we had no fuel! Is this true? Well, read on to find out!

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Early Wednesday morning on October 13th, 8:00 to be exact, an orange car left the tiny, but not so tiny house on the top of the hill. Rain poured and lightning cracked! Okay, not really, but the RAIN was real. We were on out merry way Ontario. That was just the beginning of the Coast to Coast Canada Adventure. Ontario was were we’d be spending the next three days. Once we arrived in Ottawa, Canada’s Capital. We headed straight to our hotel where we were greeted by my Uncle Rob, my favourite uncle. Oh yea, and if my other uncles are reading this… uhm, sorry? 😀 Ottawa is a very beautiful city. It’s nice to walk or bike at The Parliament Hill. There’s a lot of things to do like visiting museums and galleries. There’s so much that I can’t tell everything. Here’s the link about Ottawa https://ottawatourism.ca/en

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Pictured above is Maman it is one of the largest spider statue in the world. It is located at National Gallery of Canada. Have you been to Epcot in Disney World? If yes, you might have noticed the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Canada Pavilion. It is an iconic hotel. And the Parliament is where the laws are being made by the politicians.

Our hotel we stayed at is called the Sandman Signature, and it was very nice. The bed and the pillow are super comfy. I especially liked that the portraits on the wall had regal looking people with pencil mustaches and paint splattered faces. It’s pretty funny! The hotel has pool, but due to COVID-19 it was closed. I was sooooo sad! The next day we went to Carleton Place were we went to Walmart to help my grandpa shop for a new TV and iPhone. I was glad to see my grandpa again, because since my grandma passed he is a bit lonely, and the last time I saw him was in January. We helped him set up his iPhone so we could chat through FaceTime. We also visited another family that are really good friends of ours. It was a good visit meeting our family and friends.

The day after that we paid a visit to the Carleton Place Food Bank where I got to have a picture with Mayor Doug Black and my Uncle Rob gave a generous donation to the local Food Bank. We would like to raise ten thousand dollars to be exact. So hit that donate button at the end of this post!

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On Saturday we headed for Sudbury, Ontario to see the Big Nickel. It is the largest coin in the world. A nickel in Canada is five cents. I remember going to Sudbury when I was teeny tiny. I had a picture with my dad carrying me under the Big Nickel. We also took a train ride to see the fall colours in Agawa Canyon, Sault St. Marie.

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Day five – we went to see Manitoulin Island. We stayed at Goodman’s Motel, and the pillows were paper thin, and the bed was uncomfortable. The only reason we stayed here was because the other motels along the highway were worse! In 2016, 40.6% of the residents on the island are indigenous people. There are a few tribes, and they are Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. Manitoulin Island is also the biggest island that surrounded by freshwater. While we were driving I saw beautiful lakes within the lake. It was cold and rainy Sunday morning, but I’m sure Manitoulin Island would be beautiful in the summer.

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After Manitoulin Island, we headed for Thunder Bay. My parents decided to stop on some towns along the way. We were off to see the giant goose in Wawa. Anyway, this goose was very big. It was there to welcome the visitors coming to town. Oh yea, and part one of the no fuel, was this time. My dad thought that there would be many gas stations along the way to gas up, but it turned out there weren’t. We stopped at two gas stations, but the gas pumps were EMPTY! On the way to Thunder Bay, it snowed as well. It was COLD. But, I guess that’s Canada for us! The drive to Northern Ontario was actually nice because the view along the Great Lakes is beautiful. It’s in the town of White River that we are able to fill up for fuel. Ever heard of Winnie-the-Pooh? You probably have. White River, Ontario is the birthplace of Winnie-the-Pooh (not the Hundred Acre Wood).

In 1914 a man named L.T. Colebourn bought an orphaned black bear cub from a trapper, and named it Winnie after his home town, Winnipeg, Manitoba. He brought it with him in United Kingdom. Winnie became the unofficial mascot of Fort Garry Horse, a Militia calvary regiment. Winnie like to sleep under Colebourn’s cot. He wasn’t able to bring her to France so he left Winnie at the London Zoo, and the rest is history.

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It was really late when we arrived in Thunder Bay, but there was a lot of good hotels to choose from. We stayed in Valhalla Inn, and it was much much better than the last hotel for sure!

Before we left Thunder Bay, we headed over to the Terry Fox monument. Terry Fox was the guy from B.C. who had to get his leg cut off. Then, with a prosthetic leg, he run across Canada to raise awareness for cancer research. He called it Marathon of Hope. He started off in Newfoundland, then made his way all across. But he didn’t make it all the way. He had to stop his run in Ontario near the place were the monument is today because his health was deteriorating. It was so cold so we quickly took pictures and left.

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Part two of no fuel. So now we were in Manitoba heading to Saskatchewan. We breezed through Manitoba because if you decide to visit this province you have to quarantine for fourteen days, and we didn’t want to do that. Driving in Northern Ontario there’s a sign also said to change your time to Central Time. There’s also information about how far is next service area. That’s why we want to stop for gas when it’s available. From where I live in New Brunswick, we are in Atlantic time, and Ontario is in Eastern Time. All these time differences are soooo confusing! Plus, don’t forget adjusting to the new time! My dad decided to push trough all the way to Swift Current, Saskatchewan because were supposed to meet some special people in the morning. I’ll tell you who they are in the next post! I have no picture of Saskatchewan sign because it was night time when we arrived, and it was very dark.

Back to the trip; the time in our car didn’t make sense from the distance of the town. My dad thought that we would have enough gas to push through all the way to Saskatchewan. It was too late to turn around and get gas, and there were NO gas stations or it’s closed. My dad drives fast all the time,(twenty over the speed limit). It’s a miracle he didn’t get a ticket! . If my dad didn’t drove slower to save gas, we would’ve ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere! That would be terrifying because it was -5C ( 23F) that night. My dad’s quick thinking conserving gas, and driving slower got us there, but just barely.

Once we got to Swift Current, we are able to breath better, but one more thing!!! When we tried to find a good hotel, the first one we checked were fully booked! So we drove to another one beside it and it was fully booked too! Mind you we don’t have a lot of fuel to drive around looking for a hotel!!! We finally found one, and it is Motel 6. It is pretty basic, but I really liked the room because it was simple and colorful. We are so thankful that we have room for the night!

That’s it for now. I will write about the next part of the trip very soon! Stay tune. Tell me about your thoughts and comment below!!!!

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