Day 6: Thunder Bay, ON to Rushing River Provincial Park, ON (August 10, 2017)
Sunday August 13, 2017 (Canada)
When I was a child, I remember my aunt bringing back some Persians from Thunder Bay. Not people. Doughnuts. I'd be hard pressed to pick a better doughnut I've eaten since that day – they're amazing! As we arrived in Thunder Bay, I made a joke when we drove past a place called "The Persian Man". I had forgotten it was the name of the famed T-Bay delicacy, and interpreted more like "The Vetruvian Man". Is it a store selling all things the modern, Persian male would ever need? No. It's a doughnut place. Once I realized The Persian Man was the place to buy the doughnuts, I felt sharp pangs of guilt for having jested about the name. My apologies, doughnut gods!
Sandra and I stopped in to pick up a pair of them. The initial plan was to just share one and save the other for later. We ate them both immediately. They're every bit as fantastic as I remember them. With two locations in Thunder Bay, the store mentions on their sign that you can order persians in advance, in bulk, and with the icing on the side. That way they'll keep longer for transport around the country. I believe it may be Thunder Bay's highest grossing export. If you're ever in Thunder Bay, eat one. You won't regret it.
We departed Thunder Bay at a reasonable hour to meander slowly to Rushing River Provincial Park, which is just outside of Kenora. We stopped in Dryden where we had a chance to see a street festival that was going on. The Domtar pulp and paper plant dominates the skyline in Dryden, but it was quite a cute little town!
Another detour occurred around Minnitaki to visit Egli's Sheep Farm. It's a huge woollen and leather goods store full of fabulous stuff. Not cheap, but beautiful! We paid a few bucks each to visit the farm and hang out with some goats, sheep, donkeys, and emus. Sandra was definitely in her element.
We arrived at Rushing River Provincial Park with plenty of time to set up the tent before sunset. The timing worked out well, because the tent was still quite wet from its time at Neys. We sunned the tent, the fly, and the footprint, then went down into the river for a swim. The water was a bit chilly, but no worse than the lakes in Muskoka. We ate a sunset dinner together at a picnic table on our campsite and met some of the families camping around us (and their dogs!). Our second night of camping was dry as can be, and a lovely experience all around!