We were at a Subway sandwich shop in Wawa, Ontario and I realized that Canadians must think that “Milk does a body good!”  People were buying milk, NOT soda or coffee with their breakfast sandwich.  I also noticed the same thing last nite at dinner…lots of adults ordering milk with their meal. 

We asked for a bfast sandwich with egg whites only, and the Subway person said we were the first people to want “white” eggs instead of “yellow” eggs.

Other food discoveries: At restaurants for bfast, one choice of toast is “brown” bread.  I assumed this must be wheat.

At bfast everywhere, we were offered peanut butter with our toast. I didn’t think anything of this, but Ralph commented that this was unusual.  Hmmm.  Growing up, we always ate peanut butter on toast. In fact, I still do.  Maybe it’s a “Northern Thing”?

We were talking to some bikers at a Tim Hortons regarding what she we do in Thunder Bay, and Joe said we needed to see the Terry Fox Memorial.  As we walked away, I laughed to myself that it would have been “funny” if we said “Who’s Terry Fox?”.  As I was telling this to Ralph, he said “Who isTerry Fox?”.  Ahem…he’s too young to remember the made-for-tv-movie!

For others who don’t know who he is, this is from Wikipedia:  In 1980, Terry Fox, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, embarked on a cross Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. However, the spread of his cancer forced him to end his quest after 143 days and 3,339 miles, and ultimately cost him his life.  He ended his run just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The photo on the left is the gorge.  Notice something’s missing?  Yep…NO falls, which is in the “official” photo, below.  The photo on the right is of the river after we hiked a mile towards Lake Superior [which is in the background].

This is the official photo from canada-photos.com:

Tim Hortons is Canada’s version of Dunkin Donuts, or McDonalds…they are everywhere.  Every time I see at Tim Hortons, there are ALWAYS people on motorcycles in the parking lot.  Unsure why.  NOT bothered by it…just an observation.

A few years ago when I was a traveling nomad, someone told me that when I entered Canada, and went to a Tim Hortons, I needed to order: a medium steeped tea, 2 sugars and 1 milk.  It is tasty, but NOT delightful on a hot summer day.

FYI – for those who don’t know… Tim Hortons is a Canadian coffee shop known for its coffee and doughnuts. It was founded in 1964 in Ontario by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton.  There are more Tim Hortons in Canada than McDonalds.

In my previous life of working at Corporate America, I would keep a steady supply of GIANT Goldfish crackers at my desk.  At first people would laugh at me eating these giant crackers, but I soon had converts of everyone who tried them.  They are flat and crispier than the baby goldfish.  They have just the right amount of salt to cracker ratio!  VERY tasty.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find them for the last several years.  Until…we ventured into Ontario and saw them in the grocery store!  We bought the remaining two boxes.  I have written Pepperidge Farms asking where I can find them here in the states.  I just assumed they had stopped making them.

NOTE: sorry for the blurry photo, but it’s to show scale…that’s a penny next to the cracker.

We stopped in White River because it is “the birthplace of Winnie the Pooh”, and wanted to find out more about that [see below]. 

The Pooh Festival was taking place the following weekend, featuring singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith, who just happens to be one of my favs. We weren’t going to be around, so would be missing it.  That said, I was surprised that the ticket cost to see him was $25!  Which is simply outrageous in this very small, very poor community.

Also, the town features an original Canadian Pacific Railroad Caboose, but it is now closed due to homeless people sleeping in it and trashing it.

Story behind Winnie the Pooh, per White River‘s website: 

In White River, there was a little black bear cub that became an orphan when a hunter killed her mother. She was found by a trapper.  The trapper sold the bear cub to soldier Harry Colebourn who was on a train stopover.  The soldier once lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba and decided to name the little cub “Winnipeg” [Winnie] after his hometown. 

The soldier eventually ended up in England.  Soon he was being shipped to France, so he made arrangements to keep Winnie in the London Zoo until he returned. Winnie soon became a favorite attraction. People would knock on her door and she would open it and come out. She would allow children to ride on her back and she would eat from their hands. The attendants who cared for her stated that Winnie was completely trustworthy. Other bears were not allowed to have such a close relationship with the visiting public.  When Colebourn saw how popular she was, he decided he would not take her back to Canada as he had planned. She was officially donated to the Zoo on December 1, 1918.

Winnie captured the hearts of many visitors to the Zoo, among them A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin Milne.  It was Christopher who added “Pooh” to Winnie’s name. He got the name from his pet swan named Pooh. Christopher was given a bear on his birthday which he called “Winnie-the-Pooh”.

A.A. Milne started to write stories about a love-able bear in his children’s books based on that bear in the Zoo. In his first edition in 1926, he mentioned that these stories were about this bear and his son and his son’s stuffed animals.

Scenic High Water Falls on the Magpie River.

Poutine is a French Canadian’s dream carb meal!  It’s french fries topped with cheese curds and brown gravy.  LOVE it!

Long time fan of John Hiatt. Couldn’t believe that he was coming to Bend AND playing for only $16!

The venue is all lawn seating, and we scored great seats right in front of the sound booth. John started off strong with Drive South and then followed up with Smashing Guitars! Excellent!

The show was a greatest hits collection showcasing the repertoire of  his very long songwriting career.

I had a blast!

Hood River Packer Orchards – the cookie and empanada booth – has a Help Wanted sign. They said they need someone to work their booth and help set up/break down at the Drake Park farmers market.

If you’re looking for work, get on down there!