Bypassing Ottawa, Madawaska River

On day 9 we got an early start and left the apple farm around 8:30, destined for a campsite near Algonquin Park along the Madawaska River.

Soon after our departure we drove through the outskirts of Ottawa. I half contemplated turning off and getting a better look at the centre of the capital city, but a quick whiff of the infernal aura swirling from Parliament Hill convinced me to keep driving.

It also so happened that a Costco run took us right next to the Ottawa Senators home arena, which proved even more surburban and inaccessible than described. It is quite possibly the worst location for a top tier sports team in human history.

At any rate, our coffers fully stock, we moved on to our campsite, chosen purely for the fact it was a Passport America affiliate (50% off). The site itself was finely situated along the Madawaska River.

The trip westward has so far found us rediscovering the summer heat. We gathered enough courage for a few cannon balls off this raft. 

As for the site itself, RV camps are glorified trailer parks at the best of times, but this one had a definite sense of the real deal. Thickening the aura, a mobile home behind us was blasting some Emininem ripoff the entire afternoon. 

My suspicions were seemingly confirmed when I caught the tail-end of a conversation from two men in their 60s, the speaker a long white-haired/bearded man:

"I came back and there she was all strung out on ecstacy."

I later discovered that he was, in fact, the inherited owner of the park, which had fallen into disrepair since his mother died. 

Indeed, the place had a sense of being well beyond its prime.

Even so, as far as trailer parks go, the location was quality.

We enjoyed a short walk on the river's edge...

... Then called it a night.

The next morning I woke up to a thud somewhere around the body of the RV. My first thought, still clouded by sleep, was that one of the park's "less fortunates" was stealing the catalytic converter from our vehicle (apparently this is a trend as people have fallen on hard times--the platinum contained is valuable for resale). This would have made sense were our Kodiak a diesel to begin with, which it isn't. 

It turned out to be nothing more than a well-meaning crow on the roof. He seemed to have been alerting me of the ethereal blanket of fog on the river that morning. It proved a nice photo opportunity, the results of which I will dump below.

Ready to drive on once the fog cleared, we left our trailer park friends behind and proceeded westward through Algonquin Park toward Parry Sound, the hometown of No.4, Bobby Orr.