After spending a day in Toronto, we are off to Ottawa. Since we were staying in Cookstown, we had to back track up the 400 to Orillia to reconnect with the Trans-Canada highway. Now the central Ontario route of the Trans-Canada highway is a pleasant trip, but if you choose it be warned the speed limit is 80 km/h the whole way. If you're in a rush to get from Toronto to Ottawa, pick a different route. If you're not in a rush the route is scenic with plenty of small towns along the way. Gasoline was unexpectedly inexpensive as well, being in a (at the time of our departure) Calgary range of $1.15-1.20 per litre. A pleasant change from the $1.30-140 range of Northern Ontario.

Well Cookstown just south of Barrie actually. A long leg this time, about 10 hours of driving from Sault-Ste-Marie to our campground. That included a stop in Sudbury to allow Mrs. Evil and our child a chance to see the "Big Nickel". I had seen the Nickel on a trip I did to Ottawa back in the mid 1990's and things have changed around it. Back in 1990, the Nickel was high up on a pedestal with little around it. The parking lot in front of the Nickel was gravel and it was quite the lonely place.

Today we ventured from Marathon to Sault Ste Marie. Though farther south in Ontario, the road between White River and Sault Ste Marie is actually more desolate, with only the town of Wawa along the way. That being said, scenic vistas of Lake Superior are visible from the highway at times, providing a break from endless trees and rocks.

Today we left Ignace and traveled via Thunder Bay to Marathon, Ontario. Driving was good, the 90km speed limit suits the Element with trailer well. Even saw another Taylor Coach trailer, albeit a larger one heading west just outside of Thunder Bay. We stopped in Thunder Bay for lunch at a small restaurant downtown called Hoito. Nothing fancy but good food.

Day three was a non-travel day where we spent part of the day in Winnipeg. We went to the Forks, had some perogies and then headed to a supermarket since Simon was being very fussy with the heat and humidity. We found one of the few supermarkets open in Winnipeg on Monday (a stat holiday) where we stocked up on food and then headed back to our campsite just outside of Headingly.

Today we traversed the remainder of Saskatchewan and half of Manitoba travelling from Indian Head to the campsite just west of Winnipeg. The weather was quite warm and pulling the trailer limits the amount of time we can have the air conditioning on so some toasty time in the car but an uneventful journey. The original plan upon arrival was to quickly nip into Winnipeg, pick up some groceries and then head back and make supper. Unfortunately Winnipeg closes at 6 p.m. on Sundays and that prevented us from hitting a super-market. For Calgarians who are used to super-markets being open late on weekends (and having Walmarts open 24/7) the fact that the only things open were fast food joints and convenience stores was a bit of a shock.

The great cross-Canada adventure has begun. Now it was originally supposed to start from Victoria, BC but since the Shushwap is partially under water making the Trans-Canada highway dodgy at best, we decided to leave straight from Cowtown going east. Today we made it to Indian Head, Saskatchewan where we are overnighting before heading out to Winnipeg, Manitoba tomorrow.

So I'm sitting at home today watching my toddler run around when the phone rings. I answer the phone and someone with a heavy Indian accent introduces himself as someone from technical support and calling me about my computer. Given that I haven't called tech support about any of my computers in decades I'm fairly certain this is the "we found a problem with your computer" scam. So I decide to play along.

With the revelation that it was the Harper Conservatives and not the Liberals that were using a US company to phone voters during the last election one question remains unanswered. What information did the Conservatives give this company? This is important since US law requires US companies to provide their databases of personal information to the US government on request.

Given the media feeding frenzy that is the robocall scandal, it is interesting to note the almost complete lack of Conbot commenters in the comment sections of the stories. This can mean a couple of things, first that the people that the Conservatives pay to troll through media comment sections to "correct" news stories and people's perceptions of the CPC have the weekend off. Though you'd think the party would be pouring on the overtime to ensure it's point of view were being front and centre on the web.