Mmm... Chunky's Turkey Stew

That's what we had for Thanksgiving. It was not the same, no sir. Let me explain.

Long weekend, what did we want to do? Something away from home, that was for sure. No money for anything fancy, it had to be simple. What's the answer to all of life's queries: ROAD TRIP!

Yes my dears, we drove from the GTA up to North Bay, across Sudbury and settled in Chutes Provincial Park just outside of Massey (~1 hour west of Sudbury). We like Northern Ontario, actually we like Canada a lot and are determined to explore as much of it as we can. Why spend a ton of money to go down to all the has-been-to places like the Caribbeans, Kon-Tiki Europe and other exotic places when you can check out the icebergs of Newfoundland, the polar bear capital of the world in Churchill, Manitoba or the Rockies of the West?

So OK, that was the first day. We set up camp in the park which closes end of the weekend. It was isolated and quiet, it was beautiful. It was also friggin' cold! If you've never camped in sub-zero temperatures in the fall when the air is extra crisp, go for it! It's definitely an experience to sleep in multiple layers and a toque which I'm glad I had the foresight to bring and snuggled up to your honey for warmth. It was so dark we couldn't see in front of our faces... which resulted in Mr. Stinky's nose almost taking out my eye and lots of giggles.

Second day, we headed to Sault Ste. Marie, crossed the border into Michigan (McChicken..hee) and headed south. You may be surprised, but Americans in the north are very courteous and hospitable. We took I-75 down to Saginaw and cha-ching! Birch Run Outlet Mall/(Town). Apparently, it's a big shopping attraction with a ton of stores that people (especially Asians) flock to. It's less than 2 hours from the Sarnia-Port Huron border. Check it out: http://www.primeoutlets.com/cntrdefault.asp?cntrid=1015

We were going to stay at Pinery Provincial Park which is north of Sarnia but by the time we got to the area it was about 9:30pm and we didn't feel like setting up tent in total darkness. If we had gotten there sooner it would've been super cool to sleep in the cold and complete darkness again. So we just decided to keep heading east to home. Of course by the time we got home it was after midnight and everything closed for Thanksgiving Monday. No turkey for you!

Luckily we had a can of the above mentioned can of Thanksgiving dinner substitute. Mmm..bleh. I hope your dinner was better than that. It's cool, we're rebels at heart. Unconventional and unorthodox, we're going to have turkey this weekend. When turkeys are on sale. Take that! In your eye, guy!