Heading back home.
 

The vacation was coming to an end and we had one last item to attend. The band from high school had a plan to get together and play at the local bar. Many friends from high school had planned to be there. It was great to see so many old friends and listen to some good rock tunes. It was not going to be a late night as we had some miles to make the next day.




We got out to the airport late morning and packed the plane. It was sad to say our goodbyes to the family but it was time to go. We had 2000NM to cover in order to get home. The weather was windy and the ride was bumpy until we got above the scattered layer. First stop was going to be Trois Rivieres for lunch then off to Timmins Ontario to visit Shania….Just kidding;-) Trois Rivieres has the best Poutine ever! Soon the St Lawrence came into view.




In the middle of the ST Lawrence there is a beautiful Island with a 1500ft runway on it, looks like a great stop.




We flew by many ski hills that were road trip destinations when I was much younger. Not long we were over Quebec City. The controllers here are quite impressive, speaking both French and English.




Soon we were descending into Trois Rivieres. I usually do my radio work in French as it is good practice for me. I find I get much better response from other traffic if I do so. This stop has good fuel prices and great food. When travelling with a family it is always nice to not have to work to hard to find food.




After lunch everyone was very full so it wasn’t long before they all fell a sleep. I don’t think we even got to cruise altitude. The ride was quite rough so we climbed to 8500 ft for smooth air. We were then rewarded with 45 kts on the nose. Better than being beat up for 3 hours. The areas north of Montreal are just beautiful. Many small airports and out door activity options.




After we past the last of the civilization there was even more lakes. If only the ten could have floats!




As we neared Timmins a high over cast helped with the sun. The winds lightened as we headed west.





Timmis came into view and all the passengers started waking up. My son woke up 4 minutes before landing and commented how short of a flight it was. Yes just 3 hours short I mentioned! We landed in perfectly calm conditions.



We grabbed our over night bag and tied down the plane. Off we went to the hotel.

Timmins to Calgary
 

We were now 1300 NM from home and it looked like we had good weather all the way. There was a severe cold from coming into Calgary and we planned to race it. Winds in the 40kt range were forcasted. Our routing was going to be North of Nipigon Lake. We had a big low to the south of us creating all kinds of bad weather and a high moving in from the north. A perfect opportunity for tail winds west bound.



We headed north west out of Timmins. Here is a town call Nakina. Based on what I could see was the pave road stopped here. It looked like a great little town to go visit.



Nipigon lake came into view soon after. If you love fishing, I have been told it is the place to go.



Hours went by with lake after lake after lake.



Our first stop was to be Sioux Lookout. We had flown over it before when coming from Red Lake. It is fairly close to town and has a self serve fueling station. The taxi ways are up hill to which is really cool. It was just to be a quick stop for us as we were pressing on to Regina for food. We had tail winds all the way for the 2.5hr flight.



A quick turn around and we were on our way again. Here we are passing over Lac Du Bonnet in Manitoba just NE of Winnipeg, this is another great fuel stop.



Once passed Winnipeg, our route took us over Lake Manitoba.



It was nice to have Prairie under our feet again. Tank switch were now by the clock again instead of the road or the bog.



Regina came into view and we started down in the bumps. The forest fire smoke started to show. It was windy and hot on the ground. The AC in the building was great relief along with the food after a 3 plus hour flight. Airborne again out of Regina everyone was cooking in the plane on the taxi. We climbed to 8500 and should have went to 10500 to clear the smoke. The headwinds kept us down.



We cleared the smoke just before the Alberta border and the bumps got less. Flying in really rough air in smoke lower vis conditions is not that much fun after the 1000NM mark. Storm where building quite heavily to the north of Calgary but it looked like we had lots of time. We landed at 4:30 local completing a 1300NM day. This was the best trip we ever had traveling across Canada. We always had to work so hard to get back home. This time was easy only because we stayed north in the good weather. The RV10 proved itself again as a very reliable aircraft. Lots of fuel and one quart if oil is all it needed. Sorry we missed Oshkosh but sometimes family takes priority...hopefully see you there next year.

I can just see the house I lived in while going to school in Thunder Bay in your photo. However It took me two days to drive from Edmonton to Thunder Bay. Many of those hours on the road were spent dreaming of a 10. Hopefully within a year I will be ordering the empennage.

I, two hunting buddies, and a Black Lab made a trip (in a Cirrus) from TN to AB back in October to do some duck and goose hunting. The furthest west we got was Grand Prairie, AB. We stayed in Fairview, AB. What a gorgeous trip it was. I have to admit that I'd only been to Toronto in the past, but, like the Bahamas, the best is in the "out islands", not the cities. I fell in love with western Canada while I was there and can't wait to go back.Your post brings back very pleasant memories.