ONTARIO ROAD TRIP BACK TO THE CABIN - All Together Again // EP 8

In this video we encounter some thick fog and rain on our way back to the island where we meet up for some epic lake time with Lando, the boys, and Caroline and Matt. We also enjoy a big family get-together. Let's go. East right now through Ontario but we're going through a little town called Ignace and this road we're passing right now is the road to Pickle Lake, Ontario and we did that adventure a couple of years ago with both Jeeps and all the kids and Lando and it's called the end of the road up there and if you're looking for an adventure, take that road all the way up to the tiny little village of Pickle Lake. It's the farthest, I think it's the farthest north town that you can drive to. Anything beyond that you have to fly in only and then beyond the town the road continues another three, roughly 300 kilometers further into the wilderness and it ends at a lake called Windigo Lake. It just ends right there and it's a neat challenge. I mean there's nothing up there except moose and bear and wilderness so you know people that take a route like that are just they're not going because there's a destination or you know you have to come all the way back on the same trail. You just go up there to experience I'll show you some clips from our trip up there. Welcome to another episode of the Epic Family Road Trip. As we got closer to the end of the road dark clouds came into view as a storm system was blowing in from the north. So stormy. The end of the road and the storm debu. through this neck of the woods it's called Apsala. There's a little restaurant here. A place to eat. If you're road weary or hungry like we were this morning we took off pretty early and we were looking for a place to eat and then we saw this and we had we remembered it. We had stopped here on the way up to Tuktoyaktan so time to get some breakfast in us and get back on the road. Hey guys I just want to take a minute to talk about our sponsor for today's video and a very important topic about nutrition while on the road. As you know we're going from coast to coast in Canada and on a trip that of that magnitude typically you're doing you know about half of your trip taking your time staying in camp for an extra day or two and in those cases we eat really well. But then the other half of the trip is long days of driving and just really just beating across the country to make up time so during those days especially nutrition and getting the right amount of micronutrients and vitamins and all that is very important and so we tend to eat at little restaurants and we try to avoid fast food as much as possible but your food quality goes downhill a little bit in order to get the right amount of nutrients to make sure that we are eating nutritiously and getting the vitamins we need. We use AG1 it's a comprehensive and convenient source of 75 micronutrients vitamins and whole food sourced goodness so for us it's a morning routine before we have our coffee before we have breakfast we take a drink of AG1 on an empty stomach and man it feels good you get energy from it that doesn't have a crash later on and it also mostly is peace of mind knowing that you're despite what you're eating during the day you're getting your daily source of micronutrients and vitamins and antioxidants and all the good stuff that you need especially on a big cross-country road trip. All right we finally reached the Great Lakes region I got to talk loud because it's absolutely pouring rain and the water's building up on the road and it's a mix of fog and rain and which is obscuring the views but typically when you get here if you're traveling this way north of Lake Superior is very very scenic and beautiful and there's places to stop along the way big overlooks over Lake Superior which are absolutely worth checking out but we're not stopping today because of the rain is torrential and the views are all obscured but that's okay we've been here many many times and we're also on a journey back to get there on time for my dad's 85th birthday and my and combined with their 60th wedding anniversary so no stopping for us today but for you this is a wonderful region to check out waterfalls and canyons and wildlife it's it's an amazing area the rain has stopped temporarily but now the fog is upon us we are really sucked in I think this is coming obviously it's coming off of Lake Superior I don't know if it's a change in temperature or whatnot but typically you see this early in the morning and then the sun burns it off but it's 2 2 p.m and we're going through sections of insanely thick fog where the people in front of us have their hazards on and we might do the same if we get someone behind us but that's all part of overland life you you see it all so it's been a long drive through the rain and clouds and mist and we're just getting into Sault Ste. Marie now and you see a big rainbow and the sun is popping out and it looks like it's going to clear up at some point it's still raining pretty hard but it just looks a lot brighter so whenever we get to Sault Ste. Marie we always have the decision to make we're still about five hours from the island and depending on how we feel you know we probably will get something to eat and then we'll decide but we could push and get in late tonight or we get a good night's sleep leave early tomorrow morning and get in there a decent time tomorrow so we'll let you know what we decide so wow that was a big push that we did it was a lot easier honestly um in the truck than it was in the jeeps um just because we could kind of go more the speed limit um it was just more comfortable and more roomy but uh and i love that unlike the jeeps it was we would have never pulled over to a walmart and set up our tents um but this makes it where you know we don't have to go you know another hour and go looking for another spot like we could go to a flying j an en route a walmart you name it and we're totally comfortable um in our truck so that's kind of a really big game changer uh so i'm going to go to bed but we are only like four hours away from the cabin and the kids so kids young adults uh i'm so excited i was just talking with caroline on the phone we're going over wedding plans and we just have to start hammering you know things out like booking solid for tents caterers and you know what dress i'm wearing she has her dress getting mat suit getting the boy suits and it's a lot of fun stuff and she's super excited uh i just love how fun and easy she is because she's just like oh whatever you know like if we have that if we don't um so i just love that love that caroline and um just her whole attitude is just like i'm i'm getting married to my best friend and really the decor and the dress and everything else is just second to to that and it gets me pretty emotional you know i'm just so proud of her and i love her so much and i'm actually super thankful that we're back so that you know we can start doing stuff together and planning it all out for her big day but um yeah so i'm super excited to also see lando my goodness i started missing him a lot the last few days our plan is we get up early again but walmart doesn't open until seven so i might go to another walmart that's like three hours away because it depends on what time we wake up in the morning but for now i'm gonna go to bed and we'll see you in the morning in the walmart parking lot all part of overlanding and travel yeah anyways talk to you later guys good morning we are packed up and leaving we have three and a half hours left to get home we're super excited about that well not to get home but to get to a nearby town do some shopping for supplies and then about an hour or so to the island so that's exciting we didn't make our own coffee this morning for the first time on this entire trip i think we're just going to grab a coffee here to shop and get back on the road so guys by the time you get to ontario you're just over halfway across the country we highly recommend that maybe when you're in wawa or somewhere up there that you stop rent a cabin there's tons of them rent a cabin for a couple of days and get rent a boat or a canoe and get out on the lake and just get off the road for a little bit it's uh the best way to experience ontario is on the water the land of thousands and thousands of lakes and so driving down the the road you're going to experience a lot of beautiful scenery and everything but you won't get the full feel for ontario until you do that that's exactly what we're doing because we happen to have a cabin in ontario so we're going to pause here and spend a week or so enjoying the beauty of the lake and the fresh air and the sound of the loons at night and oh just getting off the road for a little bit and then we're going to ramp it back up and we're going to carry on through a lot of backcountry in ontario into into labrador and newfoundland and the other the other maritime provinces nova scotia pei and new brunswick so a huge journey still ahead time for a bit of a break good see my man sweating me yeah it's sticky it's nice by the lake though look at you where's that little guy he's gonna be so lynn who is this that mutter you probably just can't believe it good to see you man good to be back that's crazy so good to be back at least for a while we're taking a pause here and to get off the road and we're just over halfway across the country so we've still got the other half to do and we'll be back soon enough but for now well for now it's time for a wedding so not really a break well a wedding a wedding a birthday celebration for my 85 year old dad and the 60th anniversary wedding anniversary for my parents so a lot going on in the middle at the cabin and see the kids well at least the boys it's been a lot of fun just hearing their stories and adventures while we were away and sharing ours the cabin was really clean um i just had to catch up on laundry um i was super proud of them and really happy that they you know can keep all the homemaking skills going while i'm away it's always nice it's a good feeling to but uh yeah so when i was in oregon um visiting my father he gave me the box i'm sure many of you know you know you hi it's good to be back and see you want to say hi to everyone of course it's good to see lando too oh quick let's see um so i was just thinking on the drive back um this is all the letters and photos i sent my mom over all the years and it's just it's weird to get it all back and it just made me think of the time we have together but then also that you can't take anything with you you know no matter what but you can leave memories and values and pass that down to generations and um so yeah it was it was weird to go through the photos and just things from i couldn't believe my mom you know kept everything from my kindergarten all the way through high school um and then there was pictures i had totally forgotten about because i don't know if many of you know but when we were on our first go around with the rv towing the jeep our house got totally ransacked and we lost nearly everything or it got damaged and it happened during an ice storm and it's weird how you work so hard we were in the peak of our our business and our things and just like that they got removed and you know at first for about a week i was pretty upset going man we worked so hard for that painting or i remember our kids you know mowing lawns to get that airsoft gun or something like that and it's all gone but in a way it's just material things and it really doesn't matter but uh i lost a lot of photos um they were just it was during an ice storm our security system had gone down and what they had done is just parked at the end of the driveway we had quite a long windy driveway but they would carry it all down or sled it down i have no idea how they did it but then when we arrived there was photos and either pieces of jewelry or you name it it was all scattered down our driveway so yeah i have not seen things like you know me in the hospital having the children or when they were really little and that was something our kids would kind of ask you know oh how come i don't have that you know or baby book but uh so i'm actually happy i sent so many pictures and letters over the years i think i sent one every single week to my mom so that was i'm thankful i did that because now they all come back to me and it's pretty special it's been fun i've been sending the kids like this is caroline on the main dock and she caught her one of her first fish and just it's been fun photos of me and my mom photos of caroline coming home from the hospital dan and pete it goes by fast now that i see photos and then i'm looking at them and caroline's engaged to be married but uh this is my painting i don't know how old i was maybe i was obsessed with airplanes back then i just wanted to travel and here i am do what i thought but i'm glad my mom caught like kept all this i think it was someone else's birthday and they must have used the paper on the back so you know when you live in a live in a big family but anyways so i hope my kids enjoy it and it's just been surreal looking at how time is basically how fast it goes and i'm really excited about this new chapter but um i'm super happy a few ornaments made it it's really special so a little bit of a time capsule and i'm opening it and uh looking at like look at that the three kids it's chilling i think this is oh yeah this is up here at the cabin so yeah a lot of memories packed in this box great lando time to make new ones and celebrate the old ones as much as we've enjoyed our overland adventure across canada so far it sure feels good to be back at the island catching up with the boys has been a real treat and we're excited for tomorrow when caroline her fiance matt and a bunch of family and friends come up to the lake for the long weekend there's nothing quite like these lazy summer days at the lake it's a time for family fun and of course plenty of food tons of food after all that food a little work to help out with digestion is always a good idea it's a heavy one these summer days are made for long boat rides for discovering hidden coves and creeks nobody knows about this lake really not many and even exploring secret lakes damn that's the white canoe yeah because i see we made that remember it's also the perfect time for endless hours of fishing and for water sports and some good old-fashioned fun and if you manage to knock your brother off the tube well that's just a bonus this time of year in ontario the days are long the sun is warm and the lakes are at the perfect temperature for swimming there are over 250,000 lakes in ontario which constitute about 20 percent of the world's freshwater supply and it's hard to believe that in just three and a half months from now most of these lakes will be frozen over the lake then transforms into a winter wonderland offering endless opportunities for snowshoeing cross-country skiing ice fishing and snowmobiling but for now we are enjoying the long and beautiful days of summer at the lake it's been such a fun few days with matt and caroline here we've just been totally relaxing and enjoying being off the road with them and doing a little bit of wedding planning a lot of fishing i'm just quickly making some simple brats i got this relish at the expo in oregon amber thank you and we can't wait to try it out it looks delicious and she was kind enough to give me the whole recipe so i hope i have enough to make a few of these to last over the winter yeah we are just having a chill day before they leave already and um doing some barbecue then we're gonna go out on the lake and just soak in the last few hours together and that'll be it'll be really nice so come along with us happiest good job you saw it it came off it was came off a little bit yeah it came off like this close from the i sometimes wish days like this could last forever with all of us together again enjoying the lake and each other's company but after a wonderful weekend we say goodbye to matt and caroline for everything yeah thanks for everything thanks for everything it's always hard watching loved ones drive away but as the sun sets over the horizon and we wind down the day we look forward to seeing them again in just a few days as we all gather together for a big family celebration today is particularly special for our family as we are celebrating my dad's 85th birthday and our parents 60th wedding anniversary as you may know i come from a very large family i have nine brothers and five sisters when we all come together with our spouses plus all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren it creates quite a crowd i grew up in a home filled with music and singing so if you ask my mom what she would want for her anniversary she would say i would love to have my daughters or my 10 sons sing a song for me for all of us it is an honor to stand up and bless our parents to thank them for their love and dedication to each other and to all of us my mom grew up with two siblings but her neighbors had a large family of 12 kids she would visit them often because it was always noisy boisterous and so much fun as a young girl she told her parents when i have a family one day i want to have a big one in fact one of the first conversations she had with my dad was our first conversation when i was trying to get the noise he said i've always dreamed of having 12 kids okay and then one by one their 92 grandchildren contributed a rose until before them lay a large bouquet of beautiful red roses rich of her things into the apartment where she and matt will be living after they're married one of my brothers has a brand new apartment available on this beautiful equestrian farm which will be the perfect place for caroline and matt to settle in and establish their life together we're just moving some things from caroline's old apartment to her new apartment she'll be moving in here when they get married beautiful auspicious and gorgeous views overlooking the fields here horses it's really nice hi are you having fun with your friends oh what a day it has been with hearts full we set up camp in the back 40 you get a good night's sleep in preparation for an early morning departure back to the cabin