Sudbury

I barely slept last night! Although it looked like we were secluded and surrounded by forest, highway 69 was too close and it turns out so was an actively used railway. Several cars came into the parking lot during the night most of them filled with loud inhabitants and then finally in the morning when we really should have been getting up the workers for the Visitor Centre arrived. When we finally got up the parking lot had more cars in it than I expected and as we had our coffees it continued to fill. By the time we had something to eat and were ready to explore the parking lot was almost full and several motorcycles were here waiting to check in for a bike rally raising funds for a sick girl with a rare illness. First we explored the gift shop and museum where we learned about how important the French River was as a mode of transportation for the natives and later the French. We also learned about the local fish and abundant rattlesnakes in the area. Next we collected the dogs from the bus and headed down the trail. It was awesome trail! It kind of reminded me of hiking in Maine with all the rocks and roots. It lead us to Recollet Falls where we found a watersnake that I mistakenly thought was a rattlesnake. After a break and several pictures we headed back up the trail and to the overfilled parking lot. I noticed an old westy VW right away and asked Michael to gues who the van belonged to. My guess was a couple we met on the trail with their young daughter who was hoisted up on her dads shoulders when we met. While I made us a bite to eat a man approached and asked if he could take take pictures of the bus and then the owners of the VW returned and I was right! The happy people with keens owned it! Anyway, it was time for us to move on. I wanted to go to Killarney Provincial Park but as we took the exit off of highway 69 I noticed the gas tank was on empty and I knew we were about to take a road that might not have gas. We pulled over and sure enough we needed to get back on 69 for gas. After filling up we decided to just head to Sudbury and skip Killarney for now (we can always come back tomorrow). In Sudbury we found Bell's Park and parked in a big parking lot across the street with a perfect view of both the park and the waterfront! Hmmm, looks like the perfect place to spend the night! The first thing we saw when we entered the park was an empty amphitheatre with two guys onstage playing Bob Marley music. The theatre gates were locked so we took a seat on the grassy hill and listened for a few minutes. As we were there a worker came over and told us that there was a free concert tonight with five bands and the gates would open at 6pm. Awesome! We took the dogs for a walk in the park and then made a quick trip back to the bus for a snack and then headed back to the amphitheatre. Because we had the dogs with us we brought our chairs and just set up where we could see everything. Soon the place was packed and even as the first band started playing more people kept arriving. Stef Paquette kicked off with french folk music, then Jonathan Roy (who we had heard practicing came out with some Bob Marley. Mia Martina was late and played techno style (I didn't enjoy it and most of her stuff seemed lip synced) but then Coleman Hell came out and was awesome! And of course Serena Ryder sounded amazing! It was a fun free night!