Day 201: Thunder Bay

Plan today was to drive another 5 hours today to reach Thunder Bay! We woke up to crows cawing at each other and gave up on sleeping at 7:30am. The views and nature in this region continue to impress us and we believe that a road trip circling the entire Great Lakes could be turned into a month long event.

We stopped in a little town called Nipigon for lunch at a townie trucker bar Chinese restaurant. Just imagine a dark bar with pool tables and flannel. We go to pay and an older man asked us if we like the food and why we were here. We mentioned we were from the US and he got really excited. Started chatting and found out he and the bar owner were actually from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and that their son was an electrical engineer with a masters like Kieran! After telling them we would visit Vietnam in the fall, they were so excited and started listing off millions of recommendations. Furthermore, they changed the Olympics on the tv to YouTube so we could see a famous street near where they lived. We spent at least 30 more minutes with the couple and had the most wonderful time learning about their son and opinions on northern Vietnam (they said the food has no flavor).

We reached Thunder Bay around 3 and had time to walk around the city. The water and surrounding industrial districts were cool. On a sadder note, Thunder Bay was once an economic center for forestry, mining, and shipping but lost the business over the years. The town is suffering from this economic downturn and facing a huge opioid crisis; this has had impact on many First Nation Peoples and Indigenous communities. We constantly passed homeless across the town and several actively injecting or on fentanyl. At one point, an ambulance was called to administer Narcan.

The good news is Thunder Bay is actively working to support this homeless population in an empathetic manor; instead of evicting them from public spaces, they are experimenting with providing shelters / housings in designated areas and also set low barrier entry for shelters (no restrictions on curfew or soberness.) As a result of these programs, they’ve been able to connect 50 people with permanent housing.

There is still more to do yet we think the US and other cities could look to Thunder Bay’s strategy.

Guesthouse: Casas Del Norte

Restaurant:
Robins Donuts
China Gardens
Prospectors Brew Pub

Spots:
Wawa
Nipigon
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