Terrace Bay Ontario

Living away far from home at Xmas is not too good so we decided to drive the thousand miles through a deserted road to have Xmas with Roma's family. We were living in Dorion, a little village in Northern Ontario and at the last minute decided to go home to Magnetawan. School was out at 3 pm and I decided to leave immediately and drive right through the night.

We had our young daughter with us and she was only one year old. we packed the car and had Lynda in a bed seat in the back seat of the car. It wa not a good weather forcast and I wanted to get ahead of the storm.

We left Dorion at 4.30 pm and charged down highway 17 and headed east. After travelling for a few hours we had to nake sure we had enough gas as there were only a few stations open and they all closed at 9 pm.Something was not quite right with the car and it seemed to lose power going up the long hills north of Lake Superior.We never met a car and began to worry about the action of our Dodge Vicount. I knew the road well and stopped at a little gas station and checked the car. There was a lot of smoke or steam coming from the exhaust and the engine began to overheat. The next town was Terrace Bay and by the time we reached there our car was wasted. I stopped at a Husky garage and there happened to be a late worker finishing a job on a truck. Quickly he told us we had blown a head gasket and he could fix it in the morning.

He was kind enough to take us to the only motel and helped us get a room. It was closed but opened for us. Seeing our young daughter the lady made us comfortable and gave us the service of the small kitchen. She left and we had the motel to ourselves.

Early the next day I went to the garage and the kind man said he had to order the new gasket from Fort William and it would come on the bus. Later he said it had to come from Winnipeg so stay at the motel and he would get to work as soon as it arrived. News spread that we were stranded and help came from all sides. We were invited to lunch at the garage restaurant and no charge. The day was long but we had visitors and one family I knew from playing hockey with the dad invited us for supper.

Lake trout caught through the ice was delicious and a drive back to our room ended our day. Next morning our car was ready and we left. Before leaving I went to pay the bill and he charged only for the parts. We were so happy and thankful as we were on a short budget. "Merry Christmas" he shouted as we left the friendly town to complete our journey.

We travelled all the next day through snow covered roads and never saw a car. The road was closed at Saulte St. Marie and when we arrived there the OPP was surprised to see us. Eventually we arrived at Magnetawan to a happy and worried family. We had such a good Xmas that year and felt the spirit of Xmas through the folks who made it possible for us to be with family.