headin' north and keepin' warm

Changing our plan to head north, meant we needed to make some changes to the bus. We decided to install a woodstove chimney through the roof of the bus that would be permanent (rather than before, where we piped it out the emergency window) - this change meant that we would not have to set it up and tear it down en route.  This was good thinking on our part, as the temperaturedrops significantly after the sun goesdown.  Most nights in Ontario have been in the -30C range...  

Keeping warm and collecting wood has been a quest of its own.  We've done quite well sourcing out wood where we can - the scrap wood pile outside the Bear Chair Co. in South River, ON is open most days as a source of free wood (Photo I).  Things were a little different in Thunder Bay where we were told of a place where we could find some old wooden skids - no one in the neighbourhood seemed to care that Scott pulled out his generator and skill-saw take what we needed.