Lynn Johnston's comic strip 'For Better or For Worse' is created in Corbeil - a small community on the outskirts of North Bay

North Bay, Ontario - For more than 25 years newspaper readers in 23 countries around the world have related to, and enjoyed the family humor of the 'For Better or For Worse' comic strip. Most readers don't realize that it originates from the small community of Corbeil near North Bay, about 3 1/2 hours northwest of Toronto. Creator, writer and artist Lynn Johnston, attended the Vancouver School of Art, and then worked as an illustrator in Hamilton at McMaster University's medical school. While she was pregnant she illustrated the ceiling of her doctor's office with cartoons for the amusement of fellow patients, and that lead to her book 'David, We're Pregnant' and launched her career. Lynn, who originally based the strip on her family, has a daughter Kate who was the inspiritation for the characer 'Liz'. Kate attended North Bay's Nipissing University and a copy of the strip that illustrated 'Liz's' graduation was given to every member of Kate's graduating class. You can see it and other examples of Lynn's work on display at the University. Her work also appears among the art on the popular North Bay Herritage Carousel at the waterfront. Lynn has incorported North Bay and many surrounding communities and real personalities in the strip.

Where: North Bay, which is on the Trans Canada Hwy, sits on the eastern shore of big Lake Nipissing, one of Northern Ontario's largest lakes. You can explore the lake on the 320-passenger 'Chief Comanda II', which offers regular day-time and evening summer cruises. You can visit the Dionee Quituplets Museum (more than 3 million people came to visit the quints themselves during the Great Depression), and at Discovery North Bay in North Bay's historic CPR Station you can learn about local heritage. North Bay can be reached by road, rail and air. Want to see the fall colours? Ontario Northland often offers a 'fall colour' train trip from North Bay called the Dream Catcher Express, which travels the 100 km to Temagami and returns the same day.

In the News: Cyclsts take note - after three years successfully operating a Niagara service, The Bike Train (a non-profit initiative) began service between Toronto and North Bay August 2009. Look for multiple departures summer 2010.

Lucy Izon

Canada Cool is produced by award-winning Canadian travel writer & speaker Lucy Izon. Her travel stories & reports have appeared in numerous leading North American publications including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul. Bio page

Canada’s Coolest:

Welcome to a new feature on Canada Cool. I'll be presenting different 'Coolest' lists with my favorites and I encourage you to nominate suggestions from your own experiences. You can Twitter @CanadaCool or email Lucy@CanadaCool.com. Let me know what makes your suggestion exceptionally cool. Remember, by contributing your comments you are giving Canada Cool permission to quote you. Only a selection of submissions will be included, but all comments and submissions are greatly appreciated!

The first feature is: Canada's Coolest Single Day Scenic Drives

Here are some of my favorites...

Icefields Parkway - the world's most accessible glacier

The Icefields Parkway, Jasper National Park, Alberta - This 229 km (142 mi) Rocky Mountain route from Banff/Lake Louise to Jasper passes 100 frozen rivers and nudges the base of the Athabasca Glacier - the most accessible glacier in the world. You can stop and explore it. It spills down from the Columbia Icefield, an area of ice so massive that you could fit the entire population of North America on it with each person getting at least a square metre of space.

The Corridor, Algonquin Park, Ontario – this 56-km stretch of Hwy 60 cuts through the southwest section of Algonquin Park. Less than three hours north of Toronto the park is a nature-lover's paradise with 7,725 km of lakes, rivers, forest, trails, camping, comfortable lodges and 2000 km of canoe routes. Offers hiking trails to stop and enjoy, but what makes it really cool is that it’s one of the best places in North America to spot moose (especially in May and June). And, on Thursday nights in August up to 600 cars will gather to listen to wolves howl.

The Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia – Driving this 303 km (187 mile) route is like riding a roller-coaster: the road snakes around hairpin turns, rises to heights over 365 metres (1200 ft), weaves around headlands revealing spectacular coastal scenery, and plunges down to sea level taking you into the heart of small fishing communities. The most dramatic scenery is between the Cape Breton Highlands National Park entrance near Cheticamp and Pleasant Bay, so go slow. And, plan some flexibility into your schedule, so you can drive it on a clear day.

And here are some of your nominations for 'Canada's Coolest Single Day Scenic Drives'...

Lynn Johnston's comic strip 'For Better or For Worse' is created in Corbeil - a small community on the outskirts of North Bay

Lucy Izon

Canada’s Coolest:

The first feature is: Canada's Coolest Single Day Scenic Drives

Here are some of my favorites...

More from Canada’s Coolest