Very pleasant trip on the boat but very hot on the train.
... One might conclude that the correspondent took the CPR summer lake service west to Fort William, and then took the train west from there.
The 1916 Official Guide shows Strassburg [sic] on the CPR near Bulyea, Saskatchewan. Today that settlement's name is spelled Strasbourg. Even the postcard dealer was wondering about the location (pencil in the lower right corner).
Varna, Ontario is SSE of Goderich.
On the day on which the stamp was cancelled (Monday, August 3, 1914), Germany declared war on France.
On August 4, the Germans were singing patriotic songs and walking into Belgium on their way to France - following the outdated, and what would turn out to be the poorly-executed, Schlieffen Plan.
Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, technically because of the violation of Belgium's neutrality ... a long story which goes back to 1839 when Prussia and Britain signed the Treaty of London.
Given Canada's existing system of government at the time ... the violation of the 1839 Treaty of London ... and Britain's response to it ... automatically meant that Canada was at war with Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and all the rest of the gang.
The whole world order was changing forever as this postcard travelled toward its recipient.
There would be many hot train rides and ship voyages before the whole thing was over.
There's also a picture on the postcard ... almost forgot ...
I remember the grades up to the road deck being quite steep.
It is unclear how easy it was for early motor vehicles or horse-drawn conveyances to use the upper deck.
In the 2009 Google view, the upper deck is no longer accessible to vehicles and only the railway deck is still in use.