After a great stay with Thom and Cheryl (Apologies for the spelling if it's wrong) We biked our way out of Kenora. After a few hiccups, a blown tire, and a tire that was rubbing on a piece of the bike we decided was irrelevant, we got out of Ontario. Coming into Manitoba, we stopped at the tourist bureau, got some advice, read about others adventures in the bike log and ventured into the prairie province. After the highway became four lanes and we were scared by some eager trucks we decided to take a more scenic route into Winnipeg. I briefly saw the first bear of the trip, which was a young one, but we ventured past cautiously keeping an eye out for Mama. In our true style we stayed that night on the edge of Whiteshell Provincial Park in a picnic park not 100ft. from an actual camp ground that would have been more than happy to take our money. Supper that night was of our own creation and included the remainder of our minute rice, and a can of chili beans, chick peas and tuna each. Packed with protein but lacking flavour we saoked it all in Tabasco Sauce and ate quickly before bed.
The next day we kept on the trail and were over 100km from Winnipeg. About 40 km in we were off of the Canadian Shield and onto the flat lands. The roads were straight as an arrow all the way into town. In Alma we stopped and ordered up some gas station fried chicken while we tried to make arrangements for the night. We ended up getting a hold of a couple people. The first were Daniel and Michelle Bahuaud. They were more than willing to have us even though it was both their anniversary and their young children were away for the evening. However, our old friends the Bleicherts called back soon after we got a hold of the Bahuauds and we decided that they'd probably rather have a nice anniversary on their own than to house, feed, and entertain our filthy selves. Al Bleichert came out and met us in his trusty van to escort us to his house which would have been difficult to get to without his help. That night we enjoyed some soup, homemade bread, and rhubarb dessert with Al, his wife Frances and also met their daughter Sarah.
The next day we were able to get a hold of L'Arche Winnipeg and organize going to a house to meet them for dinner. After wandering around the downtown, buying some necessary items from MEC and Dollarama, and getting lost, we made our way to the L'Arche house. They welcomed us with open arms and we met Anthony, Renato, Lorenne, Russell, Michael and Jimmy who lived in the house together. Luckily for us we came to L'Arche on their vacation week and we stayed until late in the evening and met many more fantastic people involved with L'Arche in one way or another.
The next day we got up and got out of Winnipeg, again with the help of Al, leaving with a few more items than we showed up with. Sarah had a old beater guitar that we were lucky enough to steal and Al had a camel pack that we swore he didn't use. So again we took that off of his hands.
The accommodations in Winnipeg met and exceeded all that we deserved and we left with a nice bag of Francis' cookies to help us along out way.
Just as we had been warned over and over the wind was fierce and unforgiving. We stopped in Portage La Prairie for food at their friendly Sobey's where we were able to convince the worker in the bakery to donate some things that were headed for the garbage to us instead. Apparently we've begun talking a little weird as well because one of the cashiers there asked us and I quote " So what kind of accent am i hearing there, Australian or English." I assured her that it was simply a Nova Scotian accent with whatever alterations that may have been picked up through tenting in the woods. We moseyed on for a few more kilometers before we rested behind a gas staion for the evening.
The next morning we were pleasantly awaken by some nice people whippersnipping and lawn mowing the grass we were sleeping on which I swear our 7'x6' tent covered more than half of. We got up and again suffered the strong prairie winds and pushed through some surprising hills until we made it to Brandon. Here we had another contact Donna and Dave August who I'd met when Donna was managing the NDP campaign in Truro, NS before we took off. We ate like kings, drank some of Dave's fine chokecherry wine and met Donna's brothers Jerry and Ken, as well as Ken's wife Bev, before hitting the hay with our bellies full.
Today we're about to take off with intentions of making it to Saskatchewan. We just helped Ken and Bev move into their new spot and they gave us a generous donation for our trip. Again Manitoba lived up to it's "Friendly Manitoba" name and we were treated all too well.
Saskatchewan is in the sights and from what we've heard the wind apparently isn't going to improve when we get there so it should be a difficult ride for the duration.
You know what they say though . . "No Pain, no Grain"
See ya guys and gals,
Skye and Ryan
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The End (of Ontario) is Nigh
Alllright!!
So I think it's safe to say I've never been more excited to leave a place than I am to leave Ontario right now!! The people have been fantastic, the biking has been more or less great, and we've escaped this province without too many hiccups or set backs. That being said, we're both ready to get out of this rocky woodsy lakey land.
We ended up not leaving Thunder Bay until around 3 in the pm. Logan had returned from his second meeting with Jordan Staal and we as usual took our sweet time getting ready and on the road. We were kindly escorted out of the neighboorhood and down to the grocery store by Logan and his friend Thomas. We were then on our way after picking up some stuff to ensure that we would not be without food. A few kilometers down the 102 out of the Bay we were lucky enough to stumble upon a box of mini boxes of cereal which of course we picked up and brought along with us for the journey.
We stopped for the evening 110km in at a Gas station in Lac des Mille Lacs and asked if they'd kindly let us put up our tent, which they agreed to. We hung out with Sare who was the cook for the restaurant and also did some wood chopping. He warned us of the numerous bears in the area so we were "careful" not to keep food in the tent with us. After hanging up our food we agreed that anything left had to be eaten before sleeping. After polishing a bag of chips, we stumbled upon 4 granola bars which we ate without too much trouble. Next on the menu we figured out that there was the remnants of a bag of trail mix that we struggled to polish off. Long story short we fell asleep with full bellies, crumbs all over the tent, that box of mini cereal boxes convenietly just outside of the tent, and a nice box of jelly beans hiddin in the depths of Babs's bag. No night visitors though!!! Except for the millions of mosquitos who also went to bed with full bellies inside of our tent.
We got up in the morning and had a breakfast at the diner and got on the road. We made great time due to the lack of wind and the land becoming much more flat. The rain came in flashes and there was the threat of a lightning attack but we kept on because the biking was easy. The rain cleared up for our lunch in English River and then we continued on. Final destination for the evening was Ignace, about 130km of biking for the day. We stopped and had a nice treat of minute rice, creamed corn and tuna and topped it up with a burger from a very busy burger spot before making our way to West Beach where we had a very pleasent sleep and were lucky enough to witness a couple bush planes come flying into the lake in the morning.
We indulged in those great cereals before taking off in the morning. About 110 kilometers from Dryden, we thought it would be a suitable destination for the day. We stopped at a nice little picnic spot for lunch and a quick nap before hitting the road again. Again it rained throughout the day at various times. We got to Dryden and remembered our friend Jenn from Thunder Bay had mentioned she had a contact there. After calling her and having a snack at the grocery store we got the contact info, considered our options, and since it was still early and the rain looked to be letting up, we took off to put some more kilometers under us.
We thought there would be a picnic area within the vicinity of the town but were mistaken and ended up biking another 40 kilometers before hitting up a camp site. As we would find a trend the camp ground didn't accept interact and we didn't have cash so we asked the old guy in the office if he might let us mail him money later. This wasn't going to work for him so we took off, dreading having to bike many more kilometers. Lucky for us the old guy told us we could get to the highway by continuing on the dirt road. We couldn't be more than 100 ft down the road when we ran into a beach with nice cooking pits and a great spot to camp so it worked out again for the best and we indulged in hamburger helper before hitting the hay and listening to the thunder and lightning overhead. It was a record breaking day for us at just under 150km and it set us up nicely to reach Kenora the next day!!!!!
The day biking into Kenora was one of those days. The wind was howling and it rained on and off all day. Such a day that makes 90km harder and more challenging that the 150 we did the day before. The only escape from the deafening sound of the wind was to throw in the headphones and put the music on full blast which is perhaps not the safest tactic but kept us from going insane. We stopped at a restaurant just 30km in to the day to give the legs a break and had to use Babs's moms credit card # because again interact had not been discovered in these remote locales. It might as well have been 1909, let alone 2009. The rest of the day was a nightmare but we made it to Kenora. We were able to track down a contact from Colin Mcleod and are presently at his Aunt and Uncles getting ready to hit the road for the day and . . . .GET OUT OF THIS PROVINCE!!!!!!
Not sure if we've passed this on yet but we're officially on the L'Arche Foundation Website larchefoundation.ca, we're right on the main page group #2 and there's a picture of us. Go there if you want to donate!! Tell your rich uncles, and not so rich grandparents! It should be self explanatory I think. Follow the links and the tax receipt will pop up right from the site!!
Peace and Love everyone,
Skye and Ryan
So I think it's safe to say I've never been more excited to leave a place than I am to leave Ontario right now!! The people have been fantastic, the biking has been more or less great, and we've escaped this province without too many hiccups or set backs. That being said, we're both ready to get out of this rocky woodsy lakey land.
We ended up not leaving Thunder Bay until around 3 in the pm. Logan had returned from his second meeting with Jordan Staal and we as usual took our sweet time getting ready and on the road. We were kindly escorted out of the neighboorhood and down to the grocery store by Logan and his friend Thomas. We were then on our way after picking up some stuff to ensure that we would not be without food. A few kilometers down the 102 out of the Bay we were lucky enough to stumble upon a box of mini boxes of cereal which of course we picked up and brought along with us for the journey.
We stopped for the evening 110km in at a Gas station in Lac des Mille Lacs and asked if they'd kindly let us put up our tent, which they agreed to. We hung out with Sare who was the cook for the restaurant and also did some wood chopping. He warned us of the numerous bears in the area so we were "careful" not to keep food in the tent with us. After hanging up our food we agreed that anything left had to be eaten before sleeping. After polishing a bag of chips, we stumbled upon 4 granola bars which we ate without too much trouble. Next on the menu we figured out that there was the remnants of a bag of trail mix that we struggled to polish off. Long story short we fell asleep with full bellies, crumbs all over the tent, that box of mini cereal boxes convenietly just outside of the tent, and a nice box of jelly beans hiddin in the depths of Babs's bag. No night visitors though!!! Except for the millions of mosquitos who also went to bed with full bellies inside of our tent.
We got up in the morning and had a breakfast at the diner and got on the road. We made great time due to the lack of wind and the land becoming much more flat. The rain came in flashes and there was the threat of a lightning attack but we kept on because the biking was easy. The rain cleared up for our lunch in English River and then we continued on. Final destination for the evening was Ignace, about 130km of biking for the day. We stopped and had a nice treat of minute rice, creamed corn and tuna and topped it up with a burger from a very busy burger spot before making our way to West Beach where we had a very pleasent sleep and were lucky enough to witness a couple bush planes come flying into the lake in the morning.
We indulged in those great cereals before taking off in the morning. About 110 kilometers from Dryden, we thought it would be a suitable destination for the day. We stopped at a nice little picnic spot for lunch and a quick nap before hitting the road again. Again it rained throughout the day at various times. We got to Dryden and remembered our friend Jenn from Thunder Bay had mentioned she had a contact there. After calling her and having a snack at the grocery store we got the contact info, considered our options, and since it was still early and the rain looked to be letting up, we took off to put some more kilometers under us.
We thought there would be a picnic area within the vicinity of the town but were mistaken and ended up biking another 40 kilometers before hitting up a camp site. As we would find a trend the camp ground didn't accept interact and we didn't have cash so we asked the old guy in the office if he might let us mail him money later. This wasn't going to work for him so we took off, dreading having to bike many more kilometers. Lucky for us the old guy told us we could get to the highway by continuing on the dirt road. We couldn't be more than 100 ft down the road when we ran into a beach with nice cooking pits and a great spot to camp so it worked out again for the best and we indulged in hamburger helper before hitting the hay and listening to the thunder and lightning overhead. It was a record breaking day for us at just under 150km and it set us up nicely to reach Kenora the next day!!!!!
The day biking into Kenora was one of those days. The wind was howling and it rained on and off all day. Such a day that makes 90km harder and more challenging that the 150 we did the day before. The only escape from the deafening sound of the wind was to throw in the headphones and put the music on full blast which is perhaps not the safest tactic but kept us from going insane. We stopped at a restaurant just 30km in to the day to give the legs a break and had to use Babs's moms credit card # because again interact had not been discovered in these remote locales. It might as well have been 1909, let alone 2009. The rest of the day was a nightmare but we made it to Kenora. We were able to track down a contact from Colin Mcleod and are presently at his Aunt and Uncles getting ready to hit the road for the day and . . . .GET OUT OF THIS PROVINCE!!!!!!
Not sure if we've passed this on yet but we're officially on the L'Arche Foundation Website larchefoundation.ca, we're right on the main page group #2 and there's a picture of us. Go there if you want to donate!! Tell your rich uncles, and not so rich grandparents! It should be self explanatory I think. Follow the links and the tax receipt will pop up right from the site!!
Peace and Love everyone,
Skye and Ryan
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Marathon from Marathon to Thunderbay
Soo after warming up, and chowing down in Marathon and coincidentally meeting up with a couple of people Babs knew from Cornwall we decided to continue on our way. We didn't get a few kilometers down the road when we reconsidered our decision. In the travel lodge we noticed that everyone was comming in off the road and trying to stay put for the night because of the foggy conditions. We had two views on this situation. If the cars can't see, then they probably can't see us and thats no good, buuut if everyone is getting off the road due to the fog then that means less traffic and that's great as far as we're concerned. We went with the former state of mind and didn't get more than a few kilometers down the road before we ran into another motel and decided to shutter down. Later we found out that we actually had offers of places to stay in that very town or Marathon but our fantastic coverage from Rogers Wireless had then been gone for almost a week and we didn't find out this fact until we got here to Thunder Bay. Soo instead we spent our precious money and stayed in a motel. It was a good night though and we had some nice long hot showers and watched Jumanji.
The next day the fog had cleared and we were on our way after a tasty canned ham bagel. We stopped about 30 kilometers in at a little rest stop for some bananna dominated trail mix. We met a friendly German family who were also travelling across Canada and chatted about our trips. After they showed us some photos of a bear they saw a few kilometers back we decided to hit the road again. The day was hilly but provided some beautiful views. We continued towards Terrace Bay and stopped at Drifters Roadhouse for a fantastic plate of pork chops and mashed potatoes. While waiting for our food we met some ladies who were enjoying an episode of the Magic School Bus. Hardly able to hold back our quips, we zinged the girls for thier choice of entertainment. We chatted for a few minutes then they headed out. After a delicious bite we continued on through the hilly, windy, wet, foggy mess of a day through Schrieber and onwards to Ross Port. As the legs tired we decided to check into some camping. The camp site we popped into was asking for $27.50. So, despite the good looking camp host, we politely declined and instead settled on a fantastic picnic spot a few kilometers down the road. We were cold and wet but the spot gave us a beautiful view of Lake Superior and we decided it was right up our alley. We headed down to the beach and decided that a fire would make this the ideal camp location. So we rummaged through some garbage containers to gather some dry paper and marched through the bushy areas to rally some "dry" wood. Though soaked, the wood was dead and relatively dry on the inside. So we headed back to the beach to try our luck. Contrary to our fire starting abilities in Petawawa, this fire started up slowly but surely and despite the rain we had ourselves a nice fire glowing in no time. As we stood around the fire warming our cold and blue toes, we had the pleasure of meeting some fantastic folks, even if only for a minute. A Torontonian returning from Manitoba was gracious enough to collect a huge bundle of wood for us from the bush while his parents stopped for a pee break. Thanks Christian! An older lady from Germany asked if we could snap a phot of her and her mother, and we kindly obliged. She thanked us and then headed out. Before she departed she returned with a full camping propane tank and offered it to us. She insisted she had two other full ones and so we were greatful to accept her gift and replace our dwindling supply. After stoking the fire we decided to have a quick dip in the cold water. It was refreshing and took our breath away. We re-warmed our cold selves by our against-the-odds fire and looked out onto the glass like Superior. We thought that it'd be a fantastic time to be kayaking. Moments later a van pulled up and was ready to do just that. Toby and Chris, from Thunder Bay, were about to enjoy the water. On our way up to gather more fire wood, we introduced ourselves and chatted a bit about our trip. Soon after they decided to hit the water while it was still a bit light out. We returned to the fire and settled in for a bite of dinner: a can of beans and some bagels. As we ate, Toby and Chris returned and had to "apologize". We were slightly confused since he hadn't done anything to wrong us. Before we could figure it out, he was brandishing two beers for us lucky bikers, but was apologizing for the warmness of the beers. They joined us around the fire and we chatted about our trip and other aspects of life. As the fire dwindled, they returned to their van in which they had a mattress and we headed to bed in our beach side tent. We went to bed smiling, super content with the kindness of strangers and happy with the way things have been working out.
The next day the hills were long and arduous but we tackled them with some grunting and slight complaining and headed towards Nipigon. It was still early, so we enjoyed a couple of slices of pizza and stocked up on some Faxe 10 and Grand 9.5 for our post bike refreshments. We caught a tail wind out of Nipigon that lasted for a few minutes but we had to sit out 15 minutes to change a tire thanks to someones broken window all over the road. After a record time tire change on Skye's back tire we caught the tail wind again and ripped off another 40kms. We decided to call it quits at about 8:30 at a little picnic area beside an Esso convenient store in Dorion. The lady assured us we could throw up our tent and we grabbed a few snacks before they closed at 9:00. We set up shop and enjoyed our top of the line refreshments and hit the hay. We woke early thanks to the tent being slapped into our faces by the heavy wind, but used it to our advantage to zip into Thunder Bay. After a delicious bite at the Lakeview Inn and a nice chat with the owners daughter, who was interested to hear about our trip, we continued on. Despite riding on the stretch of Highway 17 dedicatd to Terry Fox's cross Canada Marathon of Hope we were informed by a police officer that we were actually NOT allowed to bike or run on that stretch of highway. That's interesting considering its dedicated to a man that ran himself along that very path. But, we obliged and hit an alternate route into town. We met up with Jenn Jocko, a medschool friend of Skye's sister Ceilidh, and she welcomed us into her beautiful home. She treated us to a fantastic feed of BBQ'd ribs, chicken, and corn on the cob, but insisted her husband Brad was the cook of the house. He was currently out of the house driving the kids all around Ontario attending hockey camps and camping camps while stopping in to visit some of their family. They arrived home the next day and we met Brad and the kids Logan and Selena. We had the oppertunity to "bump into" Jordan Stall at the Thunder Bay airport as he was picking up the Stanley Cup. Logan, an avid fan, was over the moon being able to catch some autographs and see one of his NHL heros. We came back and Brad treated us to a fabulous fish fry, all caught at their camp by Logan. We ate until we could eat no more. They have been treating us like kings and have made us feel super comfortable, allowing us to use their house and car as our own. The kids kept us busy with games of hide and go seek. After doing a couple of loads of laundry and learning some new bike maintenance skills in Brad's shop we're ready to hit the road again. Hopefully we'll be out of Ontario in a few days and can start flying through the western provinces. Calgary will be our next big rest area and we're looking forward to seeing many friends when we get there.
Cheers for now
The next day the fog had cleared and we were on our way after a tasty canned ham bagel. We stopped about 30 kilometers in at a little rest stop for some bananna dominated trail mix. We met a friendly German family who were also travelling across Canada and chatted about our trips. After they showed us some photos of a bear they saw a few kilometers back we decided to hit the road again. The day was hilly but provided some beautiful views. We continued towards Terrace Bay and stopped at Drifters Roadhouse for a fantastic plate of pork chops and mashed potatoes. While waiting for our food we met some ladies who were enjoying an episode of the Magic School Bus. Hardly able to hold back our quips, we zinged the girls for thier choice of entertainment. We chatted for a few minutes then they headed out. After a delicious bite we continued on through the hilly, windy, wet, foggy mess of a day through Schrieber and onwards to Ross Port. As the legs tired we decided to check into some camping. The camp site we popped into was asking for $27.50. So, despite the good looking camp host, we politely declined and instead settled on a fantastic picnic spot a few kilometers down the road. We were cold and wet but the spot gave us a beautiful view of Lake Superior and we decided it was right up our alley. We headed down to the beach and decided that a fire would make this the ideal camp location. So we rummaged through some garbage containers to gather some dry paper and marched through the bushy areas to rally some "dry" wood. Though soaked, the wood was dead and relatively dry on the inside. So we headed back to the beach to try our luck. Contrary to our fire starting abilities in Petawawa, this fire started up slowly but surely and despite the rain we had ourselves a nice fire glowing in no time. As we stood around the fire warming our cold and blue toes, we had the pleasure of meeting some fantastic folks, even if only for a minute. A Torontonian returning from Manitoba was gracious enough to collect a huge bundle of wood for us from the bush while his parents stopped for a pee break. Thanks Christian! An older lady from Germany asked if we could snap a phot of her and her mother, and we kindly obliged. She thanked us and then headed out. Before she departed she returned with a full camping propane tank and offered it to us. She insisted she had two other full ones and so we were greatful to accept her gift and replace our dwindling supply. After stoking the fire we decided to have a quick dip in the cold water. It was refreshing and took our breath away. We re-warmed our cold selves by our against-the-odds fire and looked out onto the glass like Superior. We thought that it'd be a fantastic time to be kayaking. Moments later a van pulled up and was ready to do just that. Toby and Chris, from Thunder Bay, were about to enjoy the water. On our way up to gather more fire wood, we introduced ourselves and chatted a bit about our trip. Soon after they decided to hit the water while it was still a bit light out. We returned to the fire and settled in for a bite of dinner: a can of beans and some bagels. As we ate, Toby and Chris returned and had to "apologize". We were slightly confused since he hadn't done anything to wrong us. Before we could figure it out, he was brandishing two beers for us lucky bikers, but was apologizing for the warmness of the beers. They joined us around the fire and we chatted about our trip and other aspects of life. As the fire dwindled, they returned to their van in which they had a mattress and we headed to bed in our beach side tent. We went to bed smiling, super content with the kindness of strangers and happy with the way things have been working out.
The next day the hills were long and arduous but we tackled them with some grunting and slight complaining and headed towards Nipigon. It was still early, so we enjoyed a couple of slices of pizza and stocked up on some Faxe 10 and Grand 9.5 for our post bike refreshments. We caught a tail wind out of Nipigon that lasted for a few minutes but we had to sit out 15 minutes to change a tire thanks to someones broken window all over the road. After a record time tire change on Skye's back tire we caught the tail wind again and ripped off another 40kms. We decided to call it quits at about 8:30 at a little picnic area beside an Esso convenient store in Dorion. The lady assured us we could throw up our tent and we grabbed a few snacks before they closed at 9:00. We set up shop and enjoyed our top of the line refreshments and hit the hay. We woke early thanks to the tent being slapped into our faces by the heavy wind, but used it to our advantage to zip into Thunder Bay. After a delicious bite at the Lakeview Inn and a nice chat with the owners daughter, who was interested to hear about our trip, we continued on. Despite riding on the stretch of Highway 17 dedicatd to Terry Fox's cross Canada Marathon of Hope we were informed by a police officer that we were actually NOT allowed to bike or run on that stretch of highway. That's interesting considering its dedicated to a man that ran himself along that very path. But, we obliged and hit an alternate route into town. We met up with Jenn Jocko, a medschool friend of Skye's sister Ceilidh, and she welcomed us into her beautiful home. She treated us to a fantastic feed of BBQ'd ribs, chicken, and corn on the cob, but insisted her husband Brad was the cook of the house. He was currently out of the house driving the kids all around Ontario attending hockey camps and camping camps while stopping in to visit some of their family. They arrived home the next day and we met Brad and the kids Logan and Selena. We had the oppertunity to "bump into" Jordan Stall at the Thunder Bay airport as he was picking up the Stanley Cup. Logan, an avid fan, was over the moon being able to catch some autographs and see one of his NHL heros. We came back and Brad treated us to a fabulous fish fry, all caught at their camp by Logan. We ate until we could eat no more. They have been treating us like kings and have made us feel super comfortable, allowing us to use their house and car as our own. The kids kept us busy with games of hide and go seek. After doing a couple of loads of laundry and learning some new bike maintenance skills in Brad's shop we're ready to hit the road again. Hopefully we'll be out of Ontario in a few days and can start flying through the western provinces. Calgary will be our next big rest area and we're looking forward to seeing many friends when we get there.
Cheers for now
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Up Sh**s creek without a signal!!
After being taken care of in Sudbury for a few days, sorting out some minor bicycle issues (thanks to "The Outside Store" in Sudbury" and overcomming an illness we were back on the road. In usual fashion we were late leaving and in usual fashion there was a strong head wind whistling down the Trans Canada Highway. The wind was in our faces so we had to stop and have an icecream at Lucky's on the way but we made it to our goal of Espanola the first night in time to figure out all the stores were closed. We settled on a feast of McDonald's, your basic recommended nutrition for two people biking all day.
That night we took in UFC 100 and were not dissapointed. As the night was winding down we were still in search of a spot of grass to camp on and the locals assured us that the cops in the town were all over people camping without permission so we were a little hesitant. Luckily Ryan McKee was curious as to what makes "us" cross canada bikers tick and engaged us in a conversation as well as offered an invitation to join him and a crew from the bar for a post fights beer. We asked him enthusiastically if he had a back yard suitable for a tent and recieved and emphatic "Yes!" on one condition, that he would be allowed to test drive the bicycle. I obliged so we joined him and the rest for the post bar party.
The next day we took off again and were again faced with a daunting head wind. It slowed us down quite a bit, our average speed dipped into the single digits and was quite a discouraging day. We decided to stop at about 7pm that day as we were exhausted and stumbled upon quite a nice picnic spot. We met some very nice Manitobians Al and Alana who were having a picnic on the rock when we arrived. We got to talking and found out they were headed west back to their home of Winnipeg. In a half serious manor we asked how much space they have in their big van to which they responded "lots" to which we said "Enough for our bikes?" to which they responded "Yes . .. seriously" to which we responded enthusiastically "Yes." So what was once a playful joke question turned into them piling our stuff in and transporting our discouraged and fatigued bodies along with them, on the short jaunt into Sault Ste. Marie. Having believed that we had a contact in the Sault I was furiously on the phone trying to contact my sister to help us out. She unfortunately told me that her friend had moved and that she no longer knew how to get a hold of her in the short time before we arrived. Luckily Al had previously offered to put us up in the hotel with himself and his daughter for the night. We were reluctant to accept such a generous offer but he assured us that it was a small gift, no strings attatched and we hesitantly and sheepishly obliged. And we slept like babies.
The next day we took off from the Sault along with Al and Alana just outside of the city where they dropped us off and continued on their journey. The day was full of great scenery and despite the cold wind blowing in off of Lake Superior we were able to stay warm by cycling up the many hills that we were faced with. We had a cup of tea with some ladies biking in the other direction, supplied generously by some friendly Californians in a motor home. Al and Alana arrived and wondered whether we'd hopped in with another driver but we assured them we hadn't. That night we were running short on food and water as Lake Superior Provincial Park had none of the above. We decided to settle down in Old Woman Bay where we met two fellows also heading in the opposite direction of us. We had a great fire and played some competitive games of crib (thanks to the Seale Grandparents for the board) and shared stories of our journey thus far.
The next day we took off and made our way into Wawa where we had a breakfast and stocked up on food in order to avoid the hunger we'd experienced the night before. The day was good and we fought our way for 120km before we settled in White River which is the proud birthplace of your childhood friend Winnie the Pooh!! Which was a huge thrill for me as he was hands down my favorite little cartoon character as a child. We camped behind the tourist bureau and met a morotcyclist named Frank and had a very pleasent sleep.
Right now we're in Marathon where we justr had supper and are going to continue through the fog for another couple hours before settling down for the night! Pics are on their way in Thunder Bay hopefully where again hopefullly our phone will work for the first time in a week!
Bye for now!!!
Skye and Ryan
That night we took in UFC 100 and were not dissapointed. As the night was winding down we were still in search of a spot of grass to camp on and the locals assured us that the cops in the town were all over people camping without permission so we were a little hesitant. Luckily Ryan McKee was curious as to what makes "us" cross canada bikers tick and engaged us in a conversation as well as offered an invitation to join him and a crew from the bar for a post fights beer. We asked him enthusiastically if he had a back yard suitable for a tent and recieved and emphatic "Yes!" on one condition, that he would be allowed to test drive the bicycle. I obliged so we joined him and the rest for the post bar party.
The next day we took off again and were again faced with a daunting head wind. It slowed us down quite a bit, our average speed dipped into the single digits and was quite a discouraging day. We decided to stop at about 7pm that day as we were exhausted and stumbled upon quite a nice picnic spot. We met some very nice Manitobians Al and Alana who were having a picnic on the rock when we arrived. We got to talking and found out they were headed west back to their home of Winnipeg. In a half serious manor we asked how much space they have in their big van to which they responded "lots" to which we said "Enough for our bikes?" to which they responded "Yes . .. seriously" to which we responded enthusiastically "Yes." So what was once a playful joke question turned into them piling our stuff in and transporting our discouraged and fatigued bodies along with them, on the short jaunt into Sault Ste. Marie. Having believed that we had a contact in the Sault I was furiously on the phone trying to contact my sister to help us out. She unfortunately told me that her friend had moved and that she no longer knew how to get a hold of her in the short time before we arrived. Luckily Al had previously offered to put us up in the hotel with himself and his daughter for the night. We were reluctant to accept such a generous offer but he assured us that it was a small gift, no strings attatched and we hesitantly and sheepishly obliged. And we slept like babies.
The next day we took off from the Sault along with Al and Alana just outside of the city where they dropped us off and continued on their journey. The day was full of great scenery and despite the cold wind blowing in off of Lake Superior we were able to stay warm by cycling up the many hills that we were faced with. We had a cup of tea with some ladies biking in the other direction, supplied generously by some friendly Californians in a motor home. Al and Alana arrived and wondered whether we'd hopped in with another driver but we assured them we hadn't. That night we were running short on food and water as Lake Superior Provincial Park had none of the above. We decided to settle down in Old Woman Bay where we met two fellows also heading in the opposite direction of us. We had a great fire and played some competitive games of crib (thanks to the Seale Grandparents for the board) and shared stories of our journey thus far.
The next day we took off and made our way into Wawa where we had a breakfast and stocked up on food in order to avoid the hunger we'd experienced the night before. The day was good and we fought our way for 120km before we settled in White River which is the proud birthplace of your childhood friend Winnie the Pooh!! Which was a huge thrill for me as he was hands down my favorite little cartoon character as a child. We camped behind the tourist bureau and met a morotcyclist named Frank and had a very pleasent sleep.
Right now we're in Marathon where we justr had supper and are going to continue through the fog for another couple hours before settling down for the night! Pics are on their way in Thunder Bay hopefully where again hopefullly our phone will work for the first time in a week!
Bye for now!!!
Skye and Ryan
Thursday, July 9, 2009
On the Road Again...I Just Can't Wait to get on the Road Again!
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again...
or maybe I can. Or atleast it would seem that way. After a fantastic stay in eastern ontario between Cornwall and Ottawa it might have seemed like we were never going to hit the road again. Pre Canada Day saw Skye and I bike up to Ottawa. Our departure saw my younger sister home alone for the first time, beginning her new job as a park ranger. It's weird how quick she's growing up. But considering I felt relatively comfortable leaving her means she's obviously completely capable of being on her own now. You're a big kid now Franny! We left Cornwall in a thunderstorm, but it soon let up and we could enjoy the relatively flat trip to the nations capital. That is until my tire blew out, again. Some cursing insued but a trustly little back up tire made the rest of the trip possible and we rolled onward. We had a somewhat depressing chat with a fellow in Winchester, but nonetheless we kept our spirits up and pushed forward. Ceilidh picked us up on Bank St. when the traffic became too dangerous and we settled in for the night. We poked into the market and checked out an interesting pub that would have made Dracula proud. Canada Day was spent on Skye's brother Shay's terrace. Shay and his girlfriend Patty were great hosts and had a gathering that was making all the passer byers jealous. So much so that people joined in on the fun. But after the Canada day festivities wound down, it seemed appropriate to hit the road again and get some distance under our tires. I had a little bit of work done on my back tire and Kent from Phat Moose Cycles guaranteed me that it would be problem free for 500kms at the least. Well, since Im writing from Sudbury, you were true to your word. Now lets hope you under estimated! We left Ottawa and rode the bike path right out of town. We peddled into Arnprior to visit a L'Arche house for the night. They had dinner ready for us when we arrived and even had a place for us to stay. We woke up early to join them for a 7:00am breakfast, which most of you will know is about 5 hours earlier than we usually get up. I guess there is a first for everything. The early start helped us get to Pembroke in good time. We stopped at a grocery store for some supper and chatted with a friendly old war veteran. He shared some interesting stories and was glad to have some ears to listen. We on the other hand were glad to hear some of his fascinating stories. On that note, we gave the Petawawa Army Base a ring and inquired about possibly setting up our tent on their base. The officer on duty wasn't around so we continued onward, unsure as to whether we had a place to stay. A couple kilometers outside of Petawawa, we got a call back from the base letting us know they would be glad to arrange something. So we rolled onto the base and checked in at the front gate. They set us up with a camp site on the base. Little did I know the base was HUGE! It was a community in itself. It had its own campgrounds on the property. They set us up free of charge. So we made our way into the base and biked around, exploring this new setting. We stopped by a tank display and snapped a couple photos. When we got to the campgrounds we were taken back by the fantastic view and awesome scenery. We slipped on our swim trunks and ran down to the beach for a swim. We met a young fellow named Justin who was friendly as could be and interested in our trip. We chatted about bikes and what not and then Skye and I took a brief swim in the cool lake water. On our way back to our campsite Justin met us again and gave a donation to L'Arche. He was a nice guy and his family was too kind, hooking us up with some snacks, citronella candles, and fire wood. Thanks Guys! That night we had a run in with a trixy racoon. He was clever enough to unzip my bag and steal a nutrigrain bar from the pack. We scared him off, but he returned later to snag a bag of peanuts. And so we begin to tie up our food. Atleast it wasn't a bear. Leaving Petawawa was a task. It was pouring rain and the highway 17 was terrible, just as we were warned. Par for the course we kindly looked past advice and treked onwards. The shoulders were nil and the trucks were plentiful. This theme continued pretty much the entire way to sudbury and apparently will continue even further. This required us to adopt a new technique of getting way off the road anytime a transport is approaching. It slows the travels, but extends our living period. We had the chance to visit another L'Arche in North Bay and had a wonderful visit again. The residents were good humoured and helped us navigate our way around the kitchen. A task not as easy as it sounds in such a large kitchen. Without their help we would have been stuck for hours. The workers were great to provide us with sleeping arrangements and made us feel right at home. We took off the next morning, despite Skye feeling under the weather. Regardless he tackled the 130km without any major difficulty. We were lucky enough to meet up with the Ceilidh's boyfriend Ian's Loney-Price crew in Sudbury. They're treating us royally and feeding us like kings. Caribou sausage was on the menu last night, courtesy of Eric's shot and ribs are gracing the menu tonight. I'm hoping to be able to sneak a peek of Janice's trade, working in Public health with Harm Reduction strategies, as it is an interesting avenue that pertains to my recent schooling. We're enjoying the rest day and are glad to have a place that makes us feel at home away from home. We've still got a lot of Ontario left, but we're taking it one peddle at a time.
Cheers for now...
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again...
or maybe I can. Or atleast it would seem that way. After a fantastic stay in eastern ontario between Cornwall and Ottawa it might have seemed like we were never going to hit the road again. Pre Canada Day saw Skye and I bike up to Ottawa. Our departure saw my younger sister home alone for the first time, beginning her new job as a park ranger. It's weird how quick she's growing up. But considering I felt relatively comfortable leaving her means she's obviously completely capable of being on her own now. You're a big kid now Franny! We left Cornwall in a thunderstorm, but it soon let up and we could enjoy the relatively flat trip to the nations capital. That is until my tire blew out, again. Some cursing insued but a trustly little back up tire made the rest of the trip possible and we rolled onward. We had a somewhat depressing chat with a fellow in Winchester, but nonetheless we kept our spirits up and pushed forward. Ceilidh picked us up on Bank St. when the traffic became too dangerous and we settled in for the night. We poked into the market and checked out an interesting pub that would have made Dracula proud. Canada Day was spent on Skye's brother Shay's terrace. Shay and his girlfriend Patty were great hosts and had a gathering that was making all the passer byers jealous. So much so that people joined in on the fun. But after the Canada day festivities wound down, it seemed appropriate to hit the road again and get some distance under our tires. I had a little bit of work done on my back tire and Kent from Phat Moose Cycles guaranteed me that it would be problem free for 500kms at the least. Well, since Im writing from Sudbury, you were true to your word. Now lets hope you under estimated! We left Ottawa and rode the bike path right out of town. We peddled into Arnprior to visit a L'Arche house for the night. They had dinner ready for us when we arrived and even had a place for us to stay. We woke up early to join them for a 7:00am breakfast, which most of you will know is about 5 hours earlier than we usually get up. I guess there is a first for everything. The early start helped us get to Pembroke in good time. We stopped at a grocery store for some supper and chatted with a friendly old war veteran. He shared some interesting stories and was glad to have some ears to listen. We on the other hand were glad to hear some of his fascinating stories. On that note, we gave the Petawawa Army Base a ring and inquired about possibly setting up our tent on their base. The officer on duty wasn't around so we continued onward, unsure as to whether we had a place to stay. A couple kilometers outside of Petawawa, we got a call back from the base letting us know they would be glad to arrange something. So we rolled onto the base and checked in at the front gate. They set us up with a camp site on the base. Little did I know the base was HUGE! It was a community in itself. It had its own campgrounds on the property. They set us up free of charge. So we made our way into the base and biked around, exploring this new setting. We stopped by a tank display and snapped a couple photos. When we got to the campgrounds we were taken back by the fantastic view and awesome scenery. We slipped on our swim trunks and ran down to the beach for a swim. We met a young fellow named Justin who was friendly as could be and interested in our trip. We chatted about bikes and what not and then Skye and I took a brief swim in the cool lake water. On our way back to our campsite Justin met us again and gave a donation to L'Arche. He was a nice guy and his family was too kind, hooking us up with some snacks, citronella candles, and fire wood. Thanks Guys! That night we had a run in with a trixy racoon. He was clever enough to unzip my bag and steal a nutrigrain bar from the pack. We scared him off, but he returned later to snag a bag of peanuts. And so we begin to tie up our food. Atleast it wasn't a bear. Leaving Petawawa was a task. It was pouring rain and the highway 17 was terrible, just as we were warned. Par for the course we kindly looked past advice and treked onwards. The shoulders were nil and the trucks were plentiful. This theme continued pretty much the entire way to sudbury and apparently will continue even further. This required us to adopt a new technique of getting way off the road anytime a transport is approaching. It slows the travels, but extends our living period. We had the chance to visit another L'Arche in North Bay and had a wonderful visit again. The residents were good humoured and helped us navigate our way around the kitchen. A task not as easy as it sounds in such a large kitchen. Without their help we would have been stuck for hours. The workers were great to provide us with sleeping arrangements and made us feel right at home. We took off the next morning, despite Skye feeling under the weather. Regardless he tackled the 130km without any major difficulty. We were lucky enough to meet up with the Ceilidh's boyfriend Ian's Loney-Price crew in Sudbury. They're treating us royally and feeding us like kings. Caribou sausage was on the menu last night, courtesy of Eric's shot and ribs are gracing the menu tonight. I'm hoping to be able to sneak a peek of Janice's trade, working in Public health with Harm Reduction strategies, as it is an interesting avenue that pertains to my recent schooling. We're enjoying the rest day and are glad to have a place that makes us feel at home away from home. We've still got a lot of Ontario left, but we're taking it one peddle at a time.
Cheers for now...
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