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