Day 27 - Savanne to Thunder Bay - Leg 3 Complete!

Tuesday, June13, 2017

This was the view from our rear window as we prepared to leave Savanne this morning.....Love it!!

A typical Northern Ontario view.  Canadian Shield, long views, small shoulders.

We passed Larry this morning as we were waiting for Ritchie.  Caroline rode 37 km today.

Shortly after leaving this checkpoint we passed a guy "walking" from the East Coast to the West Coast pushing a 3 wheeled cart with his supplies.  He is averaging 58 km per day.  We didn't meet him, but Ritchie did.  I checked out his blog site.  He is a real interesting dude.  He is out to inspire other people.  His name is Dave Gutscher and is a 20 year veteran of the military, retiring as a Major!  Click here for his interesting and inspiring blog, The Wandering Canuck

While Ritchie headed to the campground, we made our way to Kakabeka Falls, just outside Thunder Bay.  As we pulled in we ran into Larry's wife Lorine who was checking into the Park with their trailer.  That will be his last stop today.

It's neat how we keep crossing paths with the other riders.

The Falls were very impressive!

We stopped in Thunder Bay for supplies and while I waited I came across this interesting lady running the asphalt roller.  She appeared to be older than me and wheeled that thing around with authority.

I also spotted this bugger sitting on the window rubbing his hands together waiting to get a piece of me for lunch!

 109.6 km today and a well earned day off tomorrow.

Look who we found in the campground as Lynn and I walked to the office.  It's Denis Paquet!  3 days in a row!!

 We had the campground talking when this OPP vehicle pulled up to our campsite.

 It was Tammy Bradley, an OPP Sergeant that Ritchie rode with when he was in Europe last year for Wounded Warriors!  She is stationed 2 hours north of here, but was in town for some training.  She had a great sense of humour and I'm sure is a wonderful officer.  Thank you for serving Tammy.

We've been talking about cooking dinner over an open fire and it happened tonight.  Great job Ritchie!  Also the Greek Salad.  We invited Denis over for dinner and had a few more laughs and stories to tell.

Ritchie even cooked desert.  Large Marshmallows with chocolates stuffed in them.

Much to Denis' delight (actually, all of ours).

This little guy also had a great meal.  He really hit the jackpot!

And finally, a love story.  Our traveling bear met Denis' friend Margaret, that rides around the country with him.  After a great visit, hey're both hoping we'll meet up again!💖💖💖

Day 26 - Ignace to Savanne

Monday, June 12, 2017

As we pulled out from the gas station this morning, the pet ducks on the dash were screaming "The Plane, the Plane, We're going to be hit by a Plane!!".............False alarm!

We left Ignace and headed down the highway.
Look like a good highway?

WRONG!!  

This is my rant for the day.  We have driven through four other Provinces on the Trans Canada Highway.  All the provinces had 4 lane divided highways with nice wide shoulders almost the whole way.  We get to my Province, Ontario and the highway is now two lanes of oncoming traffic with loose gravel shoulders (impossible to cycle on), so cyclists are forced to ride the thin little ribbon between the white line and shoulder while Transport trucks and cars blow by them just inches away.   Totally ridiculous!  This is the Trans Canada Highway folks!  The main highway that joins this great country.  Come on Ontario, fix this!  If it was Toronto and they needed another 12 lanes it would probably be done!

  

Here come our riders, sticking to that narrow ribbon of pavement reserved for them.

Caroline road the full distance today!

And it wasn't trivial!  Look at those climbs!

Here's our location for today.  Right on the Savanne River that leads to Lac Mille Du Lacs (Lake of a Thousand Lakes).  My French is improving!

Once we got settled I got out my rod and tackle and caught this little Pike (21")

The significance of it is that I caught it on a "Double Loon" inline spinner that was given to me by my buddy,  Jim Mann many years ago. Thinking of you Jim.

 There's a fine looking specimen of a shore fisherman!

 So what is the magic in my little tackle belly belt???????

Double Loon Spinner, Mepps Black Fury #4, Rebel Frog and a Northern Lights Spectra Bait

Northern Lights Spectra Bait Jerk Bait

                     

5" & 6" Green Pumpkin/Chartreuse Yum Dingers and a BrushHawgs

Pliers, Scissors and Measuring Tape.

                      All of that allows you to catch monsters like this!!

 They had beautiful RentalBoats, but the lady working today didn't know what they rented for (or much of anything else for that matter).  Seeing these and knowing that Lac Milles du Lacs was right around the bend was like cruelty to animals!!!

 We are the dot on the right and just down the river is this monster Legendary Lake😡

 That tent you see is our buddy Denis Paquet that we met yesterday.  Had another nice visit with him.

 This little rig was chugging away and I went over to investigate.

 It's actually new technology out of Quebec.  There is a bit on each post and it basically drills itself into the ground well below the frost line.  Cheaper than using concrete.  You can build structures on these.

 Here it is in action.

Meet Larry and Lorine from Abbotsford, BC.  They left Mile 0 in Victoria on May 1.  Larry is riding to Mile 0 in St. John's Newfoundland.  Lorine drives the escort vehicle and trailer.  They plan on finishing in September.  Dave just recently retired as a fireman.  Thank you for your service Larry. 

Larry, Denis and I had a great conversation concerning PTSD and first responders.   Hopefully we'll see them down the road.  This is their blog site Larry & Lorine's Cross Canada Cycle Trip

What a great night for a fire!

Heaven!!

Day 25 - Vermilion Bay to Ignace

Sunday, June 11, 2017

The team left early this morning and by the time we caught up to them we were entering Dryden.

It's not hard to see what drives the economy of this town, Pulp & Paper!  If you look close you can see our riders ahead.  I am seeing so many towns that I have heard so many stories about over the years.  Very cool.

After a break at Tim Hortons, Caroline joined us and we headed up the road to a checkpoint.  We pulled into a rest area near Jack Lake and met Matthew and his friend (I forget his name) from South Korea.  Matthew is a Roman Catholic priest in South Korea and is celebrating his 25th Anniversary as a priest by coming to Canada and riding from Toronto to Vancouver.  Matthew was the only one that spoke English, but they both were very cheerful guys and put a smile on your face.

 Here's the results from today.

Once he arrived at our destination at Davy Lake Campground (another nice campground), Ritchie started to change Caroline's chain.

There was a tiny lake on the property, so I commenced to fish it.

 Lynn did too.

Evidently, the fish were so small they couldn't get their tiny mouths around our lure!
On the way back to the RV, I ran into Denis Paquet, a retired police officer from Montreal (30 years) who is riding from Winnipeg to Montreal.  He did Vancouver to Winnipeg last year and Montreal to the East coast a few years earlier.  His English was excellent!  Denis was a great guy! Thanks for serving buddy!
 All the riders we have met so far have been a joy to meet.

Here is his blog, Denis Paquet  unfortunately, it is in French, but google translate does the trick for someone who only got 50% in Grade 13 French😌  Denis actually speaks 4 languages.  I'm very envious!

This is Denis' bike.  It is built like a tank and has to carry all of his possessions on this trip!  He has several paniers that attach to it.

He came over to our camp and we had some great conversation.  He was envious of Ritchie's bike which only weighs 19 Lbs.  He was pointing to it to show his wife back home what he wants for Christmas😁

 This is the tranquil scene shortly after we arrived.

 A few hours later a major storm came out of nowhere!

 Have not seen nasty skies like this often!

 Luckily, most of it blew over, but we did get some heavy rain.

And we saw this before it got dark!

I'll leave you with this.😊