Hello people… I’m in Thunder Bay right now, and don’t have a lot of time on this computer, but I’ll do the best I can to fill you in on my time since Winnipeg…

Day 39: Winnipeg to Falcon Lake: Woke up to a large breakfast previously purchased at the Safeway next door. Yogurt, juice, raspberries and a carrot! (Carrots are good for the eyes, and I thought I needed the boost to my eyes to make up for all the nothing I was seeing in Manitoba) Got on the road and out of Winnipeg with decent weather. Then the wind. The relentless wind. And oh, look! There’s a construction crew cutting of the entire right side of the highway and making the other side two-way traffic for 28 km! Yeah! Ugh… It was an adventure through a narrow shoulder on the wrong side of the road. You know you need your road fixed when there is more vegetation than pavement… Well I got through it, and biked for many kilometers to a place called Hadashville. I found a small restaurant called Sophie’s and was served one of the best meals I’ve had on this trip by a beautiful young lady. Perogies, borscht, potato pancakes, farmer sausage, coleslaw and bread! LOADED with sour cream (for those who don’t know, I adore sour cream). It was a welcome sight after a long day. I ate, said goodbye and left for the rest of my journey to Falcon Lake. Arrived in good time and put in 140 km. A lot of that was riding the white line because the shoulders were useless. And even the white line had pot-holes. THANKS MANITOBA!

Day 40: Falcon Lake to Kenora: After setting up my tent the night before, I noticed the unfriendly clouds. Well they turned out to be quite the enemy. At four in the morning, the lightning started. Then it got closer. Then you could hear thunder. Then there were so many flashes you thought it was daytime. Then the tree a few yards away was struck. Then my body jumped. I was in a tent! I prayed. Then I slept. I woke up surrounded by a lake. Considering this was day 40, I thought it quaint that it was the day the rain began and would plague me for days to come (40 days and nights the rain fell for Noah’s ark). I got underway and made it to the border under heavy wind and rain. Then the roads changed (you can check out the pictures). For 10 km there was no shoulder and apparently Ontario likes major roads to be two-way traffic. I pushed myself over the gravel and came to the end of construction. At least I had a paved shoulder to ride on to Kenora, a luxury I would soon envy (foreshadowing). I made it to Kenora, which is a beautiful little city, and went to the library where I talked for some time with two nice ladies about my trip. I was going to use the internet, but the library was closing. They directed me to another place (which would open the next morning) and they told me of a good and cheap place to stay for the night. I went and I slept.

Day 41: Kenora to Rushing River: Still raining. Got up and went to a stationary store to use the internet for 6 hours. Accomplished my errands for the day and said goodbye to Kenora, but only after hitting up the local Tim Horton’s on the edge of town and getting a sugar rush (only 20 km to travel- quick energy) by an iced-cap and a sourcream glazed donut (Mmmmm, sourcream…). I made it through the rain and the gorgeous scenery to a place called Rushing River. It cost me the most I’ve paid for a campsite, about $5 less than the cheapest hotel I’ve stayed at. The campsite was nice though, and the scenery was worth it (check out the pictures). I set up my tent in the only dry half-hour of the day and stayed in my tent. I read. I ate. I slept.

Day 42: Rushing River to Dryden: Woke up to another day of rain. Got packed up, ate and left after absorbing some much needed moments of contemplation and beauty by the river (I love rivers, almost as much as sourcream). I pushed myself against the wind and rain and over hill after hill of the amazing Ontario lanscape. I made it to a place called Vermillion Bay, where the 10-year owner of a flooding gas station told me he’d never seen this much rain in one day. Perfect timing on my part. After an hour of watching in awe from the doorway, I decided it was time to go and made it to Dryden. I found the cheapest hotel on my trip the same day I left my most expensive campsite. I slept well.

Day 43: Dryden to Ignace: Woke up early. Got packed up and noticed it stopped raining! I stopped at the local grocery store and picked up some breakfast, including 4 fresh croissants for $1… I chatted with the nice grocery guy as I left and he encouraged me with the notion that it was pretty flat from here to Thunder Bay. It wasn’t. But I guess it was much flatter than coming from Kenora, which is maybe what he was going for. Ah yes, and the shoulders. Where as once before I thought these terrible highway shoulders only existed in my worst nightmares and Manitoba (same thing?), they were now right in front of me and lasted all the way to Thunder Bay. I can understand gravel shoulders (and hey, I’ll give them credit, there’s at least a foot of pavement after the white line), but on a major highway with two-way traffic? Craziness. Boo to you Ontario. But your trees are quite lovely. So I survived my day to Ignace, a small town with friendly folks, and found a cheap place to stay for the night. Oh and the rain came back in the middle of the day. It was awesome. Actually, it was a good day, considering… I love the adventure and the challenge.

Day 44: Ignace to Upsala: I don’t know why, but whenever I see the word Ignace, I want to say it in an Italian accent, like pronouncing it INGNATCHAY… Anyways, after leaving the very un-italian town of Ignace, I cruised through another day of rain and wind to the ultra small town of Upsala. I found a tiny campground and set up my tent. It just happened to stop raining as I set it up. Ate. Slept.

Day 45: Upsala to Kakabeka Falls: Woke up early to a cloudless sky and the trees were oddly silent with the lack of wind. SWEET! I was eager to get underway and got packed quickly. I could use sunscreen again! I could show off my skin-tight bike shorts again! I could fly down the road with no force to stop me! Not so fast. The wind was there. And it was aweful. It was against me the entire day and what was worse is the fact that half-way through the day, the clouds came back and brought the rain. On the brighter side, I started going downhill again. I forgot to mention that for the last 3 days, I had been climbing and climbing and climbing. Well I took a picture of the first downhill of note and it was a dream come true. Although I had to peddle through some of it because I was against the wind, it was still awesome. Well I found more hills to go down (might have something to do with that sign I saw about the streams flowing towards the Atlantic past this sign). Even though I had to power through the wind and rain, I made it to Kakabeka Falls (see the pictures) and what a sight! I found another cheap hotel for the night and they even cooked me a tasty hamburger and oh-so-sweet and buttery corn on the cob for free! It makes my stomach growl just thinking about it. The hotel room was awesome and I even found a replica of an ancient toaster my family used to have. I slept well and had many dreams.

Day 46: Kakabeka Falls to Thunder Bay: I’m being kicked off the computer now so I’ll write later!

Love you all!