Day 4 - ahhhhh sunshine

Day 4

After a solid night's sleep in a cozy, warm bed in an equally cozy room, I felt very refreshed. When I woke it was 8:30. I had decided not to set my alarm that night.

After shaking the cobwebs out of my head, I collected the clothes I had worn the previous day. They were still soaked. My destination now was the laundromat and breakfast.

After having breakfast and collecting my now dry clothes, I arrived back at Paw's to pack my bags. It took some time to pack everything, as I had emptied all of my bags to allow them to try. Even my tent had been wet, so that was left hanging overnight in the shower.

Before departing, I spoke to Peggy, the owner of the cabins. She described to me all the excursions into the bush that her and her husband do in the area. She said they prefer that to provincial parks.

I then said good-bye to Dave, as I wanted to thank him for the offer of putting my bike in his garage for the night, which I had happily accepted. We got talking about bears, as one had been spotted several times roaming the grounds the previous day and night.

He told me of a local who back in the 50's owned an Inn in the area who had a pet bear. He offered $100 to anyone who could punch the bear in the nose. No one could do it, as the bear always swatted the attacker's hand. Until one day a guy threw his hat at the bear to distract it, then pow! Right in the kisser! I laughed at that.

Then I was off. Dave and Peggy were really down to Earth people, and I had enjoyed speaking to them. My cabin was huge and a steal at $59. Well worth the stay!

Today the weather was beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun felt warm on my body as I rode. A far cry from the previous day's misery.

The rest of the day was spent riding the #17 (Trans Canada). This stretch of road, like the road I had travelled so far in Ontario, was laden with trees on either side of the highway. Endless fields of tall pine trees. I had never seen such a long stretch of trees before, and I had already travelled 100's of km's through this province. Every now and then there was a clearing in the thick green which revealed Lake Superior. And what a Lake she was! When I looked to the horizon, all I could see was water. It looked endless like the ocean. Throw in her many islands and some fine mist, and you have yourself a very magestic scene.

I arrived at Wawa, needing gas. I road down mainstreet and stopped to get cash at the ATM. An older fellow on some sort of a bike contraption stopped near me. "Fat Mike" and I got talking. The bike he had was a cross between a bicycle and one of those scooter things that you push then hang onto the handles with (don't know what it's called). It had no pedals, just the foot board and a handle bar, with two wheels. He told me he's 68 and that it's the best toy he ever had! Mike was definitely popular with the locals, as every person who passed us said hi to him.

My next stop was Sault St. Marie. I stopped at the local Honda dealer, as I noticed earlier in the day my chain lube was missing the spray cap. Ben, one of the salesman, greeted me but told me that parts was closed and they had gone home for the day. Then when I explained to him my problem, he went into the back and returned my spray can with a new cap on it! Nice guy!

When then got talking about Honda bikes in general, and then we got talking about the outrageous insurance rates in Ontario. Ben told me an inexperienced, young man wanting to ride motorcycle is looking at between 4 and 6 thousand a year for insurance! I nearly keeled over when he said that! I don't think I'll ever complain about my insurance rates again!

From Sault St. Marie, the drive took on a different feel. Instead of pine trees, I was treated to different foilage. Now tall evergreens formed a tunnel of green. Combined with the gentle sunlight (it was in the low 20's), it made for a relaxing, easy ride. After yesterday`s crappy ride, I was soaking in the experience of this day!

I should mention that the roads here in Ontario are very quiet. Not the madness I expected. I was beginning to realize that the Northern and Southern parts of Ontario are very different, in many ways.

The late evening had arrived, and it was time for me to call it a night. I arrived at the town of Blind River, where I spotted a campground to my left.

I was greeted at the office my a middle aged gentleman dressed in a golf shirt and shorts. He had shoulder length hair, which gave him the look of a hippy. His clothes gave him the look of Arnold Palmer. And his puffy grey hair gave him the look of Uncle Giggles Flinstone.

Wayne and I got talking about the climate and we both agreed that climate change was here. He got telling me about the area. He grew up here and owned the campground, which has always done well. Except now, because of the recession. He then got talking about how Northern and Southern Ontario are vastly different. He said that the North is quiet, with few people living there. He said that the people in the North have had to struggle more and that in his opinion the people in the south are "spoiled and ignorant" who "don't know how lucky they have it".

He then told me how much he enjoyed having his campground, but there was one night he hated. And that was when the Hell's Angels showed and booked every campsite and room on the premises. Wayne was absolutely terrified that night, as were the other patrons, who checked out immediately when the Angels showed up. Speaking of them, I had spotted throngs of them on the road throughout the day. Apparently they had a national meeting in Toronto that week. I was told by a few locals they had spotted one group with a police escort - one cop at the front of the pack, one taking up the rear!

Well Wayne was a character, that was for sure. I enjoyed speaking with him.

I then broke camp. With no one else there, I had the entire campgrounds to myself.  A long, but good day of riding under my belt, I easily passed out for the night.