-685 Km of Roller Coaster Road-
On Sept 8 we got up early to catch the farmers market in Thunder Bay. The ride there was gorgeous. There was a fairly heavy frost that morning so mist was rising from the river and strips of fog were hanging in the tree tops. Unfortunately it is not visible in this wide angle image but there is a Bald Eagle sitting in the tall tree right in the middle of the picture.
One of my highlights on this trip was when we came over the hill in Thunder Bay and I caught a glimpse of a thin strip of water on the horizon. LAKE SUPERIOR!!! I had to memorize the great lakes on school and have heard about them many times but actually seeing one of them for the first time was incredible!
We had another successful card selling day at the farmers market! THANKS EVERYBODY!
For several days, both of us have had a higher than normal calorie craving so we solved that problem with a most delicious stick of soft butter and salted trail mix!!!!!
High Calorie Recipe:
Take a raisin or almond, scoop a nice chunk of butter on it, dip it back in the trail mix bag so smarties, more raisins and nuts stick to it.
Enjoy!!!
Sounds gross, well I might have thought so a few months ago but at this moment I could have sworn it was one of the most delicious things I had ever eaten. Mmmmm butter!!!
At the farmers market we made friends with Donna who is a local artist. Her son Jeff plays in a Toronto based band called the Trews. Donna not only encouraged other vendors to purchase our cards but she ended up inviting us over to her house for dinner. She spent all afternoon making perogies for us....perogies from scratch made by the master herself!!!!!
We had a wonderful evening hanging out in Donna`s kitchen, eating perogies until we thought we would burst and still successfully devouring fabulous home made coffee-chocolate cheesecake!!!
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THE GREAT TIME DONNA! WE LOVE YOU!!!! GOOD LUCK WITH THE MUSICAL!
East of Thunder Bay, we came across this deserted gas station that was stunningly painted all around.
I know that feeding wildlife is illegal but I just could not help myself.
Lake Superior with the Sleeping Giant Peninsula.
The days between Thunder Bay and Sault St. Marie turned out to be the toughest riding days so far.
Occasionally one could catch a glimpse of blue water from the crest of a hill but other than that the road was flanked by a green wall of forest on each side, day after day. Yes, forest is nice but it does get boring after a while.
In addition to that, the road was a real roller coaster, steep up and down and up and down etc etc. aaaall daaaay loooooooong!
To top it all off, the paved shoulder was rarely more than about 8 inches wide so getting passed by a semi truck was always a bit of an adrenaline rush experience. I must say though that the great majority of truck drivers has been exceptionally polite and they tried to give us as much room as possible. Still scary though!
Below is an elevation chart for this stretch of our trip. (x-kilometers, y-meters). According to the Bike Route Toaster website, the total ascent along this route is 4321 m! No wonder we were so beat!
I am so glad we chose to take the north shore route because it was such a challenge and I have a real sense of accomplishment now. But I am sooooo glaaad it is over!
A glimpse of the elusive Lake Superior before a nice down hill ride.
Lake S. up close!!!
In White River, (home of Winnie the Pooh) we cooked up a very simple mixture of various food items (jalapeno pepper, garlic, BUTTER!) from our paniers along with a nice package of ground beef and a tin of red beans and angel hair pasta. So simple but so delicious! The lady in the visitor center kindly made us some hot water in her kettle so we could soak the pasta.
Majestic Lake Superior near Pancake Bay. One more day to go!
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