Date: 2007-07-18
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Miles today: 0.0

7-15-07Newbury, MI59 miles today2229 easterly miles6314 total milesWe knew we had another short day, so we took our time having coffee and getting ready to ride.We finally left the motel at 8:30am and headed east.It wasn't quite as cool this morning as the last couple of mornings, but it was still in the low 50's, which felt great.I haven't been saying much about the winds, but for the last week or so, they have been in our favor. I'm starting to get used to having the wind at my back. :-))We had a small hill to climb out of Munising, then the rest of the day was pretty much flat until right at the end of the day.We stopped in 10 miles at a small store in Shingleton and got sodas. We talked to the clerk for a while. He was born and raised here, but has lived in CA for the last 30 years. He said he just moved back last year and is happy he did.We headed on and had a perfectly straight and flat ride for the next 25 miles with no services.I kept looking around for moose and deer, but never did see any. It sure looked like there should be some in this area.There might be an explanation though. Like I said, it was a 25 mile stretch that was perfectly straight and flat. Mrs Gorp must have gotten bored with it because she turned her mp3 player on and started singing.If I was a dog, I'd have been howling at the noise coming out of her mouth. :-))We stopped when we got to Seney and I had a hamburger and a soda.There were 4 patrons that were very interested in our ride and how far we've gone. We talked to them the whole time we were eating.We still had another 25 miles to ride, so we headed on.I was riding along and saw a watch in the gravel on the shoulder of the road, so I went back to take a look. It was still running even though it looked like it had been there for a while.If anyone wants to claim it, send me an email describing it. I'll give you a hint...the first three letters on the watch are R-O-L. ;-))We rolled into Newberry and got a room.I love these short days. It is so easy for us to ride a 60 mile day now that it almost seems like we aren't riding enough...but we are so close to being done that if we ride any farther, this ride will be over way too quick.It looks like I'll be in ME about 4 weeks sooner than I thought I would.I went through my stuff and am shipping some stuff home tomorrow that I don't want to carry through Canada.We may be in Canada tomorrow night because we are only 60 miles from the border at Sault St Marie.Another great day on Stumpy's version of the Northern Tier bicycle Trail. :-))7-16-07Sault St Marie, MI70 miles today2229 easterly miles6385 total milesThe room we stayed in last night had a coffee maker, so I set it up and my beautiful coffee brewing machine and I had 2 pots of Starbuck's this morning. :-))I ate some danish at the motel breakfast and was packing up when Mrs Gorp opened the door and took her bike out.Guess I was moving too slow for her. :-))I finished packing and found her waiting in the lobby, so we checked out and headed east.We have been having the best weather in the whole country up here in the U.P. of Michigan. It was 46 degrees when we started riding about 8am and only got up to the middle 70's for a high...with blue skies and tailwinds!!Mrs Gorp pulled off the road for something, but I kept riding. I saw her behind me, then saw her pull off again and I didn't see her again for 25 miles.There's just not a lot of civilization up here. Some of the old towns listed are basicly just a few homes with nothing else.I had been looking for a PO to mail Cupcake (that's what I'm calling Chief since he cut his 3 week walk on the AT short because it was "too hard") a couple camera cards with pictures from eastern WA to the present.None of the small towns had a PO, so I didn't get to send it until we got to Sault St Marie.Mrs Gorp caught up to me after that 25 miles, then we took off together, but she stopped again when she saw a roadkill owl.I don't like seeing roadkill, so I kept pedaling and got ahead of her again.I did see a very nice and healthy looking coyote run across the road about 40 yards in front of me.I went another 25 miles before I found a small convenience store and got a soda and waited on her to show up.That was near Brimley, so we only had another 15-20 miles to Sault St Marie, which we did ride together.I crossed I-75 and found a road that followed next to I-75 about a quarter mile later.We turned north off of Rt 28 and in another 9 miles were in Sault St Marie.This town is one of those you think about as a landmark when you plan your ride. We knew we would cross over into Canada when we got here.We stopped at a diner and had a late lunch, then rode to a visitor's center and got a town map.We found the PO and I mailed Cupcake the photo cards and mailed some of my stuff ahead to Maine.We crossed a river with man-made sides. The water very clear and moving pretty fast.We kept going, riding some of the back streets and enjoying a very nice residential area. We got to the waterfront area where the locks are and saw a big freighter moving into a lock, so we went down and watch the water flow out of the lock and the freighter go down to the height of Lake Huron from Lake Superior.It lost about 23 feet of water from the lock before it came out the other side.It's beautiful water here...very clear and a nice turqouse color to it.We stopped to check the rates at a motel across from the locks and decided to stay there tonight.We dropped our panniers and went for a tour of the city. Lots of history here.I learned the locks are where the St Mary Rapids used to be. We rode by looking at some of the original homes.I inquired about the best place to eat and was told about the Lock View Restaurant which has been in business since the early 1940's. Broiled whitefish is their specialty...and it was good. :-))We walked around town after dinner just to wear off a little bit of the stuffed feeling. :-))Oh yeah, I almost forgot that we crossed the North Country Trail again today. We last crossed it just south of Bemidji, MN.Another great day on Stumpy's version of the Northern Tier Bicycle Trail.7-17-07Iron Bridge, Ont.77 miles today2377 easterly miles6462 total milesWe are in Canada!!!Our plan was to eat breakfast on the Canadian side of Sault St Marie, so I just had my Starbuck's and 2 donuts at the motel on the US side.We packed up and checked out.I was excited about crossing over into Canada and riding my bike through Ontario. I've been looking forward to it for a while now.We rode towards the on-ramp that goes over the St Mary's River and into Canada.I needed to check my pocketmail before I crossed the bridge though. I couldn't get through on it last night or this morning and I wanted to check on the number to call from Canada.Cupcake (Chief) checked it out and sent me an email telling me to use the same 800 number. Thanks Cupcake!! :-))We rode over the bridge and got to Customs. I was answering everything OK. The trouble started when the Customs agent asked Mrs Gorp where she was from, eh.You can count on trouble when a Vermont redneck is crossing the border with you, eh. ;-))It wasn't too bad way back in eastern KY when a guy at a restaurant asked her where she was from, eh, but the Customs agent gave her a funny look and handed me a slip of paper, then said to go over to the yellow canopy, eh.We did that and had to park the bikes under the canopy, then go inside and have our passports checked, eh.I tried to do most of the talking and after they ran our passports through a security check, they gave us the OK to go on, eh.I've crossed into Canada a number of times before and was never pulled off to the side and checked....until I tried crossing with Mrs Gorp/Yolanda Vega/ Cynthia Taylor-Miller from Varmont, eh. :-))OK, we were in Canada and we were probably being followed because our first stop after changing our money was to get a cup of Timmy at Tim Horton's.I was asked to try 4 different brands of coffee along the way...Starbuck's, Carabou, Green Mountain and Tim Horton's. I think it was Lee Perry who asked me to try a taste comparison. Well, the results are in and they place in the order I listed them above.Tim Horton's wasn't even close to the other 3, eh.Back to my story......we got our cup of Timmy and sat down. Two OPP officers in SWAT like uniforms came in right behind us, then the Customs agent that gave us the ticket even came in and got a cup of Timmy.I didn't pay any attention to them because we were talking to an older couple and finding out some info on the route we are riding. The older guy I was talking to only had half a foot. The whole front half of one of his feet was cut off in a train accident at work.They were a nice couple and when we finished talking, the SWAT officers from the OPP and the Customs agent were gone.Maybe they weren't really watching us after all, eh. :-))I dumped out half of my cup of Timmy and we rode to the eastern side of Sault St Marie, Ont and stopped at a small restaurant for breakfast.I was looking over the menu and asked Mrs Gorp what peameal bacon was.She said that she hasn't seen that in so long....and I should try it.I ordered some with my breakfast. The eggs, homefries and toast were very good, but I'd rather have regular bacon, eh.We rode on, trying to stay out of the way of all the traffic. We stayed on a sidewalk until that ended, then we rode on the side of the road until we finally got about a 1 foot shoulder.I saw some black squirrels. I have only seen black squirrels one other time and that was way back in the 1970's in Colorado.We made about a 3/4 loop in the first 30+ miles of riding today...heading north, then east then south. Too bad Rt 28 didn't go straight through to Canada because we would have saved close to 25 miles of riding to hook up with Canada's Rt 17.We stopped to get a couple sodas and that girl I'm riding with from Varmont payed for them, eh. :-))When we got to Bruce Mines, we stopped in front of a restaurant. I wasn't hungry...maybe because it was the warmest day we've had for a while...in the low 80's. We rode on without eating. Can you believe that!!Mrs Gorp started singing again just like she did a couple days ago.I asked her if her Mother had ever asked her to sing.She said; "No, but my Father asked me to stop singing all the time".I understood that, eh. :-))We stopped next time just before the turn off to Thessalon to decide if we were stopping there for the night. We had rode 60 miles already.A young girl pushing a small cart came walking up while we were talking. Her name was Michelle Jameus and she's walking all the way across Canada. She's keeping a blog at nokillcanada.blogspot.comShe's trying to raise awareness about all the animals being put to sleep at shelters...I believe.I admire her for the walk she's taking.We wrote our names on a flag she was carrying. She's having people she meets along the way sign the flag as a rememberance of her adventure.We decided (Mrs Gorp decided, eh) to keep riding to Iron Bridge before we stopped for the night. ;-))We rode on and when we got to Iron Bridge, we rode through the small town to check out the services, then rode back to the first motel we passed and got a room.We walked to a small restaurant at 5:30pm and ordered their special. It was so little food that we rode to a market right after dinner and got more food. It was also very expensive...and that doesn't have anything to do with the exchange rate because the US money is about an equal exchange now.I've got my beautiful coffee brewing machine all set up for a pot of Starbuck's in the morning...life is good, eh!!Another great day on Stumpy's version of the Northern Tier Bicycle Trail. :-))