Pictures coming in a bit.....working on it.

July 5th, 2013

We woke up pretty early, eager to attempt to meet Dee in Fort Erie. The wind and hills and lack of sleep had slowed us down lately, but everything seemed to be turning in our favor. An awesome campsite at the Haldimand Conservation Area, tail wind, and smaller rolling hills......all waiting for us. We just had to move our stuff into the pavilion and pack while the rain stopped.

Everything near the lake seems to get damp and stay damp forever. It will perfect if we can find a nice hotel to dry out in.

The miles flew by. The weather was perfect. We would glide down one hill and the momentum and wind would carry us up the next. Perfect. A 15mph cruising speed (24km/h) without much effort, on a loaded touring bike, is sure fun. The traffic was really picking up as we got to larger towns, but most of it was pretty darn polite. Eventually we hit a bike trail for the last 20 miles. Normally we don't like bike trails, but this one was decent. It was straight, smooth, and relatively well done. It still routed us around the towns though, which meant that soon the girls needed a restroom bad (sorry, a washroom in Canada). The people of southern Ontario are very friendly, right up until you ask to use their washroom. Yikes. They would sooner give you five bucks or buy you dinner. Most of the gas stations and grocery stores wouldn't even let us use the wash rooms. Odd.

In Dunnville, some nice ladies having a penny raffle (which i don't understand even after a long explanation) watched our bikes for us while we ate. I had met a wonderful druid priest that told me all about 9/11 conspiracies and something about a mastodon coming home, and a lot more that I didn't understand as everyone else snuck away. All I wanted was directions. Great friends I have.

We had a crappy expensive lunch at knowles cafe and hit the road again. We hugged the coast of Lake Erie and had a wonderful ride.

At Long Beach, we stopped at a nifty Convenience shop and talked to the owner Dave. A really nice guy who swapped some US currency for Canadian at no charge. He puts it in his vacation fund for a trip to the states each few years. He has lived in both countries, but loves Canada more because of the health care. He says that people don't realize how affordable it is. The amount paid in taxes is far less, he claims, than what any of us pay for insurance and all the other expenses.

Canada has strange signs. Specific pictures that are up to some interpretation. Some we disagreed on the intent of. Usually we could come to a consensus within a couple miles after the hazard.

I got stung in the lower eyelid by a bee today when cruising down a bike trail. That was nice. I got stung once earlier on the ankle already, so nothing has changed from biking in the USA. I am a bee magnet. Some quick work by Laura and Katie got the bee sting under control and it didn't swell hardly at all. I thought I got stuck on the eyeball itself, lol.

We cruised into Fort Erie at about the same time as Dee. We picked a hotel and found a gem. The Haven Motel is super clean, and affordable. Just awesome. Soon we went to dinner at some random Mexican burrito fast food place. We were stuffed.

At Walmart we stopped for some cheap drinks since beverages are not affordable in Canada, and we hadn't eaten in over 15 minutes. At Walmart we met my brother Bens doppelganger!

Then we walked back to the hotel with a quick stop at Wendys for some giant Frostees. Yeah, we were hungry again.

A great day! Too bad it is Chucks last.