St. Clair, MI to Port Burwell, Ontario (2 days-144 miles)

7-28-2010

We awoke to the overpowering sound of the interstate.  I quickly packed up my gear and set out to cross the Interstate to a Marathon gas station, for a cup of coffee.  When the rest of the guys joined me, we set off down the road to Marine City.  There we hopped onto an awesome little ferry to cross the St. Clair river and get into Canada.

This was a great way to make the crossing, there was only 1 car on the ferry and 2 guys with 5 cases of beer each.  I guess that's the limit for what they can bring into the states duty free, and the beer is half as expensive in the states as compared to Canada.

The ride down the river was beautiful, unfortunately we were fighting the wind a bit.  After a brief turn east, with the wind helping us, we pulled into Wallaceburg for a little breakfast.  After some mediocre potatoes and eggs, we put our legs back to work.  By this time the temperature had really started to climb, and to make matters worse, so was the humidity.  I've found that I can deal with some heat, but the humidity takes all the energy out of me.

After a couple of discouraging encounters with towns that had closed up shop, we rolled into Morpeth.  While the store that we were expecting had closed last year, there was an antique shop open.  The store owner allowed us to fill up our water bottles, and enjoy his air-conditioning.  Then with sights of thunderstorms in our eyes, we changed our plans and made for a hotel about 7 miles north of us.

Less than a mile in, the sky was getting really dark.  We were all riding as fast as we could, but were pretty worried about this approaching storm.  Don and Jeff were scoping out an abandoned barn when a man drove up next to us in his pick-up truck.  He asked if we would like to wait out the storm in his garage, needless to say we jumped at the opportunity.

Ken, and later his partner Patty, offered us sodas as we waited out the storm.  As the weather report announced that the storms should stick around until 8pm, he said that he had a couple of spare beds if we wanted to stay at his house.

As the night wore on, we ordered pizza (and gorged ourselves on it) and then slept soundly in their air-conditioned home.  They really saved the day, we would have been seriously miserable trying to ride into town that evening, if we weren't stuck in a hay barn avoiding the mice.

Our saviors and their dog, Duke.

The morning came too soon, only to find that Ken had already been to town and brought back Tim Horton's coffee for everyone.  (to my delight since only Joe and I drink coffee)  After some toast, muffins, coffee, and great farewells we got back on the road.

7-29-2010

The ride today went great.  The temperature was nice all morning, and even in the late afternoon it never got oppressive.  We stopped in Port Stanley for some beach time (it's a hotspot for beach-goers) and lunch, and then headed on towards Port Burwell.   We're staying in a gigantic Provincial park right next to town.  Now I'm headed back to camp to make some dinner.

Unfortunately the connection I'm using isn't showing pictures, so  can't tell what pictures I'm uploading.  So I'll try to add more pictures in a couple of days.  Ciao!