It has been quite a while since our last post because we have spent less time biking and more time in the presence of great company. After the storm passed in Vasser, MI we biked about 30 miles until the rain started again. We took shelter in a park and played euchre as the storm blew by. When there was a break in the clouds we started back up again and went 20 miles until google maps tried to take us down a private, grown over dirt trail. We stopped in a small country store to ask for directions and were approached by a father and his daughter who offered us a place to camp for the night. We were quite soaked by that point and happily took them up on the offer. We packed up our bike on their trailer and rode a couple miles down the road to their property.
We had an absolutely wonderful time at their house. When we arrived, we set up our tent in their heated garage, took showers, washed our clothes and they barbecued a delicious dinner and even let us ride one of their horses with the help from the daughter Rachel (who is an amazing horseback rider).
In the morning the weather was still rainy and the family offered to take us farther in the direction of the border. We happily complied with their offer because the three of them were already headed to church in the same direction. The mother, Mary, even packed us a bag full of snacks to take along with us on our ride! We arrived at the church and expected to get out of the vehicle but instead the father, Chuck, offered to take us as far as he could and ended up driving us another 25 miles out of his way all the way to Marine City. We tried to express our thanks (which was extremely abundant) as much as we could and packed our bike back up for the border crossing.
On a little side note, one of the most amazing things that we are experiencing on this trip is the incredible kindness and generosity presented by complete strangers. These sort of encounters with people are the type of thing that will remain in our memory far longer than any typical, fairly uneventful day of biking. We have found that contrary to popular belief, people are quite amazing and good most of the time.
Our crossing into Canada was our most positive border experience ever. The ferry runs from Marine City, MI across the St Clair river to Sombra, Ontario. It is about a 5 minute ride and only cost a dollar per person.
We crossed the river with only one other car on the boat, chatted with the border guards and set off, riding along the river toward blue Canadian skies.
It was a delightful day for biking once the rain passes and we rode about thirty miles to the house of Danielle and Matt (one of Chantale's best friends from high school and her husband) a little east of Sarnia. We had a great one day visit with them, hoping their baby would be born any minute (Mothers' day would have been a good day for that).
On Monday we set off towards Brantford, Ontario. We had a very ambitious day planned, hoping to cover 120 miles so that we could make it to Chantale's aunt and uncle's house for dinner, where we would meet up with Chantale's parents and then ride the rest of the way to Wellandport, Ontario. The day started off exactly as planned and we were optimistic about our chances of making it Uncle Mel and Aunt Betty's on time. However, right after a mid morning snack break, we tried to take a detour around a gravel road, got a little lost and went about 15 miles out of the way in total. Then right after lunch we got lost in a huge complex of suburbia right outside London and added another few miles onto our day.
By this point we were much less optimistic that we would make it anywhere close to dinner time so we sought out wifi to call Chantale's parents for an update on timing and to devise a plan. Normally we would have just kept on going and cut the day a bit shorter but we wanted to see Chantale's mom before she headed to Iowa the next day (for five days). We arranged for a limo service and a few hours later were greeted with many hugs and drove the rest of the way to Brantford.
We were treated to a wonderful feast (asparagus and rhubarb are in season out here and we had been eyeing the fresh produce at farm stands along the way but had no way to cook it, but Aunt Betty had made both of those dishes and then some!). We chatted with Uncle Mel and Aunt Betty, toured their beautiful home, said goodbye and headed off to Wellandport. (Hopefully another time we can visit for longer and do a bike tour of Southern Ontario). Our arrival in Wellandport was not exactly as we had envisioned it throughout the rest of our trip, rolling up on our tandem into familiar territory and being greeted by awaiting family. However, it was still great to be home to see Chantale's mom before she headed out.
In Wellandport we have been keeping ourselves busy by doing a bit of yard work and painting, meeting up with our friend Samantha and walking around Dundas Point outside Hamilton Ontario (which is apparently the waterfall capital of the world), playing games, cooking in a fully stocked kitchen with more than just our jetboil, going on a biking wine tour in the Niagara Region and spending lots of time with family (Ann, Lydell, Jeff and Lynette, Weston, Kailyn and parents).
Yesterday, Chantale's mom returned from Iowa so we will be spending a couple more days here and then heading out on Wednesday for the last leg of our trip. We are antsy to get biking again but are making sure to savour every moment with family.
Location:Michigan to Wellandport
No comments:
Post a Comment