Home at Last - The Final Three Days

Yesterday (Tuesday 2017-08-22) I arrived home at 13:26 EST. The bike's odometer said 32,428 km - and it had said about 2,500 at the start of the trip. I was sure I had written the exact number down - in fact - I thought I had taken a picture! But - I can not find it. Anyway - call it a 30,000 km summer. The Garmin said it was 29,519 km - and that is likely pretty accurate. What a fantastic trip.

Let me give you the highlights of the last three days.

Sunday - North Bay to Ottawa

The North Bay to Ottawa leg is a familiar road for me. I have done this leg at least once before - on my old VFR. I wish I had thought of it - I should have crossed the river at Pembroke and taken Hw 148 - I am told it is very pretty - and I think I might have ridden part of it once with John, Ken, Mike and some other guys. If that is the correct Highway - it is pretty - Darn - will need to slip in a trip to see!

Anyway - the ride along 17 is just fine - nothing too exciting - but fine.

I stopped to see the  NPD Site - but nothing to photogenic. I thought about going in the 32 km to the Brent Crater - but the road looked only so-so - and I wanted to get to Ottawa. SO - I soldiered.

Ottawa was busy  lots of tourists (like me) enjoying a perfect Sunday - warm and sunny - in a very pretty city. SO - I had to park a fairly long walk back to Parliament Hill - wearing biker pants and carrying my coat and helmet. Yikes - I was sure hot by the time I got finished downtown!

A couple of good pictures of Parliament!

 

Then - over to the National War Memorial. I think I stop for a look at this nearly every visit to Ottawa!

When - I got back to the bike - I added the Canadian flag sticker. Done - all capitals and all oceans on the list have been visited. Boom! Pretty exciting!

Over to the west end to visit my Aunt Isobel - who is still pretty spry for 96! She has been following this blog on her tablet - and I hope she sees this post and gets this shout out - Hello Aunt Issie!

My cousin Bev (one of Isobel's 2 daughters- you meet the other one Trice in the post from Vancouver) and her husband Ian were also at Isobel's residence for the visit. They gave me a welcome home gift - some local microbrew beer and a delicious R&J  Romeo No. 3! Very tasty! They have spoiled me rotten - these are the same folks who gave me a Tim Horton's card that bought me coffee and lunch all across the country - and an LCBO Gift card that bought me a very nice bottle of Highland Park when I retired. Great to see them.

Then - over to see my friends Dave & Laura - and their 3 boys - James, Kevin, and Andrew. They feed me a huge home-cooked meal. Then, Dave and I sat and talked about our adventures this summer. He had a great bike ride around Ontario this year - you can see his adventures in his Tour de Great Lakes blog. Makes me think a couple of days on the bike yetthis fall might be a good idea! Hmmm.

I got to smoke my R&J Churchills which I had intended to smoke n the Pacific Ocean - but never did find a good place to sit and enjoy a cigar on the coast! Better late than never.

Monday - Ottawa to Haliburton

The next day - up and at it fairly early and took my favourite backroads from Ottawa to Haliburton. No pictures - but had a great ride - really pretty - one of very favourite roads to ride - perhaps because I have done it so many times. Very pretty and lots of fun to ride.

One funny story. Just past Clayton - suddenly I got a sharp sting on the lower right side of my stomach! Yikes - made me jump! I was still thinking - "Yikes, what was that?"- when I got stung twice more on the same side lower down just above the belt line! I slam on the brakes, and pull over on to the gravel shoulder (with a bit to much front brake still applied - which made things even more exciting), jumped of the  bike, undid the coat, untucked my shirt, and dumped a bee  out on the ground! Ahh - riding with the jacket unzipped - and the top couple of buttons off my shirt unbuttoned - I guess I hovered him up as I proceeded along the road. I bet he was as unpleased as I was be the way it worked out! Here I am on Wednesday - and I still have two huge red welts from where he nailed me. Holy smokes, I would be happy to not have that happen ever again!

No pictures from Monday! I forgot to take a picture of my Mom & Dad - can you believe it? My 1st visit to their new apartment which is very nice! I owe my brother, sister, wife, and the rest of the family a huge one for taking care of getting the move done back at the end of June while I was on the road. Anyway, had a great visit with them and another home-cooked meal. I could get used to this!

Tuesday - Haliburton to Toronto

The rain was threatening, so I decided to give the Buckhorn Road a pass - but I still used a fun set of semi-backroads to get to Toronto - and then down the 404!

The Haliburton Cenotaph

The Kirkfield Lift Lock. You know something, I have driven past this or close to this off and on since 1970 - and I think this is the first time I have stopped to have alook at it!

The Foster Memorial - cool building with an interesting history as per the link.

I stopped downtown at old city hall for a picture of the Toronto Cenotaph.

Last stop - the Mimico Cenotaph - just around the corner from the house!

Then - home - Kim had been tracking me on Google maps - and was ready to get a photo or 2 of my arrival home!

Yippee - together in our kitchen - very good to be home!

A martini - and the nice cigar Bev & Ian gave to to celebrate being home!

Conclusion

That is it! About 30,000 km and 83 days after it started - the Three Ocean Tour is over. Some time in the next couple of days - I think I will write a summary of my favourite places on the trip. I think I will also do an equipment review. BUT - that is it. Done. When I got home - I joked with Kim - "do you think I should do a second lap"? Maybe someday - because this is a huge beautiful country with tons of things I did not see the first time - and lots of things I would love to see again.

Thanks for following along on our adventure. Both Laurance and I loved this trip, and we are already talking about what might come next.

More Superior, Cruise Down to North Bay

Had another great day today riding from Marathon to North Bay. Started off cold - luckily - I had my long sleeved thermal undershirt on! I learned yesterday that it is cold in Ontario! The fog was an issue for the first couple of hours - but never as bad as yesterday. Still - it was a bit of an issue - had to slow down and be even more cautious than normal! After a couple of hours, it burned off - and I had a great ride and got some great shots!

Near Wawa

Lake Superior Provincial Park

Lake Superior South of Montreal River Harbour

Batchawana Bay - my last view of Superior was shortly after this. It needed a video as well as some photos.

Just after that - this cool river. Cannot find the name - sorry.

At that river - this cool plaque for the halfway point on the TCH - I have been to both ends and the middle!

Then - a great ride along Huron - I did not get any pictures - and I should have. So very pretty - this is much different than Superior. Still large rock mastiffs - but smoothed and rounded by glaciers - no cliffs like Superior. Plus - farmland mixed in - very pretty.

Then - on to Sudbury. I had the bit between my teeth - and did not stop - I went on to North Bay. That is also a pretty road.

OK - talk to me face to face and you may get some details about poorly managed construction and egregiously low speed limits - but I do not want to get into that here.

Anyway - stopped for a view of Lake Nipissing, and saw this butterfly!

A view of Lake Nipissing

And that is it for today. Tomorrow - Ottawa! My last published goal. I have a few more - visit friends and family in Ottawa, visit my Mom & Dad, visit the Toronto cenotaph, and the Mimico cenotaph - and then home! Not sure if I will get to post tomorrow or the next day - since I will be staying with friends in Ottawa - and then my Mom & Dad - but do not worry - I will tie this up!

Cheers!

Great Day North of Superior

I had a fantastic day today north of Superior - as I zipped down 11/17 from Fort Frances to Marathon - with a short detour out to Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park. Those of you who notice such things will see that I missed the Hw 102 shortcut -again - it is well signed - I have no excuse this time (I can come up with one for the westbound leg).

Anyway - before I deal with today - another comment about yesterday. I think I was a bit hard on Ontario. I do not want this to turn into a Banjo Bowl style apology - but I do want to clarify. I took a shot at Ontario's road quality and speeding enforcement. I think the first part of that is because I am still pissed off weeks later about having to drive about 20-30 km down Hw 17 in pouring rain on washboard and potholes full of water - on the Trans Canada Highway for heavens sake - with not even a sign to warn you what was coming. The second part -  we have all seen the swarms of OPP down south on 401 and 400 enforcing the speed limit. This is not a shot at them - they are doing their assigned duties. BUT - it is a shot at the fact that we do have speed limits in this province that are far too low. The piece of 11 /17 I drove today was all posted at 90 kph. Anywhere west of Ontario - some  of it would have been posted 110 kph - and the rest would have been posted at 100 kph. In the 110 kph areas - you would be staying with traffic at 130 kph, and in the 100 kph - traffic would be moving at 120 kph - or maybe 115 kph. SO  - I guess I have to admit - Ontario builds good roads - just like the rest of Canada - BUT - we have unnecessarily low speed limits and that irritates me.

Anyway - today was fantastic. Started out with a glorious sunrise over the Rainy river in Fort Frances

The first 30 minutes or so - the weather was good - including these views of  Bears Passage

And - then it got foggy - Yikes - was it foggy. I road for about an hour in fog so thick that twice I stopped and used the napkins in my tank bag to dry off my visor and glasses. It was really nasty - very poor visibility. SO - it might have been pretty country - I have no clue - I was focused on the road.

Another interesting tidbit.  My hotel was on the east end of Fort Francis, and I pulled out without gassing up (it was only 33 km since last gas) or breakfast thinking I would stop at the 1st place. Well, about 140 km later, following an hour in the heavy fog, I find a place and stop for gas, coffee (the elixir of life), and food. As I pull in I notice the tanker truck to fill up the station's enviro-tank is sitting there with the hood up. I chat to the guy - and find out the engine will not start. I share my sympathy, gas up, go inside and pay, grab a coffee and a delicious home-made butter tart, inhale the butter tart, and go outside to have a smoke and drink my coffee. Buddy has the truck running! I ask how he fixed it, he says he heard a relay go click, and thought he would give it a try, it started, so he is busy pumping gas into the enviro-tank used by the station. So, I am standing by the bike about 7 meters away, having my smoke, drinking my coffee, and the enviri-tank "full" alarm goes off, the guy from the tanker turns it off, and keeps pumping gas. The next thing you know - the gas is spewing out of the overfull spout on the tank and going everywhere! It is hard to be sure -  my best guess is 10 - 20 liters of gas go everywhere! Thinking fast - I put out my smoke! Carefully! Buddy finally turns off the truck. People continue to pull in to the station and leave vehicles idling over the now gas-infused ground which is warming as the morning progresses. Now - those of you who know me well - I am a coffee addict.  This is my first coffee of the day which I have waited nearly 2 hour for. I am not giving this baby up easy. I spent a grand total of about 5 seconds assessing the situation, and the specific thought I had (excuse my language) was "Fuck this, these people are without a clue and thus dangerous - I am out of here"! As far as I know - everything was OK - have been listening for news - and no news is good news I guess. Did not get coffee until noon - it is almost inhuman!

Anyway - just before 11 joins with 17 - back into the Atlantic Watershed. Cool! The only one I missed was the Gulf of Mexico down in southern Alberta / Saskatchewan (I forget - I posted the link - you look it up).

Then - about an hour east of Thunder Bay - I see the signs for Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park and decide to go have a look - it is only about 8 km off the highway - and my early start means I have time. Wow. You gotta stop and see this place. Check out these videos and photos.

Btw - it is Friday - so I had on my Hawaiian shirt! BUT - it was cold - so I had my denim shirt on top. I think it may be a trending fashion look! What are your thoughts? Deb?

So - North of Superior - just fantastic views of the lake - and of these outrageous cliffs. I thought I got most of it westbound - but was just as impressed eastbound. A few samples follow.

And - that's it for today! Tomorrow - the final leg to Ottawa begins. I do not think I will make - it is still a little over a 1,000 km - BUT - hey - an early start, and you never know. The official target remains a fairly long leg to Sudbury. But - hey -maybe I can make it a little further!

Prairie Passage Complete

I loved the prairies! It moves me to song - and inside my helmet at a brisk pace - I sound pretty good!

Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Had some fun in the sun, in the land of the big-sky-o
Steaks and Fries, Hamburger pie, and some beer-o
Son of a gun, I had great fun in the land of the big sky-o!

- with apologies to Hank Williams

Today was backroads from Brandon to Fort Francis on the "B" route. Very pretty - loved it. Got chased by a cloud bank out of the west - but road with sunglasses on all day! When I stopped for gas just short of Fort Francis - folks I talked to said lots of rain yesterday and this morning. SO - I think I might get a wet one tomorrow. I can not complain. The last time I got soaked was Whitehorse to Dawson City. Hit a few very light showers since then - but not really any heavy rain. I guess I am back in Ontario - rain, bad roads, and over enthusiastic speed limit enforcement.

I really enjoyed the prairies. Today, the country down around the Pembina river was the real treat. I missed a couple of good photos - cause I was moving at an enthusiastic pace and did not feel like stopping! Go see it for yer self :-)  Anyway - really enjoyed it. Then, did the quick deke into Minnesota to go around the bottom of Lake of the Woods - and boom - yer in Ontario!

Had a really fun day. And - I am still on schedule. Let's see what happens tomorrow!

A couple of pictures on Hw 10 south of Brandon

A cenotaph at Barwick

The view of the Rainy river from my motel - the Bayview Motel. Great price, great view and not bad at all. Plus - short walk to the Harbourage - great food - good prices.

More Ontario tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes!

More Prairie Days - Grasslands Park, Qu'Appelle Valley, Rider Mountain Park

Two more great days on the prairies. The hotel I stayed at last night (Tuesday) was cheap - and barely acceptable - they had good Indian Food - but no internet, so no post yesterday.

Yesterday (Tuesday) sort of reminds me of the time in the fall of 1999 I went to visit my buddy Gord Bell (RIP Gord) in Boston. Since my sister Cher lives in Jacksonville - and Jacksonville and Boston are both on the Atlantic Ocean - I stopped to visit Cher and Vaughan on my way to Boston!

That is what happened Tuesday - I wanted to see the Qu'Appelle Valley and I wanted to see Grasslands National Park - they are both in Saskatchewan - so screw the straight line - south to Grasslands I went - and then back to Indian Head - ready to see the Qu'Appelle Valley tomorrow!

More fantastic backroads all the way to Grasslands. Then - about 40k of gravel for a quick tour of the west Block of the park. It was fantastic. There were a ton of things I did not see in the west block - and I did not even try to see the east block - which apparently has more hoodoos. This place calls for another visit - in a car. I would be tempted to say that shorts would be the correct dress - but warnings of rattlesnakes and cactus make me think that boot and jeans are the way to go. Still - better garb to hike than biker gear! Bring lots of water and plan to spend at least a full day - I think two - one for each of the west block and the east block.

Then - back on to the backroads over to highway 2, and then Highway 1 - so the slab to Indian Head.

So - I published a schedule and shared with family that said I was targeting Ottawa on the 20th of August. Well, I published that Tuesday morning - and at EOD Tuesday - I am about 1/2 a day behind schedule! I love it. **** schedules!

Anyway - the drive down Hw 4 was really pretty

An interesting monument about the Fort Qu'Appelle trail on Hw 4

In to Grasslands National Park. Wow - the pictures only tell part of the story. Ya gotta come see this. I would really like to come back. And - bring the telescope - this is supposed to be some of the darkest clearest sky in Canada. Hmmm - the smoke from the B.C. fires sure is wrecking the clear sky this summer! But - what a place - check out what I did get in the way of photos.

The prairie dogs reminded me of Office Workers:

A bison rub glacial erratic:

Shit - this corner was not clear on the map. Here I am - about 20 km down a gravel road - and need to figure out - turn left or turn right. I stopped and checked carefully. I got it right. Why, you ask, am I 20 km down a gravel road after the crappy experience on Vancouver Island's North end? Well - maybe I am a slow learner. BUT - I got away with it - and am glad I had a quick peak at Grasslands!

More backroads out of Grassland - and then the slab to Indian Head. Check out this old wreck of a Studebaker truck in the part of the hotel's parking lot that is basically a junk yard. Cool, but also - yikes!

This morning (Wednesday) - up and at it bright and early and off to the Qu'Appelle Valley, Rider Mountain National Park, and then down to Brandon. Some great views of the Qu'Appelle Valley.

Short Video with a view of Fort Qu'Appelle across the lake

Hey - I am way overdue for a church - and this one was very pretty!

Then - on to  Riders Mountain. I came across this great view of Lake of the Prairies as I drove along Hw 10.

So - let's be frank. I was a bit disappointed with Riding Mountain National Park. Ok - you go along at about 350 meters - and see a long ridge covered with boreal forest - and climb up to about 700 meters. As you approach from the north - one good view of the ridge for a couple of km - I guess that was the money shot - and I missed it - I thought I would get some better views.

To avoid getting skunked - a shot of ClearLake as you leave the park southbound.

Do not get me wrong - lots of pretty country in Manitoba - rolling hills - interesting combinations of farmed land right next to forest - and mostly good roads (it's Canada - and it is construction season). I enjoyed today BUT - yesterday and the day before were really Wow- and today was just OK.

I checked in to the Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Centre here in Brandon. This was a good call, nice room, good wifi, nice restaurant, friendly helpful staff - and I got a fairly good rate. I needed a nice place after last night's - I wanted to make sure I could get the blog updated. If you're coming to Brandon - this looks like a good call to me!

Tomorrow - Hmmm - Tomorrow. I managed to get back on schedule today, and I said I would try to make it to Fort Francis tomorrow. So - that is what I will do - BUT - I am going to take some of the backroads between here and Sprague, short hop through the USA, then of to Fort Francis.

TTFN