Total around the world bicycle miles 23,878 (38,428 km)

160 miles

August 1, 2016

Last night we enjoyed a great barbecue rib dinner with Elaine and Steve’s neighbors Rhonda and Kevin. We had such a good time and really enjoyed all the company. Once again we are reminded that this trip is all about the people we meet.

Today we drove to Fort William Historical Park with our hosts for a really informative tour. From 1803-1821 Fort William was the inland headquarters of the Northwest Company, a commercial empire which at its height stretched across North America into Europe and China. Fort William was the main trans-shipment point for goods coming in from the east and furs from the west. All goods came in and left Fort William by large canoes that traveled weeks and sometimes months to get here. The fort contained costumed staff who portrayed the individuals and groups who lived and worked in and around Fort William. The portrayed year was 1816 which marks the 200th anniversary of the occupation of Fort William by the forces of the Hudson’s Bay Company. That and the Northwest Company were in competition for the control of the fur trade. The companies eventually settled their disputes and merged. It was a fascinating visit into history.

August 4, 2016

We had a really nice visit with Steve, Elaine, and Gabrielle. They were wonderful hosts but it was time to get back on the road. Elaine drove us out of town to avoid the poor Thunder Bay roads and busy morning traffic. In the late afternoon we stopped at a motel/licensed store (can sell alcohol) for a cold beer. There we met Virginia from Canada getting back into tour cycling after her husband passed away. She is celebrating her 65th birthday with a tour of Canada. We were headed the same way and compared notes. She then continued while we decided to stay at the motel. We had a nice spaghetti dinner and early rest. In the evening we met a couple touring Canada on a Harley motorcycle. Joey and Joanne were due to arrive home today after a visit to British Columbia on the west coast. Joey was celebrating his 70th birthday.

The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast with them. A storm was brewing and they were hoping to avoid the rain. We left 10 minutes after them and were immediately soaked as we climbed two large hills and negotiated through many road construction projects including blasting. We were also passed by three touring cyclists who we waved and said hi to but they never replied as they passed us going uphill. I guess they were concentrating or just having a bad day. We all have our bad cycling days but a simple hi or wave in reply doesn’t seem like that hard. Oh well – everyone has their own cycling styles.
Later in the day we spotted another touring cyclist headed the other way. He immediately rode over to us and we had a nice conversation with Chad from Boston who is headed west to British Columbia then to San Diego. In fact, he said, “Are you the father and daughter who wrote a book a few years ago?” When we said yes he was so surprised to meet us on the road. He then said that before his trip he read many touring books and really enjoyed ours because it was so interesting and real. How random is that – meeting someone on the road that read our book? Thanks Chad.

It soon started raining again sometimes with lightning and thunder. At this point we found another roadside motel and once again talked with Virginia who saw our bikes outside the motel. This motel no longer had a vacancy but there was one next door. We told Virginia that if there were no rooms there to come back and we would share our room with her. This motel sold food to cook so we bought two steaks and rice, barbecued the steaks and had a delicious meal washed down with our camping wine. Virginia never returned so I hope she got a room and didn’t continue because of the poor weather alerts. Tomorrow we hope to get to Marathon and find a motel to watch the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics. The weather forecast is better for tomorrow.

August 5, 2016

We continued around Lake Superior in the on and off rain and made it to the town of Marathon where we quickly settled into a nice motel, found “the” liquor store and am ready for the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Along the way we stopped at a lookout point to eat a banana and a family from Ontario van camping to Calgary invited us to a picnic table for lunch. We sat down with them with delicious wraps and chocolate and good conversation. What a nice day.