This won’t be posted for a day or so, because this evening (Saturday) here in Echo Bay, Ontario, Canada, we have no internet coverage. Yesterday we had a very nice layover day in St. Ignace, my hometown. I was reminded of what a beautiful place St. Ignace is, so blessed by its natural environment. It’s no wonder that Father Marquette loved it and wanted to be buried there back in the 1600s.
We visited Tim Harrington, an old friend of mine from childhood, whom I hadn’t seen since the early 60s. I also spoke on the phone with Greg Cheeseman, another former classmate, who just had his second hip replacement and then fractured his femur, so is in a wheelchair for at least several more weeks. One again I was reminded of how blessed we are to be able to do this trip.
Today was another good day of cycling. We rode 52 miles up to Sault Ste. Marie (“the Soo”), Michigan, and then took the International Bridge over to Canada. The bike route up to the Soo is on the Mackinac Trail, which is the former US 2, still maintained as a local highway but replaced as a major route by I-75. Traffic was very light, especially for the first hour or two. We had a significant and increasing crosswind, but it was often mitigated by the thick forest on both sides of the road.
The International Bridge was a thrilling ride. It’s considered a freeway, but it’s only one lane in each direction, and bicycles are allowed. We rode in the traffic lanes along with all of the other vehicles, so there was no opportunity to take pictures as we soared in two successive truss-supported arches over the Soo Locks and the St. Mary’s River.
Then we all (except Kathy) had a laugh as Kathy committed an immigration faux pas. She and Cindy passed us on the way over the bridge, and then while they were waiting in line for the immigration station, Kathy hopped out and ran back to take our picture as Rich and I approached on our bikes. Bad idea. First, Cindy and the motor home got to immigration before Kathy got back. Second, she shouldn’t have exited the vehicle in the first place – it makes it look like it she was trying to sneak into the country. So Rich and I were joking about seeing her in handcuffs, and then at our subsequent picnic lunch we speculated about how the trip would continue if Kathy had gotten deported. I guess she would have had to meet us in Vermont.
Tonight we are parked behind a rather funky B&B just across the marsh (pictured) from George Lake, which is part of the flowage of the St. Mary’s River as it makes its way from Lake Superior into Lake Huron. The B&B is a ramshackle building that seems a throwback to an earlier age. The hosts, Marjorie and her sister, Vicky are very friendly and gracious. One of the building’s quirks is the bathroom, which has two side-by-side toilets, one of pink porcelain and the other of blue. It brings to mind all sorts of interesting images.
Now that we’re in Canada we need to come up with a better description of this trip. We’ve been calling it cross-country, but Marjorie and Vickie wondered if we were going from Vancouver to Halifax. “Transcontinental” is more accurate, but sounds a bit pretentious. Perhaps “coast-to-coast” will work.
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