Jerks
from Ontario
Hello
again after a long absence:
I think the last thing that I sent out was from Lively, Ontario so there is a bit of catching up to do. Shortly after leaving Lively we found out that Ontario can be a bit unfriendly to bicycles. One of the favourite things to do to cyclists is to put the 'No cycling' signs about mile down the highway, after the entrance ramp. Now you've got three choices. Turn around and ride against traffic on the highway and backwards up the entrance ramp, try a u-turn across 4 lanes of traffic (and sometimes a median) so you can ride with traffic, or just ignore the sign and keep going. We have always chosen the latter. Generally the 'No cycling' roads have the best shoulders for cycling on, the cops that have seen us have uniformly ignored our presence, only a few drivers have given us a hard time about being on their roads.
We've covered a lot of ground in the last week or so. From Sudbury (which looks less like the surface of the moon every time I re-visit) we turned south to Perry Sound and stayed in a campsite that was a throwback to the 50's. It was very comforting in a way. It reminded me of a lot of the places that the family had camped when I was a child. A lot of the stalls were rented on a seasonal basis and I got the feeling that a lot of the people who stayed there had been coming back every year since they were kids themselves. There was a real community atmosphere.
From Perry Sound the next stop was Bracebridge to visit with Jenn, Andre and their new son, Leo. We took a rest day and were treated like kings by two very busy people and took a bit of tour through this town in the middle of 'cottage country.'
Leaving Bracebridge we tried to stick to the back roads up to Algonquin Provincial Park. This area has hundreds of lakes joined by rivers and canals and many hundreds of islands and every inch of waterfront is taken up with cottages, cabins, parks and people. It's truly a beautiful place in a wilderness that really has no wilderness. I mean it's hard to go 100 yards without bumping into somebody. Still the area is very green and has a rugged feel. I can see the appeal to folks from Toronto who come up here to get away from the more crowded city and breathe the cleaner air. Everyone I met seemed to be in a good mood.
By the time we got into Algonquin Park the weather had changed from hot and humid to rainy, then to stormy. Doug and I grabbed the first campsite we could find. This being a provincial park there was an office as we got into the campground. We weren't allowed to go in without first paying and being assigned a site to camp in. We paid $33 for a site near the laundry facility and went in. The site that we had been assigned had about 3 inches of standing water in it and the rain didn't show any sign of letting up. We stuffed all of our wet things into a dryer and waited for the rain to stop.
And waited.
After a while I started to advocate for sleeping in the laundry room. We stayed in there and cooked supper and chatted with people who came and went from their campers and trailers. At 10:30 PM there were still folks using the washers and dryers and we were getting pretty sleepy so Doug set up the tent right outside the laundry room, on the sloped lawn. During the night the rain continued, the tent leaked and a small stream formed at our feet. Good thing it wasn't cold. I was pretty owly the next morning to find out that the power was off and we had to wait before we could put our things through the dryer again. I sure didn't want to be hauling all of that water with me to the next campsite.
A couple of more days got us to Cobden where I visited with my Mom and some of the other relatives that live in the area. Unfortunately Mom had some things scheduled and couldn't be around the next day so it was a short visit. Still it's nice to see her doing so well.
From Cobdon we hopped the border into Quebec. It's strange, but I keep thinking of the phrase 'the two solitudes.' It was very difficult to find a road map of Quebec in Ontario, even when we were within 30Km of the boarder. And around Cobden few people had done more than take day-trips into this province. On our first day in Quebec we had our first 2 hostile incidents of the trip. Both involved young men in vehicles with Ontario plates. One threw a beer can at us and gave us 'the bone' as he went by. About three hours later a van with 3 guys in it stopped in front of us, one fellow opened his door and all three started swearing at us in English. Doug thought they were looking for a fight but nothing materialized from it. It was a very strange afternoon. I started wondering if the guys in the cars were just random jerks or if they had come to Quebec to be jerks to Quebecois. Since Doug and I have no licence plates no one could tell where we are from without talking to us first. Jerks aren't big on dialogue.
Anyway, the trip continues. All is well. We're somewhere between Gatineau and LaChute on Highway 148. The goal later this week will be Saint Simeon and the ferry across the St. Lawrence.
Bye for now, keep those cards and letters coming, and if you haven't sent one now is a good time to start.
Hugs to all, Brent
I think the last thing that I sent out was from Lively, Ontario so there is a bit of catching up to do. Shortly after leaving Lively we found out that Ontario can be a bit unfriendly to bicycles. One of the favourite things to do to cyclists is to put the 'No cycling' signs about mile down the highway, after the entrance ramp. Now you've got three choices. Turn around and ride against traffic on the highway and backwards up the entrance ramp, try a u-turn across 4 lanes of traffic (and sometimes a median) so you can ride with traffic, or just ignore the sign and keep going. We have always chosen the latter. Generally the 'No cycling' roads have the best shoulders for cycling on, the cops that have seen us have uniformly ignored our presence, only a few drivers have given us a hard time about being on their roads.
We've covered a lot of ground in the last week or so. From Sudbury (which looks less like the surface of the moon every time I re-visit) we turned south to Perry Sound and stayed in a campsite that was a throwback to the 50's. It was very comforting in a way. It reminded me of a lot of the places that the family had camped when I was a child. A lot of the stalls were rented on a seasonal basis and I got the feeling that a lot of the people who stayed there had been coming back every year since they were kids themselves. There was a real community atmosphere.
From Perry Sound the next stop was Bracebridge to visit with Jenn, Andre and their new son, Leo. We took a rest day and were treated like kings by two very busy people and took a bit of tour through this town in the middle of 'cottage country.'
Leaving Bracebridge we tried to stick to the back roads up to Algonquin Provincial Park. This area has hundreds of lakes joined by rivers and canals and many hundreds of islands and every inch of waterfront is taken up with cottages, cabins, parks and people. It's truly a beautiful place in a wilderness that really has no wilderness. I mean it's hard to go 100 yards without bumping into somebody. Still the area is very green and has a rugged feel. I can see the appeal to folks from Toronto who come up here to get away from the more crowded city and breathe the cleaner air. Everyone I met seemed to be in a good mood.
By the time we got into Algonquin Park the weather had changed from hot and humid to rainy, then to stormy. Doug and I grabbed the first campsite we could find. This being a provincial park there was an office as we got into the campground. We weren't allowed to go in without first paying and being assigned a site to camp in. We paid $33 for a site near the laundry facility and went in. The site that we had been assigned had about 3 inches of standing water in it and the rain didn't show any sign of letting up. We stuffed all of our wet things into a dryer and waited for the rain to stop.
And waited.
After a while I started to advocate for sleeping in the laundry room. We stayed in there and cooked supper and chatted with people who came and went from their campers and trailers. At 10:30 PM there were still folks using the washers and dryers and we were getting pretty sleepy so Doug set up the tent right outside the laundry room, on the sloped lawn. During the night the rain continued, the tent leaked and a small stream formed at our feet. Good thing it wasn't cold. I was pretty owly the next morning to find out that the power was off and we had to wait before we could put our things through the dryer again. I sure didn't want to be hauling all of that water with me to the next campsite.
A couple of more days got us to Cobden where I visited with my Mom and some of the other relatives that live in the area. Unfortunately Mom had some things scheduled and couldn't be around the next day so it was a short visit. Still it's nice to see her doing so well.
From Cobdon we hopped the border into Quebec. It's strange, but I keep thinking of the phrase 'the two solitudes.' It was very difficult to find a road map of Quebec in Ontario, even when we were within 30Km of the boarder. And around Cobden few people had done more than take day-trips into this province. On our first day in Quebec we had our first 2 hostile incidents of the trip. Both involved young men in vehicles with Ontario plates. One threw a beer can at us and gave us 'the bone' as he went by. About three hours later a van with 3 guys in it stopped in front of us, one fellow opened his door and all three started swearing at us in English. Doug thought they were looking for a fight but nothing materialized from it. It was a very strange afternoon. I started wondering if the guys in the cars were just random jerks or if they had come to Quebec to be jerks to Quebecois. Since Doug and I have no licence plates no one could tell where we are from without talking to us first. Jerks aren't big on dialogue.
Anyway, the trip continues. All is well. We're somewhere between Gatineau and LaChute on Highway 148. The goal later this week will be Saint Simeon and the ferry across the St. Lawrence.
Bye for now, keep those cards and letters coming, and if you haven't sent one now is a good time to start.
Hugs to all, Brent
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