Marathon Ontario, July 25th

Marathon Ontario and according to Danielle it’s bumfuk in the middle of know where…glad to know where I’m at. Today was about the riding and had another country song to go with the day, ‘Life ain’t always beautiful, but what a beautiful ride’ and that’s exactly what today’s ride turned out to be. Got to hit three of the great lakes in a day and put a foot into each one…ok, maybe I didn’t touch Erie and Ontario, but you at least got the pictures. Didn’t get the earliest of starts, but since Thunder Bay is 9 hours away and I’m suppose to take my time to make it in three days, had plenty of time…might’ve had something to do with the partying on a Monday night too with the locals in Blind River. Anyway, it was bright and sunny, but still a little brisk, cool ya know, how the north shore can be. Made great time to Sault Ste Marie and what’dya know my second town on this trip that crosses the border, that’s the US and Canadian border so I’m coming into the states for a bit. Remember, have to hit Michigan which was right across the river and have to head to Lake Michigan which the visitor center suggests going to the Mackinac bridge cuz then I get to cover 2 lakes at the same time. The bridge was 50 miles from the border and now that I understood the speed limit and it’s definitely faster in the US than Canada, had a need for speed which you can see from the shot of the speedometer. Because of the side of the bridge I was on and because you had to pay to cross it, only put a foot into Lake Michigan, but figured it’s worth the $2.50 to cross it and have both lakes to visit at the same time…I’ll just add that to my lunch bill, so lunch turned out to be about $20 and just had soup and salad…remember, I’m watching my weight – drop. While there put a foot into Huron even though I know it was already covered, but the really impressive thing was putting one foot into each lake at the same time…that’s gotta be right up there with touching four states at the same time and did have to ask the ranger to make sure the divider was right under the bridge…ok, can’t straddle that far, but if in the center of the bridge, that’s gotta be good enough – oh, and all of Lake Michigan was blowing into Huron today.

Hey, check out the house I plan on owning some day. The way I figure it and the way Pete put it, most don’t become millionaires until 50, so I still have a few years to go and I’m stating it now…I’ll be there before 50, count on it. Had to pay again on the way back over the bridge so someone is raking it in for the number of vehicles that cross the bridge and forgot to mention, had the same thing on the bridge crossing borders, you know, US and Canada that someone there is making money and it’s gotta be all the US since that’s the only side that had toll booths. Would’ve been better on the Canadian side since our dollar goes further than theirs, but oh well, gotta pay to cross. Did have phone service while in Michigan so checked in with a few since I’ve been behind in blogs and they might be wondering what’s going on with me, but the thing I’ve found in most of Canada is my cell phone doesn’t work at all, not even the roaming. Ok, so will have to do something about that later today and see about finding a place that has true high speed internet…the hotel in Blind River had dial up which I could never get to work, so gotta get caught up sometime soon.

Once back in Canada, the next lake that I’ll hit has gotta be Superior and already I could tell this was going to be more scenic than any of the other great lakes that I rode around, or at least touch and it was quite impressive. Oh yea, and Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake in the world, both acres and volume…hey, I have the paper work to prove it…like the song says, ‘what a beautiful ride’. Eventually found a beach area to dip a foot and now I have completed toughing the water of 3 great lakes in one day – wow. Saw a sign along the way for the Travelodge and having high speed internet that it was getting late enough and I needed to do a little catching up that I might as well check it out…even though it’s in bumfuk in the middle of no where. Told Harry and Caleigh about my travels and some of the great rates I’ve gotten along the way that they were happy to give me a deal and what a deal…you can see, got caught up on at least three blogs that it’s definitely high speed internet. Oh, and a big thanks to Caleigh for helping me find the title, artist and lyrics for ‘Ever Time I Here Your Name’…still waiting to hear a certain country song which will verify why people listen to country…stay tune cuz when I hear it, I’ll share it.

Well, once settled in, had to find a restaurant to get some grub and like so many small towns I’ve hit along the North Shore, most are closed down by 8:00. Did find a little steak place that what’dya know, their open till 11:00 that got something to eat before heading to visit Danielle. Yep, this is the happening place in town and even though it’s a Tuesday night, it’ll be more happening with me in town – ok, just go with me on that. Did talk to a number of people about the trip, ok didn’t get pictures of them all, but they were in and out so did my talking fast, but did talk to another couple traveling around the lake from Missouri and told them I’ve already been there, Missouri that is. Closed up the place which has been customary in these small towns, but that’s because they close early since I’m the only one still there…it couldn’t be me, could it? Oh, and the other thing is Danielle said she might have to cut me off after 3 cuz with the limit and the laws, she could get in trouble for serving me enough to put me over the limit…that sounds about the same as the states and I did see that once on this trip, in Falls Church, Lori had to cut a guy off, but that’s because he was trashed – and that was the same guy that dined and dashed…not sure whether I covered that story or not, but now you know the rest of the story. Thunder Bay is three hours away that should be able to make that and Duluth, here I come. Lake Pictures.