"South Baymouth Morning......"

Finally......a gorgeous sunrise for us! It was still cloudy and somewhat overcast (cool, too!) but the day promised to be a beautiful one. The area where we will be lining up for the ferry is on the other side of the small median/light posts that you can see in the photo. Actually, I ended up right next to the picnic table and tree that you see in the photo.
Here is Don's recumbent, up with the other leaders of the "pack". :) Bicycles and motorcycles were the 1st vehicles to be allowed onto the ferry. They are also the 1st to be allowed to disembark, too. They're tied/lashed (rope, oops, I mean, lines, are provided by the ferry) down so that if there is rough weather, they will not tip over in the hold.
Those passengers coming from Tobermory, on the mainland, disembarking after their ride to South Baymouth. As the ferry entered the channel where it would dock, those waiting to catch the ferry, who'd walked to the shops and restaurants, rushed to get to their cars, like ants scurrying around an anthill. You could feel the excitement in the air........
We'd decided not to be one of the scurrying people and waited until we were aboard to eat breakfast, which was surprisingly good.
A better view of South Baymouth. Our motel is the one with the chalet type office/gift shop. We had the end room which had picture windows on 2 sides of the room, facing both the bay and the channel. You can see what I mean if you look closely (double click for an enlarged view). Our room is the one between the phone booth and the tall pine.......1 of the picture windows is very prominent.
The ride on the ferry was beautiful, as you will see in tomorrows entry. :)

"More From the Espanola Ride....."

This was taken on Manitoulin Island, outside the village of Sheguiandah. It is the Indian church, next to a tribal council gathering area. Unfortunately, I don't know anymore than that, and took the photo because I liked the building.
I took this from another rest area/car park, which was located up on a high bluff, overlooking Sheguiandah Bay, where during nicer weather, one would be able to see much further. I still thought it was a spectacular view, and now I have a little historical information, too. :) Notice the little bit of color in the leaves?
This small waterfall was located right next to the road, but in order for me to be able to get this shot, I had to drive further along the highway and backtrack on a side road, hoping that it would take me back to the waterfall. I got there in time to see Don ride by and wave. :)
The weather had gotten better the further south we went. Better in that it was no longer raining, although still overcast. When we arrived in South Baymouth, where we would catch the ferry the next morning, the sun actually came out, which made the clouds seem even darker and more thunderous looking.
We got to see the ferry, The Chi-Cheemaun, come in to take it's last trip for the night..... arriving, unloading, loading again, and turning around to go back to Tobermory, on the mainland. Notice the bright patch of sunlight on the trees behind the stern of the ship?
South Baymouth was, to say the least, a little touristy. :) Our motel was located directly across from the dock where the ship came in and departed from, so we had watched the line up of passengers and their cars the night before when we were unpacking. All of the souvenir gift shops and restaurants were within quick walking distance from the vehicles of the passengers. This "line up time", of course, was the busiest time for the shops, as we soon saw after the ship left. Were we any different? Not really, although the next morning I did stay with the car because we'd already gone though enough of the shops the night before. :)

"The Road From Espanola......"

We awoke to rain again. It sprinkled as I packed the car and began raining harder as we left Espanola. I stopped at a gas station/convenience store on the way out of town to fill the car up and to also, (hopefully) get some flavored coffee/cappuccino. Gas, by the way, is priced per liter, not gallon, so was always under $1. :)
Back to the coffee........I had never seen a machine like this before, and because of seeing my hesitation (basically, pure confusion), one of the clerks helped me. The machine brewed each cup individually by having you choose what coffee you wanted from a basket of small containers, similar to, but larger than, what individual servings of liquid coffee creamer is usually found. The container of coffee is then put into the machine and when you bring the handle down to enclose it in it's compartment, the container is automatically pierced. The start button is then pressed and hot water goes through, coming out as fresh brewed coffee into your cup. I LIKED it! :) I might just be naive, but as I mentioned, I had never seen a process like this before.
This was the first time we truly had miserable weather for Don to ride in. The steady, light, sprinkling rain turned into a downpour before we were even out of Espanola. We both were not only disappointed about the heavy rain, but of where it happened! We had both been looking forward to seeing the Manitoulin Island, but with the pouring rain, it virtually made it impossible to look around. Don's glasses were constantly being coated in rain so he had to really concentrate on seeing where he was going. This was made even worse, due to the fact we were on a smaller highway which didn't have as wide of an asphalt shoulder for him to ride on......it barely had a shoulder in some areas because of the rocky nature of the countryside, leading down to the island. And, of course, the road (again, due to the rock formations), was curvy, with steeps hills to go up and down. In sunny weather, it would have been beautiful, but in that days rain, it was treacherous.
On the maps, it is called Manitoulin Island, but in reality, it is actually a number of islands, connected by bridges. With the terrain being so rocky and not much top soil, grass is about the only thing that will grow in some areas, so it has become a cattle producing area. I noticed while driving through here, that fence posts were not dug into the ground, but were held in place by rocks. You can see in this photo, how the supports for the bridge are in boxes of rocks under the structure. On a smaller scale, this is how the posts are supported, but the boxes holding the rocks are triangular.
I stopped here, after crossing one of the connecting bridges, to get a few photos and also to wait for Don. It had been raining heavily and he'd not stopped in awhile, so I was sure he would need a refill of Gatorade.
Here he comes, soaked to the bone and beginning to shiver. I held an umbrella over him as he changed into a dry shirt, which immediately warmed him and calmed the shivers.
To set the record straight.....in case anyone has wondered, there was never a word spoken by either of us about his not riding along any part of the trip. He was determined to do the ride, and I knew this. I, of course, had some times of pure anxiety with his riding, but also know he is an intelligent person and could make pertinent decisions about his riding. :) I'm sure that everyone would not necessarily agree with keeping my thoughts to myself, but we each have to do what we feel is correct in any situation.
This was taken at a small car park that had an "overlook platform" built for the scenic view. Unfortunately, with the rainy, overcast conditions, the view wasn't as far reaching as on a clear day. :(
Here comes my soaked, although warm, Don Pato.........he'd stopped at the car park to take a short break and look at the view. His stops/breaks that day were short, otherwise, there was a possibility that he'd get begin to get chilled. His continuous pedaling, most times, kept the chills at bay. :)
Our destination that day was South Baymouth, where the following morning we would catch the ferry from Manitoulin Island to Tobermory, which is on the mainland. The photos of South Baymouth will be in tomorrow's blog....and the sun will be in them! :) We did, EVENTUALLY, have sunshine on the day's ride from Espanola.

"The Last Stretch Before Espanola..."

Little Lake Bog is located outside of Algoma Mills, Ontario. I used the parking lot as a stopping point, although Don did not. It was in the middle of a hill so he kept his upwards momentum and stopped a bit later. :) Not long after this was taken we happened to find a convenience store and stopped for coffee.

Deer Trail Rest Area is outside of Serpent River, Ontario. This was one of the places where I made sandwiches for lunch. Unfortunately, they were not to my taste, although Don, being the polite person that he is, said they were fine.........not sure that he used the word "good" though. :) We were in one of the areas where there were small villages, but none had restaurants.
There were a number of deer sculptures around the park.
I was very surprised when I saw that Don had not combed his hair for the "photo op". Such a "free spirit"!
Didn't I say "free spirit"? :)
This was hidden from my view at one of the places I stopped, but Don saw it from his bike as he passed, calling me on the walkie talkie to tell me about it. After getting to it the hard way, I found a path that led right to it. :) It was so peaceful, even though it was right next to the highway.
We arrived in Espanola later that day, eating that night and the next morning in the hotel. Don had to store his bike in a coat check room down in the basement as we had a 2nd level room and no elevator. It worked out very well, although it had begun raining again as we unpacked that night, continuing into the next morning. Little did we know at the time, how miserable the next days ride would be due to the weather.

"More before Espanola...."

I had pulled off into a "snow plow" turnaround, where a sign said no parking. Being the pushy American, I ignored it, as this strip of highway had very few other alternatives for my stopping points. I was hoping that it meant when conditions were snowy, rather than during summer, so I took my chances. It must have been OK since I did have a few policemen drive by. I don't really know what to call them, but they looked like Canada's version of our state troopers. Would they be Mounties, or is that a special branch?
Here you see one of the many semis that Don had whiz by him on the Trans Canada Highway. They really were quite good about pulling out and giving him some space.
I'd pulled onto a side road for my stopping point. It was the furthest I'd gone between places (around 6.5 miles), and had been lucky enough to have stopped in a regular parking area for a fishing/boat site. A man had been walking to his boat when I pulled in, who looked at my license plate and yelled WISCONSIN! He came over and we talked a bit. He was from Holland, MI. I'd told him why I was stopping there, so when he had gone back to his motel for his gear, he'd come out and saw Don so headed across the road to waylay him to talk with him. :) (double click on the photo to see it better)
There I am across the river (white car). Since the town we'd stopped in was named Blind River, I'm assuming that this was the Blind River.
I thought this was pretty good so I took a photo of it.
Remember that "iffy" front tire? It wasn't totally flat but conditions were good for stopping to change it, so that is what we did. :) This shows downtown Blind River.

"On Our Way From Iron Bridge to Espanola......"

Our stay in Iron Bridge was pleasant. The motel was definitely "north woods" because the interior was all knotty pine. Very rustic looking, comfortable, but not "rustic". :) We ate both dinner the night before and breakfast the next morning at the same restaurant. I don't remember the name of it, although the owners name was Irwin. He was quite the "chatty" guy and was interesting to listen to.....of course, Don kept asking him questions, prompting him. :)
The day before, I had written that Don had changed the tubes in both tires because they were not holding air, the 2nd (front) about 3 miles out from Iron Bridge. After arriving at the motel, he noticed that his back tire was beginning to soften , so he changed it again, this time changing both tube and putting on a new tire. Afterwards, he closely inspected the old tire and found bits of glass embedded in it. Now the debate was to change the front tire and tube, too, or wait and see if it held it's air overnight. He decided to wait and see........ It was a little soft in the morning but not enough in Don's opinion to change it, so he began the day's ride, trusting that it would be fine.
We ended the day with it raining harder than it had all day, with it continuing into the night, but by morning, it had stopped and was just overcast. We noticed that it was cooler though, more so than the morning before in the Soo. The photo below gives you some idea as to the "shoulder" of the road that he rode on for most of the Trans Canada Highway, although this seems wider to me than it was in other areas. Must be my anxiety of those days coming through.... :)
The following photos are some of the scenery/things we saw that morning. For some reason, we both seem to have taken more photos that day and I have too many that I want to include in order to complete the trip from Iron Bridge to Espanola in one entry of blogging. :)
This is one of many small waterfalls along the route.
Somewhere along the route..... :)
We had sneak peeks of sunshine at times throughout the day.
I took this photo because of the changing colors in the trees. We were beginning to see more color each day. We're not sure if it is due to dry conditions or because it was time for it to happen in the far north......

As mentioned earlier, I will have more photos tomorrow of this days ride........

"Continuing to Iron Bridge, Ontario........"

We stopped in Bruce Mines, Ontario, for lunch. The small town had a marina which we rode/drove out to and stopped to take a few photos. I never realized how big these were from just seeing them out in the water.
Next to the restaurant where we ate lunch was a small park. It had not rained up there in a very long time as you can see from how brown the grass is in the photo. It was also the place where Don changed his 1st tire. Upon leaving the restaurant, he noticed that his back tire was low/flat, so we unpacked a tube from the car (keeping his spare in his bike pack) and he changed it while I looked on. Do you think I could have taken the opportunity for some photos? Totally spaced on it until all was said and done and he mentioned something about my not taking some. What kind of documentary photographer am I? :)
After leaving Bruce Mines, we took a slight detour from the highway route. We followed the business route into a small village named Thessalon, which is on the North Channel. The North Channel separates the Manitoulin Islands and the mainland of Canada. Thessalon was a very nice little village and had a campground right across the road from this park, overlooking the water. It was here that I asked Don to get off of his bike and run at a flock of seagulls so I could take a photo like in the movie "The Last Crusade", starring Sean Connery and Harrison Ford (hopefully you know the scene by the ocean when the Nazi pilot is shooting at them and Sean Connery runs at the seagulls with his umbrella?). :) Unfortunately, Don declined his moment of movie mimicry. :(
I stopped at a log house/cabin builder and took this photo. I would LOVE to have even this small one!!! It would be a wonderful, although admittedly small studio, eh? :)
Unfortunately, the changing of the back tire in Bruce Mines wasn't to be the last that day. Here Don is changing his front tire. He got the flat tire a few miles from our destination of the day, Iron Bridge, Ontario. The front took less time to change than the back one....especially since he was "recently experienced", as well as not having to deal with the gears/chain, too.