76 miles. Last full day in Canada

First, I neglected a few things over the past few days. Our first day in Ontario we passed the home of Josiah Henson whose autobiography was the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” It was also the site of the Dawn Settlement, a community for escaped slaves, and one of the last stops on the Underground Railroad. The site was a mile or so off our route so we did not stop and we intend someday to go back and visit the place.

We also saw these two houses on that first day in Ontario:

This abandoned and overgrown farm house must be hiding many secrets!

This is not a Wright house but sure bears some of his signature elements

Jeff and Marion, our Airbnb hosts last night, took us to a neighbors house to watch a very impressive fireworks display.

The sky above Port Burwell was alive with color before they set off the fireworks

This morning they were kind enough to get up early and feed us royally. Thanks to their kindness we were able to get on the road at 7 AM toward Dunnville.

Our route was on local and provincial roads with very little traffic. We saw many more windmills and a sign that read: “Stop the most corrupt and wasteful scam ever to be.” Strong words!

Ontario wines on the vine

We rode through many small towns and had a few more ups and downs than we had anticipated but Maja noticed a short cut that took us away from the coastal roads and saved us some time getting to our destination.

Lake Erie

Entering Dunnville we crossed the Grand River and saw this outflow from the dam.

Tomorrow we head to Buffalo.

78 miles. Against the wind again.

We got an early start from Ridgetown so we could beat some of the predicted winds. Our plan was nearly thwarted early when the hotel breakfast that was advertised to start at 6 AM was not ready at all – the breakfast room was dark and nothing had been brewed, set out, prepared. After ringing the front desk bell things started happening.

We had to retrace part of yesterday’s route just to get back on track so that added at least 7 miles to the day. The map showed us riding along the coast of Lake Erie but we hardly glimpsed the lake until late in the day. The wind wasn’t severe but was in our faces and constant all day. There was no shoulder and, luckily, no traffic since it is Sunday and this is a four day holiday in Canada.

There weren’t many small towns on the route but a lot of farms and windmills! At one point we saw many anti wind mill signs in front yards some calling for an end to the “wind scam.”

Windmills in the soy fields

And in the corn field silhouetted against the gathering storm that sailed north of us

Mile after mile we plodded along until we had lunch in Port Stanley where we shared a picnic table with four or five people who had come to watch the draw bridge open! It eventually did.

The much anticipated draw bridge opening in Port Stanley

We pulled into Port Burwell and found our Air BnB and learned that we were lucky to get a room in town since it’s the annual Beach Fest complete with fireworks tonight. A woman had booked the room we are in for the entire weekend but then didn’t show up so we profited from her absence. We will walk to another house with the owners of the BnB to watch the fireworks tonight.

Tomorrow is another long day and promises to be another head wind day as well. We are aiming to get to Buffalo on August 2nd where we have arranged a tour of the Darwin Martin house, another Wright pilgrimage site.

52 miles. Hard day against the wind.

We enjoyed a leisurely morning with our friends, Foley and Marion and then they drove us back to the exact spot at the ferry dock in Marine City where they had picked us up on Thursday!

The short 10 minute ferry ride landed us in Sombra, Ontario, and after going through immigration we re-introduced ourselves to our bikes and headed down the road. We took part of yesterday’s rest to cull through our panniers and shipped several items that we don’t anticipate needing back to Paradise Valley including both sets of front panniers. The bikes are so much more responsive now particularly without the weight on the front wheels.

Looking back at the ferry landing on the Canada side

A few miles down the road we encountered streets blocked for a local parade. This is a holiday weekend in Canada (Civic Holiday). We watched part of the parade and talked with a local policeman then made our way through the crowd back onto the highway that parallels the St. Clair river.

At the parade we were given frozen fruit pops that we had trouble opening. This kind officer pulled a knife out of his pocket, opened it and handed it to me to slice the package open. Can anyone imagine a US policeman handing someone an open knife?Oh, Canada.

I guess because we are in Ontario, my ear worm of the day was Neil Young’s “Helpless.” “There is a town in north Ontario….” And then that morphed into a bit of Ian and Sylvia!

This was intended to be a “light day” and since we got such a comparatively late start (off the ferry at 11:00) our goal was Ridgetown and a small hotel there. We hadn’t counted on the headwind, our fatigue from a little too much partying last night with our friends (Foley, Marion, John, Tola, Sunne, Michael, Johnathan and Malcolm) or having to ride a while on a dirt road!

By the time we reached our destination we were wiped out. No more light days, please! Tomorrow we ride 66 miles to an Airbnb in Port Burwell and the forecast is for more headwind but we plan on getting a good night’s sleep and an early start.

Another hotel room shared with our bikes. Note how much slimmer they look without the front panniers.