well, we're in Canada. about 60 miles east of Winnipeg visiting my cousin Louise, her husband Don and three kids Daniel, Benjamin, and Heidi. having a wonderful time hanging out here. so good to be with a family again--playing with the kids, eating dinner around a common table, going on excursions, talking late around the kitchen table after the kids are in bed. our decision to come up here well worth it, to heck with what the weather might do to us for being so late in the season.
9/15, day 27: lazy morning at Nick's house in Saginaw. ate breakfast, read the newspaper; i fixed my first flat--a staple puncture. Nick rode away with us the first ten miles or so, but we couldn't convince him to join us. going away from Duluth, passed through flats and small hills of forest and swamp. the towns are getting further and further apart. so far we have not been far from civilisation, but now beginning long stretches with no houses, few cars on road. stopped for lunch and water at a trailer on a few acres with chickens and turkeys running around, an old sheep dog napping in the sun. in evening, encountered stretch of road under construction. no asphalt, only sand to ride on. rode the three-mile stretch of sand rather than go out of our way. fell often as my loaded bike sunk into sand and i was unable to unclip my feet from the pedals in time to catch myself. finally got used to it and got going well enough after much kicking and spitting on my part. with ripening moon and away from cities enough that there is little traffic on roads, we decided to bike into the night. our first night ride a success, with silver road running fair between dark pines. today finished off most of a loaf of bread and half a jar of peanut butter.
9/16, day 28: tented in deserted store lot. chilly morning, our warm weather camping days probably over. rode through several miles of construction following pilot car which, of course, left us far behind. put small bicycle tracks into fresh pavement. stopped to eat lunch at small Effie Cafe--little local stop in town with crossroads, a convenience store, the cafe, some houses spread out on the roads beyond the one central intersection. this our first stop for sit-down meal on the trip, very much enjoyed it. waitress had us sign the guest book, gave me postcards for free. afternoon push got us to town of Big Falls, where we decided to turn west and go through big stretch of wilderness. on our map the road simply ended, but locals assured us we could continue on gravel roads to the other side of the forest. found a local hunting guide who gave us advice; could have listened to him tell stories for hours if sun had not been going down. filled up on water and food in preparation for a night in the middle of nowhere--feeling good about choosing to have an adventure. rode miles and miles of gravel road through forest and swamp, saw birds, an owl, deer, possibly a bear. rode long into the dusk, careening recklessly through Minnesota wilderness, trying to get in as many miles as possible before we couldn't see anymore. finally stopped at sandy clearing with lots of fallen wood, set up tent and built a fire. wonderful to have flames for heat and for keeping mosquitoes away (as we've gone north, mosquitoes have gotten worse!). fun to be out in the wilderness, totally on our own.
9/17, day 29: in morning resurrected our fire and ate oatmeal with canned pineapple chunks (up here no big grocery stores in these small towns, only little convenience shops, so we take what we can find!). continued on gravel roads through the state forest for another hour or so, then found a strong south wind pushing us north over blacktop roads--while we normally go around 15 mph, with the wind we went 25 mph without effort. laughed joyously to be cruising so well. pushed a 25-mile section of higher traffic road to the town of Warroad, where we passed a combine on the road (v. pleasurable to pass such a big mechanical thing on our bikes :-) then crossed the border into Canada. our border crossing uneventful, a very nice man who asked the standard questions then wondered about our trip and started telling us places we should go, etc. rode into night again to arrive at Moose Lake, where we knew was a provincial campground. desperately wanting a shower, we hoped to sneak one at the campground then set up tent somewhere else so we wouldn't have to pay. on way in saw sign for Moose Lake Bible Camp. i had a good feeling about that, so we headed for the bible camp instead with visions of an older caretaker who would still be up (it was 9:30pm by this time), maybe let us sleep in an old cabin, maybe even get a shower in a moldy bath house. well, this was one of those times when reality becomes even better than the dream. turned out it was a Mennonite camp, run by young couple who welcomed us in, let us sleep in lovely modern cabin with an in-cabin bathroom and shower, invited us to their house for tea despite the late hour, and generally treated us like new and interesting friends. Glen and I laughed and laughed at our crazy good fortune; our traveling luck still holds, apparently.
9/18, day 30: our hosts and new friends made wonderful toast, eggs, and fresh fruit breakfast for us, treated us to stories about their camp and about local culture. i used one of the camp kayaks to go out on lake before breakfast (nothing like being out on the water in early morning!); saw a bald eagle--amazing experience. from Moose Lake rode 35 miles of gravel road up to the Trans-Canada highway, then 15 frantic miles on that highway, pushing hard to get off of it with cars and semis zooming past. as we got off highway and turned north toward our cousins in Seven Sisters, we rode into thunderstorm. stopped and hurriedly covered our stuff, put rain gear on. it never poured, but it definitely rained, and for next 45 miles to Seven Sisters, skies cried and roads were wet. luckily it didn't get too cold and our rain gear worked passably well; still, i cold and damp and very close to miserable, though not quite. very happy to have a warm destination for the night, very happy to get to our cousin's house after a wet, long slog of an afternoon. took warm showers, ate hot homemade pizza, amazed to be able to sit around our cousin's dining room table and drink tea with them. can hardly believe we actually made it up here.
9/19, day 31: since rode so long to get here, decided to stay for several days. after kids left for school ate a lazy breakfast and had a lazy morning chatting with cousins and eating slice after slice of straight-from-the-oven homemade toast with fresh tomato and Miracle Whip. took an afternoon stroll down to nearby river, then napped. played with kids when they got home, got a tour of the farm--the barn, the hayloft, the sheep, the chicken coop and chickens. our cousins small time farmers living off the land and some part time outside work--trying to live simply, raise their children well, and be a part of the small-town community here. so good to begin to experience their lifestyle, a daily choice to live responsibly before God and the earth. in evening sat around fire and were silly. after dark all piled in van for spontaneous trip to a park to look for bears. actually spotted one with our headlights and a big flashlight.
9/20, day 32: gathered eggs with Heidi (in third grade) in the morning, then scrambled them with garden veggies and cheese, yum! kids stayed home from school; we all piled into van and went to a park for the day. stopped by a sacred First Nations site to see prehistoric petroforms--rocks laid out to form shapes such as turtles and fish and snakes. felt like i was in an old and spiritual place; suddenly aware of the breeze and the trees and the rock and the blue bowl of sky overhead. knew myself a small part of the history of the cosmos; felt spirit-shapes glide through trees in between the slanting sunshine. hiked meandering trail through forest and along river to three sets of falls. waded in water, explored shoreline with the kids, had weiner roast lunch. climbed up a hill of exposed bedrock and looked out over roof of forest, wide bends and bays of the river below, the rushing noise of the falls blending with breeze and rustling of trees. four deer crossed the river above one of the falls. a chipmunk came out and scrounged for the peanuts that we dropped from our trail mix. went home in evening tired but happy to have had such a beautiful day together.
Keep in touch - Joe (lappjoe@yahoo.com) and Glen (glapp@juno.com)!